It's the match-up we've all been dreading. We knew it was coming sooner or later but we tried to deny it was there for as long as we could. Unfortunately, the time for shielding our suspect offensive line from the dangers of the world is done and the time to stand toe-to-toe with the South Florida D-line has begun.
Like the headline in Donnie's article yesterday, this D-line is not your mama's meatloaf (!?!?!).
The Bulls are led by All-American defensive end George Selvie and junior defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, just named the Big East Conference’s defensive player of the week. With nose tackle Terrell McClain and Aaron Harris, they combined to dominate Florida State’s offensive line last weekend in the Bulls’ 17-7 win at Tallahassee.
This line anchors a defense that held the Seminoles to 19 yards rushing and 288 yards of total offense. And that's a team that put up 54 points and 512 yards of offense on BYU.
You know Selvie. He's kinda good. Pierre-Paul was named the Big East's defensive player of the week after hs four tackles, three tackles for loss, and forced fumble performance against FSU. Junior defensive end Craig Marshall had two sacks as well in the FSU game.
The USF defense is currently ranked 2nd nationally in points-allowed, 11th overall in yards allowed per game and 11th overall in passing yards allowed per game. It presents a tricky deal for the Orange. USF is sure to bottle up the running game and force SU to rely on the pass. But they're also damn good against the pass. It just sounds less fun the more and more you learn.
While USF basks in the glow of their signature win last week, the Orange will just continue to do what they've been doing. Buckle down. Arthur Jones' status remains unknown, though as much as he means to the team it might not make a difference if the SU offense can't make something happen.