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USF Football: 3 takeaways from victory over Illinois

By Connor Muldowney

TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 15: Quarterback Quinton Flowers #9 of the South Florida Bulls is congratulated by teammates after scoring a touchdown against Illinois Fighting Illini at Raymond James Stadium on September 15, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr. /Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 15: Quarterback Quinton Flowers #9 of the South Florida Bulls is congratulated by teammates after scoring a touchdown against Illinois Fighting Illini at Raymond James Stadium on September 15, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr. /Getty Images) /
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USF football hosted Illinois in a big Week 3 battle for the Bulls. What did we learn from their blowout win over the Big Ten foe?

Just a week after being devastated by Hurricane Irma, the city of Tampa had a nice distraction, if only for a few hours. Friday night’s USF football game against Illinois was the distraction that Tampa needed after a rough week and the Bulls’ big win was the cherry on top.

Although the game was sloppy, seeing penalty flag after penalty flag, the Bulls took care of business in a big way.

South Florida didn’t get going quickly, though. It needed a big second-quarter boost to reach the 23-point mark at halftime and take a two-touchdown lead into the locker room. Lovie Smith wasn’t all too pleased with the effort, but with such a young, inexperienced team on the road, mistakes should have been expected — although not this many.

Charlie Strong is now 3-0 in his first year as USF football coach and he might just have a special team on his hands after all. Here are three takeaways from the Bulls’ win.

3. USF might be national contender, after all

If the Bulls can clean up their penalties, the Bulls might be able to contend with just about anyone in the college football ranks. The game was flat-out sloppy and turned a dominant performance by USF into an “ugly” win.

The scoreboard wasn’t all that ugly, though. This was, however, the Bulls’ best win yet. After a shaky performance in the season-opener against San Jose State and an even shakier showing versus Stony Brook, the Bulls looked overrated and beatable. Not the case on Friday against their first Power Five foe.

Sure, it was just Illinois, but the Fighting Illini are in the Big Ten and had higher expectations this year after a 3-9 campaign a year ago. The Bulls beat Illinois by more points on Friday night than all but three teams (Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin) did in 2016. That’s impressive for a Group of Five program.

Well, Western Michigan also beat the Illini by 24 last season and what happened with that Group of Five team? The Broncos only went on to finish 13-1 and play in the Cotton Bowl.

Are the Bulls finally coming together as a serious threat to make a New Year’s Six bowl? It looks that way.

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