Bulls must slow down WKU’s Rainey

Posted Sep 20, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Sep 20, 2010 at 12:37 AM

While most people probably know of the struggles on the field with the Western Kentucky program – the Hilltoppers will bring the nation’s longest losing streak at 23 games into Raymond James Stadium on Saturday – they may not know of a bright spot on the team.

Bobby Rainey, a 5-foot-7, 196-pound junior running back, will come to Tampa as the nation’s fifth-leading rusher after posting his third consecutive 100-yard game against a BCS conference opponent in Western Kentucky’s latest setback Saturday against Indiana (105 yards). He will be the key person the Bulls defense must slow down.

“He’s a threat. He does a great job, their offensive line does a great job coming off the ball,” Bulls coach Skip Holtz said. “What they do is they try to come off the ball and they have a great power running game and they try to control the ball on you, and they do a nice job with it.”

Rainey, who hails from Griffin High in Georgia, the same school as USF’s latest verbal commitment, tight end Ty Turner, also has topped the 100-yard mark in games against Nebraska (155 yards) and Kentucky (184 yards) this season. He has 444 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in three games, and is averaging 6.1 yards per carry.