"All the news that's fit to link"

"All the news that's fit to link"
"All the news that's fit to link"

Monday, December 27, 2010

South Florida primer


More than three weeks have passed since Clemson learned of its bowl opponent. And we've spent a total of about, oh, three minutes studying up on South Florida.

Nothing against the Bulls. They're a formidable opponent, and certainly capable of pulling off a win Friday in Charlotte.

It's just that, when you're covering a 6-6 team and there's not overwhelming interest in the bowl game, you spend more time diagnosing what went wrong on your end.

And the same is probably true for the fans as well. How many South Florida threads have we seen on the message board over the last few weeks? You can count them on one hand, and maybe even one finger.

Well it's game week, so we need to start paying some attention to South Florida. The "Enemy Lines" segment is ready to roll at some point this week, so stay tuned for that.

Meantime, here's an inside-the-numbers primer featuring a few things you might not have known about the Bulls:

29

South Florida's third-down percentage on offense. Before a 37.5-percent clip in the regular-season finale against UConn, the Bulls went a combined 12-for-55 in their previous four games -- including 3-of-14 in a win at Miami.

16

Successful field-goal attempts inside of 50 yards in 17 attempts by Maikon Bonani. The sophomore replaced a struggling Eric Schwartz, who missed four of five kicks to open the season.

Bonani is 4-of-5 from 40-49 yards and 12-of-12 from 39 yards in. Clemson's Chandler Catanzaro and Richard Jackson are 7-of-14 from 39 yards in.

35

B.J. Daniels' highest rushing total since a 107-yard effort in a loss at Florida in the second game of the season.

Daniels is known as a running threat, but his ground game was geared down for most of the season before he suffered a quad injury in the 11th game at Miami.

Daniels, a third-year sophomore, led the team in rushing in 2009 with 772 yards. He has 237 this season.

100

Length of a kickoff return this season by Lindsey Lamar in a 24-21 overtime win at Louisville.

The 5-foot-8, 164-pound sophomore has run a 10.3-second 100-yard dash. He has 842 yards on 30 returns this season for a 28.1-yard average and has scored two touchdowns.

15

Touchdowns South Florida's defense has allowed on 35 red-zone opportunities by opponents (43 percent).

The Bulls have allowed just four rushing touchdowns in the red zone, ranking second nationally to West Virginia in that statistic.

Clemson finished last in the ACC in red-zone offense, scoring on 71.4 percent of its opportunities and scoring touchdowns on 22 of 42 chances.

18

Red-zone touchdowns for South Florida's offense on 38 opportunities (47 percent).

Clemson's defense has allowed 18 touchdowns on 36 red-zone chances (50 percent).

46

Number of catches by South Florida's leading receiver, Dontavia Bogan. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior has 670 yards receiving and five touchdowns with a long of 64 yards.

Next on the Bulls' receiving list is Evan Landi, who has 26 catches for 354 yards.

4

Consecutive eight-win seasons for the Bulls. They'd extend that streak to five with a win Friday.

0

Fourth-quarter points allowed by South Florida in its five bowl games.

142

Combined career starts by South Florida offensive linemen Sampson Genus, Chaz Hine, Jake Sims and Jeremiah Warren.

LW

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