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Bulls Look to Claim Bowl Eligibility Against Tulsa

Bulls | Nay'Quan Wright — © Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The South Florida Bulls (5-5, 3-3 American Athletic Conference) will play host to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3-7, 1-5 AAC) on Nov. 23 at 3:30 p.m. EST at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls are coming off an expected win against the Charlotte 49ers, 59-24, on Nov. 16. The win put South Florida in position to clinch a bowl appearance for the second straight season. The Bulls will face Tulsa, a team that will miss bowl season as it has seven losses. The Golden Hurricane have only one win in the AAC. They come off two consecutive losses to East Carolina (38-31 on Nov. 14) and Alabama-Birmingham (59-21 on Nov. 2). The Bulls are currently favored to win by 17 points.

The Game's Ramifications

As previously mentioned, South Florida needz to win one of their next two games to become bowl-eligible. While the Bulls could win this one, they have a new obstacle to overcome. Quarterback Bryce Archie has been filling in for Byrum Brown since the Tulane game on Sept. 28. The injury is currently undisclosed. If Archie is unable to go, then sophomore Israel Carter might get his first start. Carter is built more like Brown in the sense of a dual-threat quarterback. He has seen very little action since joining the Bulls a year ago.

For Tulsa, this season is already lost. Head coach Kevin Wilson is on the hot seat and could be relieved of his duties. Tulsa's losses to UAB and ECU almost broke the coach's back. This South Florida game might be the final straw. UAB is in the same boat with head coach Trent Dilfer. In the case of ECU, they beat Tulsa three weeks after firing their head coach. It certainly doesn't look good for Wilson.

Key Players: South Florida Bulls

Whoever ends up starting at QB for the Bulls will be crucial to the team's success. Head coach Alex Golesh prepares all of his QBs to play whether they do or not. Carter likely will have gotten reps with the first team. That said, Carter has very few in-game reps should he be the starter.

The Bulls have relied on their rushing attack to get their offense going all year and this game will be no different. Running backs Kelley Joiner Jr., Nay'Quan Wright and Ta'Ron Keith will have to bring their A-Game to clinch a bowl appearance. If they can help Carter get used to the speed of the game, then the Bulls still might be in good shape.

Key Players: Tulsa Golden Hurricane

While the Golden Hurricane have only three wins, they have quite an interesting team. The offense has five players over 200 yards rushing this season (four running backs and starting quarterback Cooper Legas). Legas took over after Kirk Francis got hurt in the game against Army. Francis hasn't returned, but Legas brings a different element to the offense that Francis did not.

Tulsa's Cooper Legas — © Danny Wild-Imagn Image

The Golden Hurricane's top receiver is Kamdyn Benjamin who leads all of his peers with 58 receptions and 694 yards. He also has 5 touchdowns this season. Defensively, the Golden Hurricane have struggled as Gavin Potter leads with 64 total tackles and two games remaining.

If either team is going to win this game, then it will do so on the back of their running game.