PonyFans.com is proud to welcome back, for his third season as a columnist, Nate, who is 15 years old, in ninth grade, might want to be a sports writer and knows more about football than a lot of people who already make their living covering sports. He will offer his thoughts and will preview each game throughout the season, looking at a key player, matchup or statistic that could prove relevant in each upcoming game … and explain why it will impact the outcome. Feel free to post comments and constructive criticism, ask him questions, and/or give suggestions for upcoming columns! (He can be followed on Twitter at @Pony_NATE_tion.)

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The Mustangs head to Tampa, Fla., this week with a record of 1-5 and with hopes of a bowl game looking pretty bleak. If they do fall short, this turns into a season in which coaches evaluate talent and get an idea of what they’ll be working with next season.

The Mustangs will face another mobile quarterback this weekend in USF sophomore Quentin Flowers (photo by gousfbulls.com).

This has been a very deceiving 1-5 start for the Mustangs, who have shown massive improvement from last season. Most of these five losses have been close for a good chunk of the game. For example, SMU should have had a sizable lead at halftime against Houston, but the Mustangs literally fumbled it away and turnovers ended up haunting SMU. The Houston game took the typical blueprint of SMU games so far this year. That blueprint has been the Mustangs playing a great first half, and their lack of depth shows in the second half when the very talented starters run out of gas.

Head coach Chad Morris will keep on watching for improvement with his young, developing players as he waits for more of his own recruits to arrive. The rest of the season definitely will be tough, with a couple more dates with currently undefeated teams Temple and Memphis.

This Saturday, the Mustangs will head to the Sunshine State and take on USF in what should be a really good game. USF is a team that is a little bit better than SMU, but oh, so beatable. USF will also be desperately fighting for their bowl hopes, sitting at 3-3 and a pretty tough remaining conference schedule.

USF is an old-school style football team that doesn’t score many points (20.7 points per game), but runs the ball extremely well (233 rushing yards per game, which is 15th in the nation). This will be a fight for clock control, and the key will be SMU’s defensive front holding their own and not getting worn down by this rushing attack.

The Bulls are led by Quinton Flowers, another dual-threat quarterback like those who have given SMU’s defense fits all year. The rushing attack is led by Marlon Mack (689 yards, 6.5 yards per carry) and Flowers, who has 362 yards rushing and four touchdowns on the ground. Flowers doesn’t throw a whole lot and has been prone to the interception, with six on the year.

The Bulls don’t pass much, but when they do, it’s the long ball. The longest reception for each of USF’s four leading receivers — Rodney Adams, D’Ernest Johnson, Elkanah Dillon, and Ryeshene Johnson — has been a touchdown of 42 or more yards. The lowest yards per catch among those four is 14.1, so the entire Mustang secondary will need to be wary of that and not get caught up in the repetitive running of the ball.

The job for the Mustang offense won’t be easy either, with the 47th-ranked scoring defense in the country awaiting them. The number one key this Saturday will this time of possession and clock control. The team who wins that battle and the turnover battle will win. Matt Davis and Co. will have to hold on to the ball for a while and give SMU’s defense decent breathers. SMU will need big games from the likes of Xavier Jones, Braeden West and Prescott Line. All three will need to run hard and keep the chains moving.

Overall, USF is the better football team and this matchup favors the Bulls. The Mustangs won’t be able to stop the run again and USF will control the clock and keep the SMU offense off the field. The Mustangs will fight hard for about half the game like they have been all year, but because of depth, or lack thereof, the Mustangs will run out of game. I have USF winning this one and SMU falling to 1-6.

Nate’s Take: USF 38, SMU 24