Before we identify the one South Florida Bull who isn’t the right fit against the Alabama Crimson Tide, let’s look at the mentality of college football. Great and not so great athletes with a championship mentality all enjoy competing against top opponents. In many ways, the greatest challenges generate the greatest competitive spirit.

South Florida’s players will be expected to bring that same momentum to Saturday night. One in particular can look back on last season’s game and be confident of another strong performance. That player (the one) is USF quarterback Byrum Brown. Last season, as a sophomore for USF, Brown threw for 3,292 yards and ran for 809 yards. He even caught two passes for 36 yards.

In 13 games last season, USF rushed for 5,871 yards. Brown was involved in over 4,100 of them. Byrum Brown was not outstanding in the air against the Crimson Tide last September. Monsoon conditions during the game may have been a factor, but he completed only half of his passes, 14 of 28, 87 yards, zero touchdown passes and one interception.

What Brown did effectively against Alabama was average four yards on the run while gaining 92 yards on the ground. On too many plays, Brown was able to elude one or more of Alabama’s tacklers. Brown can be an elusive runner, but his greatest strength on the run is his powerful running.

Brown has added size and weight to his 6-foot-3 frame. The physical improvements have USF fans excited. Watch what Brown has to say in the video below.

South Florida lists him at 229 pounds this season. Last season, he was a physical force at less weight. This season, Brown is on the candidate lists for the Davey O’Brien Award, the Walter Camp Award and the Maxwell Award.

Given everything Brown has to offer, how can anyone say he’ll struggle against the Alabama Crimson Tide? Not the only answer, but a good one-syllable answer is Jihaad Campbell. Technically, that’s a two-syllable answer, but it’s a man. The Alabama football team and defensive linemen know exactly what Byrum Brown can do. It’s going to take more than one defender to stop him, but Campbell is perfectly suited to spy on Brown. Campbell has the size and speed to keep up with Brown and disrupt the USF offense.

Maybe Kane Wommack will decide not to spy on Brown. Alabama has plenty of big, fast guys who can get to the USF quarterback. Even if he’s not in a spy role, Jihaad Campbell will play a key role in the Crimson Tide’s game plan. It will be interesting to see how USF coach Alex Golesh plans his offense knowing Brown will be a suspect.

The Bulls can’t win without Brown having a great game. Despite his talent and physical attributes, he won’t be able to deliver. Not against the Alabama Football Swarm defense.

Note: Player and team statistics provided by Sports Reference and cfbstats.com