The South Florida Bulls step out of Big East play for an in-state showdown with the Miami Hurricanes this Saturday at 3pm from Sun Life stadium.

The Bulls come into this one off a bye week that was welcomed by all affiliated with the South Florida program. Leading up to the bye, the Bulls were able to win a squeaker 13-6 over Big East foe Connecticut. The win broke a 6 game losing streak and potentially rejuvenated a team that has just been on the wrong side of some close contests this season. Against UConn, BJ Daniels was injured in the 4th quarter but did all the Bulls needed him to do in the first quarter with a 5 yard TD run that gave them a 7-0 lead and the advantage for good. Through the air, Daniels was 19-29 for 199 yards and a pick and spread the ball out fairly evenly to 7 different receivers, 4 of which racked up between 35 and 50 yards each. South Florida struggled to get the run going against a stingy UConn defense – Demetris Murray accounted for 37 yards to lead the Bulls. The South Florida D, often exploited this season was very strong all day but benefitted by facing a UConn offense that has quickly become one of the worst in all of college football. With the win, the Bulls move to 3-6 overall and tally their first big east win of the year.

Miami enters this game after losing a shootout in Charlottesville against the Virginia Cavaliers. The defenses stayed home in this one as both teams moved up and down the field and it was Virginia who struck last and walked out with the 41-40 win. The two teams combined for just over 900 yards of total offense and quarterback Stephen Morris threw for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns. Receiver Phillip Dorsett was the main beneficiary of Morris’s passes pulling in 6 for 103 yards and a touchdown. Potential ACC rookie of the year Duke Johnson had 16 carries for 150 yards on the ground and 214 yards in the return game for an extremely impressive all-purpose showing. After building a 38-28 lead in the 4th quarter, Miami gave up two scoring drives and a 10 yard TD pass with 6 seconds left that clinched the win for UVA. With the loss, Miami moves to 4-3 in the ACC coastal but still controls its own destiny in what has been one of the worst divisions in all of college football’s major conferences this year.

Some trends to consider – South Florida is 7-2 against the spread in their last 9 vs the ACC and Miami is 4-0 against the spread in their last 4 games at home.

These two teams have played some close games in the past few years.  I believe that Miami is the more talented team and BJ Daniels is still a bit dinged up with an uncertain status for this game.  Miami is knocking on the door of bowl eligibility and has been very solid at home this year.  I like the canes by 10.