USF Football: 3 takeaways from victory over Illinois

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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(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

2. Youth of both teams yielded sloppy play (penalties galore)

Both of these teams are young, and with youth, comes sloppy play. Many teams around the country that know they will be dealing with younger squads preach this type of stuff during film sessions and all offseason. However, it looked like both teams were on the field for the first time this season.

Honestly, this game looked like an offseason scrimmage — that’s how bad the penalty issues were. Some of the calls were poor, but for the most part, both teams played like they didn’t know the rules of the game, and that’s on the coaches.

For each team to improve moving forward, they both need to work on discipline. There shouldn’t be so many false starts, offsides, delays of game, facemasks and targeting calls. Each team dropped the ball, and they know it.

In total, the teams had 31 penalties for a total of 293 yards. South Florida had 16 for 155 yards and Illinois had 15 for 138. Just not the best-looking game of the week, but you better believe both coaches will be drilling on that this week during practice and in the film room. Youth can be frustrating at times, but it’ll pay off in the long run.

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