Yesterday we gave you a glimpse at the South Florida Bulls’ defense. Today we realize that the South Florida offense is a one-trick pony at this point. A very good one-trick pony, but the rest of the offense needs some serious work.
Running back Marlon Mack is perhaps one of the top freshman backs in the country, at least in terms of overall production. The problem is, quarterback Mike White has been plain awful in the passing game.
That’s made South Florida one-dimensional. Now, can the Badgers handle that one dimension? Let’s take a look at the South Florida offense.
Starters: (2014 season stats/honors)
X: Andre Davis – Sr. (6-1, 207) – 1 reception, 44 yards
Y (TE): Sean Price – Jr. (6-3, 250) – 3 receptions, 49 yards
LT: Darrell Williams – Sr. (6-5, 307) – 21 career starts, 21 straight starts
LG: Thor Jozwiak – Jr. (6-4, 321) – DNP in 2013 (recovering from heart condition), played in 9 games (starting 5) in 2012
C: Austin Reiter – Sr. (6-3, 296) – Started 28 straight games & hasn’t missed a game since his freshman season
RG: Quinterrius Eatmon – Sr. (6-6, 313) – Started 38 of last 39 games, only missing final game of last season against Rutgers
RT: Brynjar Gudmundsson – Jr. (6-4, 305) – Has made 17 starts, 16 in a a row and played in nine games a freshman with one start
HB: Marlon Mack – Fr. (6-0, 195) – 502 yards, 5 touchdowns, 5.6 average, 125.5 yards per game; 4 rec., 20yds.
QB: Mike White – So. (6-4, 211) – 39.3 comp. pct., 388 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
FB: Kennard Swanson – RFr. (6-0, 253) – 2 receptions, 10 yards
Z: Deonte Welch – Sr. (6-0, 215) – 8 receptions, 83 yards
Team Rankings: (Stat/AAC/National) *according to CFBstats.com
Total Offense: 293ypg/9th/118th
Scoring Offense: 21.8ppg/9th/101st
Passing Offense: 141.8ypg/11th/119th
Rushing Offense: 151.2ypg/6th/83rd
Badgers Defense Rankings: (Stat/B1G/National)
Total Defense: 266ypg/2nd/9th
Scoring Defense: 16ppg/2nd/13th
Passing Defense: 175ppg/2nd/25th
Rushing Defense: 91ypg/4th/14th
3 Keys to Badgers Success:
1. Don’t Overthink: Wisconsin’s defense is one of the best statistically in the country, but it has only been three games. On paper the Badgers’ defense should be able to dominant, however it doesn’t mean UW can let up. Part of the issue is to keep the gameplan simple and manageable, otherwise you could wind up making things harder than they need to.
2. Let Landisch Go: There was nothing more fun than seeing Derek Landisch simply dominate like he did last week. But, that was just one week and it would be good to see him go off again and have a very similar game two weeks in a row. If he can become the player we all heard Bielema and Andersen say he can be, Wisconsin has another superstar linebacker on its hands.
3. Take Marlon Mack Out of the Game: If you take the biggest weapon away from an offense it makes the rest of the game easy. Simply put, the true freshman running back is the USF offense. He’s averaging more yards rushing than quarterback Mike White is passing. That means Wisconsin needs to be aggressive against a very veteran USF offensive line and the sooner Mack is rendered irrelevant, the sooner Wisconsin gets out of this game as a blowout winner.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!