When it comes to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama Football this weekend, South Florida will bring a dynamic offense designed by Coach Alex Golesh. Coach Golesh, formerly the offensive coordinator at Tennessee, utilizes a very fast-paced uptempo system to catch defenses unprepared in both scheme and personnel.
His offense also aims to use the entire field, stretching the defense horizontally and vertically. This strategy puts a lot of stress on the defense and typically eventually results in blown assignments or numbers advantages for the Bulls.
Though this offense regularly gives opponents headaches, Alabama shut it down last year in a 17-3 victory. I expect Kane Wommack’s unit to be equally prepared on Saturday evening.
USF found marginal success running the football last season, gaining 177 yards on the ground. Electric quarterback Byrum Brown (92 yards) and former Florida running back Nay’Quan Wright (62 yards) accounted for most of that production.
Still, the Bulls mustered just 3.8 yards per carry on high volume. In combination with a passing game that produced a meager 87 yards, this was not a sustainable offensive approach for USF. In general, they struggled to move the ball in last year’s game and rarely threatened to score.
In fact, the Bulls’ only scoring drive came after they recovered a muffed punt in plus territory. They gained just four yards in four plays before kicking a field goal and ultimately avoiding a shutout.
After eking out just three points in their home stadium last season, how can USF now expect to walk into Bryant-Denny Stadium and move the ball at will?
In my opinion, Coach Wommack’s scheme is ideal for handling South Florida’s offensive attack. Bama’s deep defensive line rotation should play assignment-sound football and make yardage difficult to come by on the ground.
Redshirt freshman Wolf Qua Russaw and Bandits like Jah-Marien Latham and LT Overton did a great job setting the edge against Western Kentucky last week and should be the cornerstones once again.
Inside ‘backers Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell are two of the best in college football, and the Tide’s athleticism up front allows them to roam free and seek the ball. Both should continue to rack up tackles this week in the 4-2-5 defense.
Perhaps most importantly, Wommack’s philosophy in the secondary should help the Bama defensive backs to communicate effectively and avoid coverage busts on the back end. Coach Nick Saban’s pattern match scheme was notoriously complicated to learn, and it could have caused problems for the 2024 Alabama secondary that is breaking in a lot of new players and playing multiple true freshmen at cornerback.
As if the Alabama defense did not present a stiff enough challenge, Coach Golesh’s borderline arrogant persona has provided the Tide with some bulletin board material heading into this week’s game. Just as TJ Finley’s words backfired in Alabama’s shutout of Western Kentucky, I expect the Bama defense to come out fired up and make a statement.