The South Florida Bulls battle the Memphis Tigers this week in a game that will feature the country’s second-leading passer, Paxton Lynch (1,230 yards, 8 TDs). Coming into the game, the Bulls are 1-2 while the Tigers are 4-0. The game kicks off Friday, Oct 2 at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be shown on ESP2.
In its last game before the bye, South Florida lost to Maryland 35-17. Darius Tice had a good performance running the ball in the loss, rushing six times for 42 yards. Memphis defeated Cincinnati 53-46 in its matchup. Paxton Lynch had a huge game through the air for the Tigers, connecting on 24 of 36 pass attempts for 412 yards and two TDs. He added 52 yards on 11 carries. Anthony Miller also had a great game with 156 receiving yards and a TD on five catches.
This week’s matchup between the Bulls and the Tigers has even odds and the Over/Under (O/U) is unavailable currently.
Even with a subpar Straight Up (SU) record of 1-2, the Bulls play better than expected, going 2-1 Against The Spread (ATS) so far this year.
As for their opponent, the Tigers head into Week 5 with records of 2-2 ATS and 4-0 SU. They enter the week as the country’s third-best scoring offense, recording an average of 53.8 points per game on opposing defenses. Chances are Memphis will continue to rely on its passing attack, where its 342.5 passing yards per game ranks 13th in the nation. Preparing for Memphis’s scoring defense will give the Bulls headaches in the film room. So far this year, the Tigers defense has only allowed opponents to score an average of 29.2 points. Teams need to stay focused in the first quarter against the fast-starting Tigers, who average 15.5 points in the first 15 minutes. For the Bulls, special teams is an area in need of improvement. Their 131 return yards allowed per game rank amongst the worst in the country.
Predictions: SU Winner – Memphis, ATS Winner – Memphis
Notes
South Florida is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 16 of South Florida’s last 23 games.
South Florida is 6-18-1 ATS in its last 25 games at home.
South Florida is 6-19 SU in its last 25 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of South Florida’s last 5 games at home.
Memphis is 2-0 SU when leading at the half this season. South Florida is 1-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Nationally, the South Florida passing attack is ranked 115th, while the Memphis pass defense is only ranked 124th. The Tigers passing game is ranked 13th, compared to the 60th-ranked pass defense of the Bulls.
South Florida has given up 24.0 points per game this year, which is ranked only 109th in the nation. Memphis has scored 53.8 points per game this year and is ranked second in all of FBS.
