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GAME NOTES: South Florida continues to climb the rankings and rightfully so. Skip Holtz's 20th-ranked Bulls will put their 2-0 record on the line this weekend, when they welcome FCS foe Florida A&M to Tampa.

South Florida opened the season in South Bend, which is never an easy place to play. However, the crazed crowd did not influence South Florida, which earned a 23-20 victory in a game delayed a couple of time dues to weather. Usually after a win of that magnitude there is a letdown, but that was not the case for USF, which followed the win with a dominating performance against Ball State (37-7).

This should be the toughest opponent for Florida A&M this season. The Rattlers opened the 2011 campaign with a 28-22 victory over Fort Valley State, but followed that with a 23-17 setback to Hampton in the team's conference opener last week.

The Bulls won the only meeting between the two schools, defeating Florida A&M by a 37-3 margin in 2005.

The Rattlers might come into this matchup averaging 22.5 ppg, but the team has not been overly impressive and that does not bode well with South Florida on deck.

The rushing attack has been virtually non-existent, as the team is being limited to just 40.5 ppg. On top of that the passing attack has been inconsistent. Sure, the Rattlers are averaging 268.5 ypg, but through two games the team has just two passing touchdowns against three interceptions.

With the lack of production in the backfield, Austin Trainor has tried to do too much early on, which would explain his erratic numbers. The signal caller has already thrown the ball 69 times, and has completed just 53.6 percent of those attempts.

If the ground game is unable to find room to run, than Trainor is going to have to be more consistent. If he can't limit his mistakes it could be a long year for A&M.

The reason the Rattlers are not winless on the year is because of the defense, which has done a terrific job against the run, limiting teams to just 107.0 ypg on 3.1 yards per carry.

This unit has also done a solid job forcing mistakes, with five takeaways, four of which have been interceptions. Two of those picks have come from John Ojo, but he has not been the best player for the unit. That honor goes to Demarius Folsom, who is leading the team with 19 tackles and two sacks.

The Bulls might have defeated the Irish on their home field in the first week, but the offense was not very impressive. That was certainly not the case in the team's recent victory, as the Bulls charged through Ball State.

South Florida racked up 147 rushing yards in the win and relied heavily on Darrell Scott and Demetri Murray. Scott led the way with 82 yards and one score, while Murray added 48 yards and one touchdown.

B.J. Daniels usually makes his mark in the rushing attack, but the quarterback set career marks with his arm, throwing for 359 yards on 28-of-39 passing. However, Daniels only threw one touchdown against two interception.

Regardless, Holtz feels his quarterback is comfortable under center.

"He's comfortable in the offense and it's really showing with what he's doing," Holtz said. "He's having fun out there."

All Daniels needs to do is manage the offense, because if that unit can limit its mistakes and play smart than the defense should be able to do the rest.

In fact, coach Holtz's defense was the main reason the Bulls defeated Notre Dame as the unit forced five turnovers, one which was returned for a 96-yard touchdown.

Just like that game, the Bulls opened its matchup against Ball State with a touchdown that did not come from the offense. Mark Joyce recovered and returned a fumble on the opening kickoff, giving the Bulls a quick seven-point advantage.

Linebacker Mike Jeune was happy to see his team get off to a quick start.

"On the first play, I really didn't know that he fumbled when I hit him," said Jeune. "But I'm happy that he did and that I'm happy that my teammates were there to pick up the fumble and score."

Clearly the Bulls have relied heavily on their ability to force miscues. Through two games South Florida has collected eight takeaways. If the Bulls can continue to play at this level defensively, then they will be a very tough team to beat.

This should be the easiest game of the season for South Florida. If the Bulls were capable of forcing five turnovers against a solid Notre Dame team, than they should have no trouble completely shutting down a Florida A&M squad that has been inconsistent at best offensively. Look for this one to be over early.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: South Florida 41, Florida A&M 6