Coming off its loss against Houston on Oct. 29, South Florida is heading to Temple on Saturday to fight for its second win of the season.

Against the Cougars (5-3, 3-1), the Bulls (1-7, 0-4) struggled to keep up throughout the entire game. This week, offensive coordinator Travis Trickett believes that leadership from within the team is what will guide the Bulls into a better position.

“Gerry [Bohanon] has took it upon himself to be essentially like a coach,” Trickett said. “He’s gonna be coach Bohanon here these next four weeks, has done a phenomenal job with him, with Trey [sophomore Katravis Marsh] and Byrum [Brown]. That’s not just his leadership, but that’s his makeup.”

Here is a deep dive look of this week from both football coordinators:

Trickett’s biggest plague: Injuries

Injuries continue to hurt the Bulls, and despite the pain, many players continue to push and play through to carry the team.

Trickett revealed on Wednesday that many first string players perform through the pain.

“Brad Cecil has played hurt a lot of the games,” Trickett said. “Demontrey Jacobs, Dustyn Hall, those guys and then with Mike Lofton and Derrell Bailey try and start to play some more roles, but those four guys play a lot of ball unfortunately.”

Not only is his offensive line in pain, but the quarterback position has taken a toll with junior starting quarterback Gerry Bohanon out for the rest of the season.

With sophomore quarterback Katravis Marsh sliding into QB1, there are still some adjustments to be made after his first full appearance against the Cougars. However, Trickett has noticed he has taken key steps while assuming the role.

“Him knowing he has to play now, there’s a different approach by him. You can see a noticeable difference,” Trickett said. “I think that’s allowed us to be picking up where we left off when GB [Gerry Bohanon] was in.”

Defense trying to offset great quarterbacks

Temple’s record may not show it, but Owls quarterback E.J. Warner has shown some talent throughout the season. Warner has thrown 1,504 passing yards and eight touchdowns so far this season.

For defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, he won’t let the teams overall performance overlook the bursts of talents that can steal a potential win.

“Make no mistake, Warner is a good player. What he lacks in experience, he certainly has in talent and expertise to the position,” Shoop said.

Not only do the statistics indicate a great quarterback, but a team that can withstand sacks while producing them thanks to Warner. The quarterback only has six sacks registered against him, while the Owls have produced 29 sacks so far this season. Shoop knows these two are in direct correlation.

“It’s interesting. I think they’re one of the top teams in the country in sacks and they’re also one of the top top teams in the country not getting sacked,” Shoop said. “That’s a product of him [Warner] getting rid of the ball. Him making good decisions and him having a nice feel for the position.”