Five Reasons USF Can Win or Lose to UTEP

There are plenty of ways to win and lose a game.

This continues to be a fun series as we look at the top 5 reasons the Bulls can win and lose this game against UTEP. Face the facts, USF should win this game, they have the speed, momentum, playing at home, and everything else in between. But like all teams, we can lose just as easily. Here are the top reasons we can win or lose to the Miners on Saturday.

5 reasons we can win the game!

Team Speed - USF is loaded with speed players. UTEP doesn't face this kind of team speed and overall ability to make plays in the open field (aside from the speed of the Houston offense). The Bulls could get the Miners winded early in the game and with more depth, the Bulls could run all night.

Running game - The USF rushing attack continues to get better with Darrell Scott emerging as a top tailback (Murray and Shaw are ready to go too). If the offensive line continues to open up holes and gets the lanes open, the Bulls could run all night and tear up the field.

On a roll - Face it, winning at ND, beating Ball State and FAMU by huge margins, the Bulls are rolling and playing their last game against the Miners will have them motivated to take care of business. They are ranked, everything is firing on all cylinders and will look to keep it going.

Defensive pressure - Julius Forte and Claude Davis are playing well, but there needs to be more pressure. The Miners are going to use two quarterbacks, so the offense will be off just a bit and the Bulls overall speed should be able to get to them and cause plenty of trouble.

B.J. Daniels - After 389 yards passing last week, Daniels has many believing in him. Against a tougher opponent, Daniels has to continue to play hard and make his proper reads, deliver the ball, and get the ball down the field. If he can put together another strong performance, the Bulls should be feeling better.

5 reasons USF could lose this game.

Looking ahead - The Bulls are getting ready for the big conference schedule and it could be easy to look past this game on Saturday and focus on the ESPN game with Pitt. The Bulls have to remained focused, take each game one at a time and get the win before moving on.

Out played - The UTEP Miners have one heck of a coach in Mike Price and his team will be prepared. Although no quarterback has been listed, they will come out fired up and will make it a real contest for the Bulls in this game.

B.J. Daniels - Still not sold yet on Daniels. He is putting up video game numbers and throwing defensive linemen around, but facing a better opponent, he could come back to earth and if the turnover machine returns, we are in trouble. He needs to continue to play like he has all season, avoid the mistakes, and execute the offense.

Turnovers - Story of any team, but the turnover bug can strike at any time. USF has done a solid job protecting the ball and needs to continue the trend against a team that is looking for an upset win. Daniels and the ball carriers have to be smart, protect, and not hand the game over to the Miners.

Missed chances - USF has a hard time figuring out how to get a touchdown in the red-zone. Settling for field goals allows a team like the Miners to hang around way to long and if they are able to get a quick score and the offense can't finish a big drive late in the game, then the Bulls are in trouble.