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November 10, 2016 Vol. 54 No. 24

The election that split the nation

Polarizing presidential race comes to a close with a Trump win

International students Media polling react to election proved misleading Page 3

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Students conflicted over Trump win Page 3

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the Oracle the University of South Florida’s student newspaper since 1966

Editor in Chief Jacob Hoag oracleeditor@gmail.com Managing Editor Miki Shine oraclemeditor@gmail.com News Editor Abby Rinaldi oraclenewsteam@gmail.com Assistant News Editor Chelsea Grosbeck

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Students conflicted over election results

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Media predicted Clinton win, proved wrong ELECTION 2016

By Abby Rinaldi N E W S

E D I T O R

With the results of the 2016 general election finalized, students on campus are coming to terms with the results.

Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton has left some students with a sour taste in their mouths, leaving others with a sense of hope.

Student body president Chris Griffin said the overall situation is an interesting one.

“I think after watching the acceptance speech, I’m excited for what I hope will be a good future, an inclusive future for America,” he said.

Others, like Lauren Rudthe, a freshman majoring in English, aren’t so optimistic about a Trump-led future. Rudthe is worried about the minorities and other marginalized groups who may be targeted by Trump’s policies.

“Honestly, I’m really scared of what could happen in the future,” she said.

Sheldon Lord, a class of 2016 graduate in cell and molecular biology, said a lot of his friends were depressed by the results.

“They seem under the weather,” he said.

He had assumed Clinton would take the victory over Trump, but said the scandals surrounding Clinton didn’t help her in the polls. He said he hopes Trump, once in office, won’t make the U.S. a harder place to live for minorities.

“I was kind of indifferent (on) who won or not,” he said.

Judelande Jeune, a senior majoring in political science, said she thinks people are focusing on the wrong thing

n See REACT on PAGE 5

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International students voice opinion on presidential race

By Nyki Cate L I F E S T Y L E

“

Despite winning the popular vote, Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the presidential race to Republican Donald Trump because he recieved 276 electoral voted Tuesday evening. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

By Miki Shine M A N A G I N G

E D I T O R

During the weeks leading up to this most recent election, news sources came out using poll results to show that Democrat Hillary Clinton was likely to win by a large margin.

Even as polling sites were starting to close Tuesday night, the New York Times projected that Clinton was still highly favored to win.

Throughout the evening, that scale gradually moved in Republican Donald Trump’s favor. At about 3 a.m., Trump reached 276 electoral votes and was declared Presidentelect.

“The media became too reliant on the pollsters,” Frederick Pearce, a USF mass communications research methods professor, said. “The pollsters are really only giving

There has not been a day since the conventions that the national polls have shown the race as greater than the margin of error.

Al Tompkins, senior faculty for broadcast and online at Poynter

a snapshot of what people have the potential to do. It is not a predicted method.

“For instance, I think probably in most polls, millennials a re u n d e r - re p re s e n t e d because of landlines. I also think rural Americans are underrepresented. If you know what you’re looking for, you will wind up getting it. It’s the myopia of pollsters.”

While Trump won the electoral vote, Clinton led the popular vote by 206,770 votes at the time of print with three states still counting votes.

”

“In my opinion, polls didn’t get it wrong and missed the story, although I understand that that is a popular narrative today,” Al Tompkins, senior faculty for broadcast and online at Poynter Institution of Journalism, said. “I think that what we’re missing is this, ever since the primaries … there has not been a day since the conventions that the national polls have shown the race as greater than the margin of error.”

Tompkins said the margin

n See MEDIA on PAGE 7

E D I T O R

Millions of people around the world were surprised when President-elect Donald Trump won the national election. Up until election night, the New York Times projected that there was an 84 percent chance Hillary Clinton would walk away with the presidency.

Since Trump’s victory, people from all demographics have been weighing in with their opinions, but there is one community that had a unique perspective from which to watch this election: international students.

According to the USF System Facts 2016-2017 fact book, international students make up 11 percent of the student population and, like most Americans, a large portion of them do not feel as if they understood the long race to the presidency.

“It was definitely an interesting one,” said Huw Morgan-Baveystock, a senior double majoring in mass communications & sociology. “I was out here on vacation in Naples when Obama was running against Romney so I distinctly remember that, but this is a bit different from that one.”

“I think it was funny to see Trump go up against people like Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. That was all very interesting, and to see the millennial following of Bernie Sanders. I had to even ask around and ask people ‘Hey is this how it usually goes?’ and they’re like ‘No, this isn’t anything that we’ve ever seen before.’”

Morgan-Baveystock, a student from England, also said he didn’t

n See VOICE on PAGE 9

Opinion

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‘Love Trumps hate’

After Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the U.S., voters began questioning the safety of many citizens living in the country. Large groups of voters, including Lady Gaga, pictured holding a sign at the protests in front of Trump Towers in New York City, have formed peaceful protests across the country. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

Breanne Williams COLU M N I ST

Our country has elected a candidate who used hate and fear-fueled language to reach a demographic many Americans hoped had died off along with the concept of segregation and prohibiting a woman’s right to vote.

Exit polls by the New York Times found 58 percent of white voters supported Donald Trump and 67 percent of his voters were white without a college degree.

It is inarguable that Trump won this election thanks to white voters.

This has upset large portions of the nation not because they hate conservatives and not because white voters’ opinions aren’t valid, but because the candidate that those large masses of white voters supported is one who invalidates the existence of many who call this country home.

The U.S. elected a man who said Mexicans are “killers and rapists.” A man who called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

A man who believes a database for tracking Muslim-Americans and forcing Muslims to carry cards identifying their religion is not only democratic, but a good idea.

The U.S. elected a man who said comments about groping and attempting to have sex with women were simply “locker room talk.” A man

who believes women who have an abortion should be punished.

It’s no wonder the fact that this man is now the leader of the U.S. has caused many to wake up Wednesday morning with an overwhelming sense of fear. Stories are flooding the internet of Muslim women who are scared to wear their hijabs, African-American students who fear going out alone and members of the LGBT community who are now terrified of being out in public.

There are two paths ahead of us.

One: We allow the divisiveness that fueled this election to further separate citizens. We refuse to accept Trump as our president and as a result toxicity spills over into everyday life where anyone who is not a cookie cutter representation of what “Americans” should look like will have to live in fear of their fellow citizens.

Or two: We accept Trump has won this election. We recognize that hate from both sides will only cause suffering to many living within our borders. We decide to respond with love and acceptance.

By continuing to fight for equality and basic human rights, we will be able to ensure no one living in the U.S. feels hated for their race, religion, sexual orientation, economic status or political affiliation.

Conservatives are not the enemy. Don’t blame them for the results of this election. Prior to Election Day, many had stood up in opposition to Trump due to the demeaning rhetoric he spouted non-stop on the campaign trail.

It’s crucial that every citizen, regardless of his or her political affiliation, decide what matters to our nation, what values we want to raise our children with.

If we want to live in a society where women are guaranteed equal rights as men, a society where love is love and no government can restrict the right to marriage simply because the couple is the same sex, a society where racist language is demonized and not shrugged off as harmless dialogue, then we need to unify and fight for those beliefs.

Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama have already vowed to work with Trump toward a unified tomorrow in an effort to ensure progress continues in our country. If we don’t go through the next four years actively pursuing compassion and altruism, we will end up with a country possibly divided beyond repair.

“And I still believe as deeply as I ever have that if we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strength in our convictions, and love for this nation, our best days are still ahead of us,” Clinton said in her concession speech.

Keep an open mind. Just because our future leader uses hate as a crutch doesn’t mean we have to accept animosity as a foundation of our community.

Breanne Williams is a senior majoring in mass communications.

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Implementation of President-elect’s proposals

Political science professor’s consideration of pros and cons regarding three campaign promises.

SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

By Chelsea Grosbeck A S S T .

N E W S

E D I T O R

With the reality of President-elect Donald Trump taking office next January, Trump’s seat in the White House is realistically debated upon whether his policies will be executed.

Among s t u d e n t s, Republican Trump’s most three most important topics are economics, education and foreign policy.

One of Trump’s proposals — the pro-growth tax plan — is meant to adjust “loopholes,” which allow companies to avoid paying taxes due to political involvement. Half of the solution of the reform is to close these loopholes, inviting federal corporate tax to rise to 35 percent.

With the inclusion of state and local taxes, it will increase to 39.2 percent and will become the second-highest tax rate in a developed country, according to the U.S. House of Representatives

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website.

Approved as a bipartisan agreement, the plan is anticipated to additionally decrease the amount of various tax brackets, which taxpayers are categorized under. The reduction in tax brackets and individual rates will reform the collection of tax laws.

Trump’s economic policies coincide with his foreign policies and the influence on U.S. Trade deals.

“What I see him doing is trying to prevent companies from moving overseas, or at least transfer operations overseas,” Edwin Benton, USF political science professor said.

“Trump has proposed to do that by placing a tax on goods that come back to the U.S. by restricting companies from going overseas to cut corporate taxes, as well as reducing several regulations based on business and industry. It will allow for a greater profit

margin than the one currently under regulation and shape tax structure,” Benton said.

Trump’s proposal for education is to be collaborated with Congress to reduce the cost and debt in exchange for federal tax break and tax dollars.

“He does realize the cost of college education is sometimes beyond the reach of some middle-income people,” Benton said. “(He) would like to see that everyone has the opportunity for higher education. The interest rates are proposed to be lower and an affordable pay-back plan.”

The United States spends more than $600 billion a year on the military. Intended to surpass this amount, Trump’s policy will include a new missile defense system, an active army of 540,000, as well as his request for military generals to present a plan of action to destroy Islamic State during the 30 days following

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REACT

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when they focus all of their attention on the fact the Trump won the election.

“Right now, people are focused only (on) the fact that Trump won instead of the fact that currently the Congress … and now, soon to be, the Supreme Court is going to be all Republican (majority),” she said.

Matthew Giardino, a senior majoring in public relations, has supported Trump for multiple reasons, including his stances on economy and health care.

“Overall, I feel like it’s important that we have change,” he said.

He said he was surprised by

the election results. He also said he feels that Trump won in a rigged system despite efforts and collusion from the other side.

“In the end I feel like the American people chose who they thought was going to bring our country to where they want it to be,” he said.

Miguel Fortuno, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said most of the people he knew were voting for Trump, but he himself is not a political person. “(The results were) surprising but not surprising,” he said.

He said that since the election has come to a close, it’s time to accept the fact that Trump won.

“I mean, it is what it is,” he said.

LIFESTYLE

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Road to D.C: Presidential inauguration

By Breanne Williams O R A C L E

S T A F F

This unique and stressful campaign is finally over. President-elect Donald Trump, a non-politician, has been elected as the 45th president of the U.S. in a groundbreaking election that could arguably go down as one of the most shocking in our country’s history.

When Trump stands on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, thousands of his followers will undoubtedly be packed into the surrounding area to bear witness to his ascent to the presidency. The day will be historic, and there are a few tricks to ensure you have a chance to be present for every detail.

If you want to attend the swearingin ceremony, you must have tickets, which are free and distributed through your local representative or senator’s office. However, if you’re content with

channeling your inner tailgate-king persona, the National Mall will have giant video screens and audio systems for thousands of spectators to watch the ceremony.

If you fail to get a ticket, but are desperate to catch a glimpse of our new leader, camp out on Pennsylvania Avenue where he will pass in a bulletproof vehicle as part of the inaugural parade.

There are also a select few bleacher seats available for reservation to watch the historic drive by.

Parking will be extremely limited due to road closures and massive crowds so try to get a hotel in the immediate area. Or, for those who haven’t struck the lottery, pay a much cheaper rate for a room on the other side of the city and take the Metro.

Trip Advisor has some hotels asking for as much as $3,199 a night and many of the more affordable options

have already booked up. Airbnb still has rooms averaging $243 per night, though you could always reconnect with your Aunt Martha who lives in the area and crash in her basement to save some cash.

The ultimate American experience ­— hotdog stands — will be available outside the area. However, attendees are encouraged to bring their own snacks for the long, cold day.

Check closer to the event for what has been deemed a prohibited item as the list changes every year.

Tickets to the inaugural balls, both official and unofficial, will be available to the public. Attendees can dress up and join in on the festivities. For tickets to the official inaugural ball, contact the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

For the others, contact the host venue or organization.

Thousands of people are estimated to go watch the 45th president get

the keys to the White House. So be prepared to wait outside for hours in the cold. In 2009, temperatures were below freezing, though they normally average in mid-30s by the noon ceremony.

When the night is over and Trump and his family officially move into the White House, where they will remain for at least four more years, many attendees will be headed for the nearest bar.

Luckily, Washington D.C. has an abundance of fantastic options for half- frozen attendees. Brine has a whiskey library of nearly 200 bottles, ensuring all of those memories you had paid a fortune to accumulate can be washed away in one evening.

For cocktail lovers: 2 Birds, 1 Stone offers a unique weekly cocktail special list and homemade ginger soda. Millie & Al’s is a dive bar that offers dirtcheap pizza and $1 Jell-O shots.

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MEDIA

Continued from PAGE 3

of error for such races is 3.2 percent, which means that to be actually winning a candidate would need a lead of more than 6.4 percent as the margin of error is applied to both candidates.

“I think what we saw there was something no one can predict, even with the best polling technique,” Edwin Benton, a USF political science professor, said. “The chance of error in the polls, which everyone knows, what happened fell within that range and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Tompkins also explained two aspects of collecting data that may have influenced before voting polls: the social desirability index and weighting.

“We can’t prove that it happened, but anecdotal information indicates that it did,” he said. “The social desirability index means that … it seems to be true that a fair number of Trump supporters told pollsters that they either hadn’t decided or were not going to vote for Trump.

“In fact they were going to vote for Trump, but avoided saying so as to avoid ridicule.”

Tompkins said he heard one estimate that this effect could have been up to five percent of Trump supporters. This has been seen in past elections.

“It makes sense to me

POLICY

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inauguration.

As far as his immigration and refugee policies have been a topic of discussion during his campaign.

“He would be very reluctant to accept refugees from other parts of the world,” Benton said. “He thinks they could be terrorists and later attack U.S. citizens.

‘Economic refugees’ come from Mexico and building this wall is the solution, or response, he feels appropriate.”

After Hillary Clinton’s concession speech Wednesday, as well as President Barack Obama’s announcement on the outcome of the election,

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that that could have been a factor here,” he said. “But I have a little bit of doubt because it seems to me that Trump supporters were really proud that they were Trump supporters … We just don’t know.”

The weighting effect that Tompkins referred to as a pollster’s struggle to get responses from a specific demographic, which leads the responses that they do receive to count more. “(For example), Pollsters had a heck of a time getting young, black males to respond this time around,” Tompkins said. “What happened was that in some polls they ended up taking those young black males when they could get a response and let that person represent many others that they needed in order to have a representative sample.”

The problem with that comes from putting too much value on one statement. There’s usually many different ways of looking at a situation and it becomes dangerous to assume the position of a demographic based on too small of a sample size.

“It certainly is a quandary as to how much stock you can place into big data and it might be beyond the ability of people to sort through and pick out what appears to be accurate and what is not,” Benton said.

“It’s almost like your groping in the dark; do your best to try and interpret but it might not be good enough.” both acknowledged the country’s need to be “stronger together.”

“If there is a willingness, only time will tell,” Benton said. “If it is as workable as it sounds like it could be.”

Clinton’s win of the popular vote with 59,814,018 to Trump’s 59,611,678 votes shows the closeness of the race and the division across America.

“The closeness of the election can be seen as a push-back against policies of the Obama Administration,” Benton said. “Whether it be Trump coming into office or Clinton, there is something that needs to be addresses, how they’ll do it, only time will tell.”

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Classifieds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA

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VOICE

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understand the technicalities of an election. He had to do research before he knew that both parties nominated a candidate before they ran for the presidency.

Maria Mohammed, a senior from Trinidad and Tobago majoring in industrial engineering, said that she found the whole process “really disappointing.”

Other international students share the opinion given by Nanda Bose, a junior double majoring in accounting and economics, who mentioned that he was “just anxious about what’s going to happen.”

One factor causing international students to become nervous is Trump’s outspoken views on immigration. While they aren’t immigrants, they are allowed to pursue an education in the U.S. because of students visas, and on Trump’s website under ‘Immigration Reform’ is a section that talks about his plan to abolish the J-1 visa program.

This isn’t the only visa given to foreigners who want to study in the U.S., but it could be seen as the first step.

“It’s a little bit scary too, because

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I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Anabelle Castagne a senior majoring in architecture.

“Things could change. It can affect my visa, it can affect my schooling, it can affect how long I’ll be here.”

While they also aren’t citizens, which means they couldn’t vote, international students have certainly witnessed enough this election season to form their own opinions. However, despite being in a country that lauds its right to free speech, some feel as if the First Amendment did not extend to them.

“I feel like I can’t really express my political views to a lot of students just because everyone seems to be very sensitive about it in most of my classes,” Maria said. “I feel like it’s a very sensitive topic to everyone so I have to be very careful what I say and I can’t really express my opinion as an outsider.”

Others made more mixed feelings on not being able to take part in the election.

“It was kind of nice to be able to sit back and watch it all unfold, but at the same time you kind of want to have a say in it,” MorganBaveystock said.

This election season, many international students found

Some students worry about a Trump’s presidency affecting their student visas. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE themselves playing messenger Bose, who hails from Bangladesh. between the U.S. and inquisitive “Yeah, those questions do come up friends and family in their native a lot, but often times we don’t have countries. These people wanted a the answer for it.” first-hand account of the election, According to a Pew poll published and there was no better source to in June, 85 percent of Europeans turn to. did not have confidence in Donald A majority of the questions Trump when it came to foreign about who was running, what were affairs, as compared to 27 percent their platforms and, especially, who said the same for Clinton. what a Trump presidency would The #TrumpTrain phenomenon be like. appears to be confusing Europeans “You just have to say that the more than Americans.

U.S. still has two other branches “I feel like a lot of people are of the government and Trump mainly interested in why are people probably won’t do a lot of the voting for Trump because I feel like things he’s talking about right now a candidate like him wouldn’t gain if he becomes president,” said the popularity (in England) that

obviously he has got (in the U.S.),” Morgan-Baveystock said. “They’re not necessarily judgmental, they just kind of want to gain insight and learn more about why an American voter would vote for somebody like that because I feel like it’s definitely a foreign concept for some people back home.”

However, the general feelings that non-Americans have about this election were expressed by Mohammed, when who believes that “the choices are forcing most Americans to choose between the lesser of two evils,” which is a sentiment that many Americans have voiced ever since Trump and Clinton were nominated.

While an overwhelming amount of foreigners tended to lean towards Clinton, it wasn’t because of an immense love for her.

“I wouldn’t say I have a favorite out of either of them, but there’s definitely one who I dislike more than the other, and I feel like that’s the same for a lot of the voters this election. They’re not necessarily voting for a candidate, you’re more or less voting against a candidate,” Morgan-Baveystock said. “I’d obviously be voting against Donald Trump, but that by no means means I’m endorsing Hillary.”

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The Rundown

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Bulls bulk up for title run Football

Outside USF

Quote of the day “People say whatever they want and there’s very little consequence. For her to say something like that and then have a B.S. apology like she did, it’s just the way of the world. I don’t let it bother me.

It’s something I’m very used to. It’s just the way people are, Sherman the way people were raised.”

- Seattle Seahawks corner back Richard Sherman on the apology by Buffalo Bills kicker Dan Carpenter’s wife after she tweeted that he should be castrated for a late hit on her husband on Monday.

USF Weekend Schedule

Men’s Soccer No. 4 UCF (5-10, 3-4) @ No. 1 USF (9-6-2, 6-1) When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Corbett Soccer Stadium

Men’s Basketball Florida A&M (0-0) @ USF (0-0) When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: USF Sun Dome

Volleyball USF (16-10, 7-7) @ Tulsa (17-9, 6-8) When: Tonight, 8 p.m.

Where: Tulsa, Okla.

Football

Woodie’s move to the sideline paying off

Senior defensive tackle Daniel Awoleke now holds the top bench press on the team with a max-out of 475 pounds. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/USF ATHLETICS

By Vinnie Portell S P O R T S

E D I T O R

Upon taking over as head coach of USF football in 2013, Willie Taggart was far from impressed with the fitness and strength of the team he inherited.

“When you have me benching more than some guys, then we’ve got issues,” Taggart said at an offseason tour stop in 2014. “Player development was not where it needed to be.”

After the Bulls won only two games in 2013, Taggart fired former strength and conditioning coach Hans Straub after he sent out a tweet that criticized the San Francisco 49ers for drafting former USF defensive end Aaron Lynch.

With a void on the staff, Taggart quickly hired former West Virginia strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde, who played under Taggart as a defensive lineman at Western Kentucky.

“We needed to get stronger and we still need to get stronger,” Oderinde said. “By no means are we where we want to be, but when I got here, our overall strength was definitely one of the things that we needed. We needed strength. We

needed a purpose, attitude, confidence. There was a lot we needed to develop.”

The strength the Bulls have added since Oderinde’s arrival in 2014 has gone hand-in-hand with USF’s turnaround from a team at the bottom of the AAC to one that’s in the midst of playing for a conference championship.

Several Bulls have added significant weight since just last season, with 11 players gaining at least 10 pounds over the offseason.

As a unit, the average weight for a starter on the offensive line has jumped from 308 to 317 pounds since 2014, aiding in the protection of quarterback Quinton Flowers and the Bulls’ potent rushing attack of Marlon Mack and D’Ernest Johnson.

One of those lineman who’s made strides in the weight room since Oderinde was hired is the 6-foot-1, 330-pound senior Dominique Threatt, who tied former defensive lineman Todd Chandler’s school-record squat of 700 pounds this summer.

“I’ve improved a lot,” Threatt said. “When I first came in, I had high school strength. Now I actually have power. I can show it on

the field.

“Squatting 700 pounds (has been my biggest accomplishment).

I was kind of skeptical going in, but when I did it, I did it kind of easy so it made me think I should have done more, but safety comes first.”

Senior defensive tackle Daniel Awoleke, who earned a scholarship last season after playing as a walkon, said he’s been stronger than his peers since middle school, but has had to work harder than ever before in the weight room since coming to USF. “Around sixth or seventh grade, I was a lot heavier than the other guys,” the 6-foot-5, 295-pound Awoleke said. “I would just dominate them completely because I was a lot bigger than them. I played defensive line and I had a whole bunch of tackles and sacks, it was so easy for me to get back there.

“My strength has grown tremendously since coming here, it was a big jump. But it’s taken a lot of work over the years. It’s easier for me to control guys as far as the offensive lineman. When I get my hands on them, it’s real easy for me to get off them and shake them off. I can basically throw them around.”

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Defensive coordinator Raymond Woodie has moved from the press box to the field. ORACLE FILE PHOTO

By Chuck Muller S T A F F

W R I T E R

Bulls’ defensive coordinator Raymond Woodie ‘s first year has been a bumpy ride to say the least.

Starting the first eight games of his reign as USF’s head defensive coordinator, Woodie has helped lead the Bulls to a 6-2 record while calling plays from the coaches’ booth.

Despite the winning record, Woodie’s role came into question by fans as the Bulls have allowed an average of 466 yards per game coming into their matchup with AAC foe Navy.

Noting the need for change, Woodie took the auxiliary elevator at Raymond James Stadium downstairs to field level to guide his unit from the sidelines for their meeting with the Midshipmen, a game the Bulls won 52-45.

By moving from high above the field to eye-level, Woodie said that being able to work directly with his players as situations arise in-game is a key element going forward.

“When you have guys that you

n See WOODIE on PAGE 11

Know the foe: Memphis T H U R S DAY, N O V E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

Football

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USF at Memphis • Liberty Bowl • Saturday, 7 p.m. • ESPNU

By Vinnie Portell S T A F F

W R I T E R

With only three weeks remaining in USF’s regular season, the Bulls find themselves in a situation all-too similar to the final stretch of 2015.

Just like last season, USF will need a Temple loss to reach the AAC Championship game, but coach Willie Taggart said he and the Bulls are paying no mind to the Owls.

“It’s the fourth quarter of the season and we have to finish strong,” Taggart said. “Our guys understand that and we still know that if we want what we all want, then we have to take care of these three ball games no matter what Temple does.

“We can’t worry about Temple and what they’re doing, it’ll drive you crazy if you do that. We have to take care of our business.”

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The senior defensive tackle added 12 pounds over the offseason and now benches 475 pounds, 50 pounds more than the next closest Bull.

Through nine games in 2016, Awoleke is having his best year at

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First up among the Bulls’ final three games is Memphis, which has been the only AAC team to defeat Temple in 2016.

Despite losses in three of their last six games, the Tigers’ offense has averaged 38.8 points this season and will likely present a challenge for the Bulls, who rank 114 out of 128 FBS teams in total defense, according to the NCAA. “They’re an explosive offense,” Taggart said. “They’re up-tempo, they do a really good job with their run-pass option, they kind of live by that. So, you have to be disciplined defensively. Probably more importantly, you have to be patient. You can’t just run all over the place because you think they’re running and they freeze up and throw the ball.”

Led by junior quarterback Riley Ferguson, who’s thrown for 2,565 yards and 21 touchdowns, the Tigers lead a bal-

anced attack that has also produced 17 rushing touchdowns.

Redshirt junior Dorceus Doroland, who’s rushed for 559 yards and six scores, heads a backfield including two other players who have rushed for at least 345 yards and two scores in Patrick Taylor and Darrell Henderson.

Even with Memphis’ offensive success this season, defense has been its downfall, allowing 49.6 points per game in its three losses.

With both offenses rolling and the defenses struggling, USF quarterback Quinton Flowers said the emphasis over the bye week has been limiting turnovers.

“Before we go out against our defense, he stresses about us carrying the ball, holding the ball tight,” Flowers said.

“He wants to see if Memphis can drive on our defense, so if we go three-and-out, we go

three-and-out. But at the end of the day, we feel there’s no one that can stop our offense but ourselves.

“You saw it in the Navy game. If we capitalize and do what we’re supposed to do, we can score every drive we get.”

After USF hung 52 points on No. 22 Navy two weeks ago and Memphis scored 51 on SMU in Dallas this weekend, the Bulls will look to their offense to keep them in not only the game, but also the AAC title race when they travel to play at Memphis on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We have three good games coming up and how we’re looking at it is every single game is the conference championship now,” defensive tackle Bruce Hector said. “If we lose one, we’re out of the race, so we’re looking at every single game like it’s a must-win, because it is.”

USF with 22 tackles, including two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

When it comes to the strongest players on the team, Threatt and Awoleke point to the guys playing in the trenches.

“You have Deadrin (Senat), you have Gonzo (Marlin Gonzalez), you have me, you have Kofi (Amichia),”

Threatt said. “The running backs can even get down in the weight room too.”

Awoleke agreed, pointing to Senat as the toughest guy on the field.

“Deadrin and Gonzo, those are two guys who are really strong, man,” Awoleke said. “Also Cecil (Cherry). He’s so strong for his size,

he’s a really strong linebacker. But Deadrin’s just a dog, he’s so stout, so strong. It’s hard to move him.

You think twice about going against him.”

Since the hiring of Oderinde in the summer of 2014, the Bulls have gone from a two-win team to one that’s won seven of nine in 2016 with a chance to challenge the best

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see day-to-day, week-to-week, when they’re right in your face asking questions about the adjustments and what you think about this and what you think about that … it feels like a home,” Woodie said Wednesday afternoon.

“I mean you’re right there in their face. Up top is good as well, but it’s a different feeling. Now you got them coming right off the field and you can do a couple more things down there as a coordinator that you probably couldn’t do (before).”

Sophomore safety Nate Ferguson said being closer to Woodie during the game is beneficial as he develops into his role at striker.

“It’s good because it’s just like practice,” Ferguson said.

“He’s here in practice, and when he’s in the box we can’t really talk to him … him yelling at us and teaching us … it’s going to get us going.”

Injury Report After failing to come out for a fourth quarter field goal attempt in the waning minutes of the win against Navy, junior kicker Emilio Nadelman has not dressed at practice this week, and was seen on crutches Tuesday due to a quad injury.

Nadelman, who is a perfect 7-for7 on field goal attempts this year, will be replaced Saturday by walkon junior Brandon Behr if he cannot go.

Behr, who had his only attempt of the season blocked by the Midshipmen on that fourth quarter kick, has secured the trust of Taggart.

“I have a lot of confidence in him,” Taggart said. “We always say that if a guy goes down, the next guy has to be ready to go. Same thing with Brandon: he’s got to be ready to go. We know he’ll get it done for us.”

Bulls’ junior safety Devin Abraham was back at practice this week, now rid of the cast that had been on his right hand.

Abraham missed the last four games after undergoing surgery on his hand.

record in school history since they went 9-2 in 2002.

“Ah man, it’s the fight,” Awoleke said. “From spring, through the summer training, it’s just remembering that we put the work in, and we’ve done what we need to do as a group. We’ve done a real good job to be 7-2, we just have to keep it up so we can end up on top.”

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