TAMPA, Fla. — After USF's 34-7 domination of Boise St., Bulls head coach Alex Golesh said one sign of his team's maturity is their ability to handle success.
"Winning programs are able to do that because winning programs are used to winning," he explained after Tuesday's practice. Now, he hopes his team has the ability to forget about week one and focus on Saturday's matchup with No. 13 Florida.
"All you gotta do is look up and see, if you’re going to take a breath and enjoy anything that happened a week ago, you’re going to get your brains beat in," he said matter-of-factly. "So it helps that you’re playing a really good opponent again."
Florida is coming off a season-opening 55-0 drubbing of Long Island University. Gators head coach Billy Napier knows that playing against a confident USF team is an entirely different level of competition. He also knows he'll have to try and contain one of the most skilled athletes in the country in Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown.
"You see the leadership. You see- just watching the Boise [St.] game, you can see the energy there," Napier said when addressing Brown. "Coming off of an injury, obviously excited that he’s back playing. It gives the team some confidence, as well."
"The Swamp" will be sold out for the 14 consecutive game on Saturday, but the Bulls know they're not playing against a stadium.
"Our job as coaches is to prepare our guys to not allow it to be a factor. But that’s part of home field advantage," Golesh said. "We’ve gotta make sure that we find a way that it isn’t a factor in how we play."
Coach Golesh, his staff, and his players have used the word "process" more times than the media can count, but it's been successful so far. The Bulls hope their process continues to deliver positive results.
"If you’re relying on a win or a loss, or an end result for confidence, you’re going to be up and down as a program. You’re going to be up and down as a human," Golesh said. "We go right back to what our process is. And I think if you’re a process-driven team that’s led internally, then it doesn’t really matter."
Kickoff between USF and Florida is set for 4:15 p.m. Saturday from "The Swamp" in Gainesville.
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