Four Phil Steele Facts: USF Bulls

Phil Steele puts out the best college football preview magazine every year. It’s not even a contest. In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of his first publication we at Bucky’s 5th Quarter are going to find four interesting facts about each team on Wisconsin’s schedule, including the Badgers, and break them down for you.

Phil, we love your magazine and we also love your mustache.

NUMBER 1: 6

The Bulls entered their game at Houston last year with a pristine 7-0 record and a national ranking of 21st. They lost to the Cougars by 21 and, uh, haven’t won a game since. That’s six straight losses for Charlie Strong’s lads, all to bowl eligible teams, and lead to a complete staff restructuring. Have they wiped the bad taste from last year out of their mouth? If the Badgers can score early they might get USF to say

NUMBER 2: 248

USF allowed opposing teams to rush for 248 yards per game last season. Due to injuries one of their starting defensive ends, Greg Reaves, had to move to linebacker, and he’s now back on the line, but the fact that they return a bulk of the unit that was the first line of defense against the run seems positive for the Badgers.

NUMBER 3: 273.25

That is the average weight of the USF defensive line. The average weight for the Wisconsin offensive line is 311.4. The Badgers may just have to lean on USF for two and a half quarters and then Jonathan Taylor and co. will be gashing them for eight, nine, ten yards a pop. Winning in the trenches is always a Wisconsin goal, but against a much smaller line...dominating should be what they do.

NUMBER 4: 626

The Bulls marched up and down the field last year against Illinois and rolled up 626 total yards (411 through the air) in their victory in Champaign. Despite coming from a G5 conference, USF can, and has, beat teams that are “better” than they are. Wisconsin should not take a road opener lightly because USF can score in bunches.

Up next: Central Michigan