Strong urges focus on UCF game, not rivalry

TAMPA — There’s hype and then there’s rivalry week hype.

One need only look closely at the monstrous 4-foot-3, 165-pound War on I-4 trophy to see just what the battle between UCF and USF means. It’s there on the pewter plates attached to the front: scores from each of the previous eight meetings during this in-state series. Six of those meetings were won by USF, including last season’s 48-31 victory in Tampa.

“This game truly speaks for itself,” USF senior offensive lineman Cameron Ruff said Tuesday.

The 6-foot-3, 320-pound veteran has been involved in his fair share of clashes during his time at USF.

“If there has to be a motivational speech for every player, then there is something wrong with them,” he said. “We’ve been looking forward to this game all year. We [had] a feeling it was going to come down to this game for the conference championship. Now that it is, there should be self-motivation all week.”

Since the start of camp in late July, USF players and coaches have done nothing but talk about one goal: winning the first conference championship in school history.

In 2015, USF spent the final few weeks of the season hoping Temple would falter late, sending the Bulls to their conference championship game. The Owls, however, held on to win the American Athletic Conference East Division.

The Bulls came close in 2016 after finishing tied atop the American Athletic Conference East Division at 7-1, but a 46-30 loss to Temple in late October sent the Owls to the conference championship game instead.

But now, USF (9-1, 6-1 AAC) controls its own fate. The Bulls need a win against rival UCF (10-0, 7-0) Friday to earn another shot at a conference crown.

Charlie Strong hasn’t been a part of the War of I-4 rivalry, but the first-year USF coach is quite familiar with in-state showdowns. He saw it firsthand as an assistant coach at Florida when the Gators faced Florida State, and as a coach at Louisville when the Cardinals faced Kentucky.

“I like it the way that it is now,” Strong said. “A lot of times, you get into a rivalry game and they’re not very good and they don’t have much significance to it.”

Strong said that this year both teams are performing well and can claim a spot in the conference title game with a win. The Knights are also the highest-ranked team from a group of 5 conferences in the College Football Playoff rankings. If UCF wins the AAC, it would play in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

“It’s going to be a big buildup in the very beginning, but then the game is going to settle down. And once it settles down, you just have to play football,” Strong said. “It will be hyped up but then we’ve got to go play the game.”

Strong, who said emotions will be high on both sides, has already been instructing his players what to avoid Friday.

“This game is going to be different because it’s a rivalry game, but you’re still going to have to play the game,” he said.