The Bearcats (4-1) (1-0 AAC) will be back in Nippert Stadium this Saturday at 2:30 pm when they welcome in USF (1-4) (0-1 AAC) for Homecoming. The Bearcats currently hold the second longest active home winning streak in all of college football at 29 games, just behind Clemson at 37. The Bearcats will look to keep the winning streak in tack as they look to remain unbeaten in conference play as they have won 17 straight AAC matches dating back to 2019.
“We’re extremely prideful when we go out there on that field, especially in the Nipp, it is just a different feeling out there. I don’t plan on losing at home any time soon,” said Bearcats safety Ja’von Hicks.
The USF Bulls are coming into this contest on a 3-game losing skid, but one game that stands out to me the most through the Bulls first five games of the season is their 31-28 loss at No. 18/21 Florida back on September 17th. The Bulls are also in a span of four straight road games due to Hurricane Ian as they have been forced to play on the road the last month and that isn’t ideal for a college football program, however the Bulls are coming off a game where they combined for over 400 yards of offense in the teams 48-28 loss vs ECU last weekend behind a career day from wide receiver Jimmy Horn who finished with a career high eight catches, 180 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulls however come into this one banged up a little bit as they have seen 10 starters miss some time this season due to injury and the latest of those injuries came to starting left tackle Donovan Jennings, which will be a thing to keep an eye on come Saturday as the Bearcats defense is coming off an American Athletic Conference record 11 sacks in their 31-21 victory over Tulane so look for guys like Jowon Briggs, Jabari Taylor, Ivan Pace, Noah Potter and company to create some situations on that side of the offensive line to create some opportunities to get in the backfield. However, the Bulls offense is led by Gerry Bohanon under center, as the former Baylor quarterback is starting to settle in for the Bulls here in the last couple weeks after joining the team this fall via the transfer portal. Bohanon is currently 73-of-131 on the season completing roughly 58% of his passes on the season as he has thrown three touchdowns on the season however all three came last week as the Bulls went without a passing touchdown the first four weeks of the season.
Look for the Bulls to get the ball back in Jimmy Horns hands on the outside as the sophomore wide receiver is coming off a huge game where he recorded eight catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Horns also plays a huge role on special team’s kickoff return specialist along with Brian Battie and he already has one house call on the season. Horn was second on the team with 30 receptions tallying 408 yards a season ago, but is on pace to top those numbers this season. The Bulls also will see leading receiver Xavier Weaver back in action, a Biletnikoff Preseason Watch List nominee, missed some time due to injury this season, but look for the 6-foot-1 receiver to play a huge roll for the Bulls offense on Saturday.
