USF Football: 2018 Bulls are reloading, but still dangerous

How does one replace a Quinton Flowers?

Any discussion of the Bulls’ 2018 offense begins and ends with the gaping hole at quarterback, where Quinton Flowers, inarguably the greatest player in program history, leaves after rewriting the USF and AAC record books and posting a 30-9 record as a starter. That USF fell just short of their lofty goals in 2017 is no fault of Flowers’; he threw for 2,911 yards that season, rushed for 1,078 more, and contributed 605 total yards and five touchdowns in the decisive game against UCF.

This is not the sort of player that can be replaced, especially at a school on the wrong side of the Power Five divide. But, in fairness, the Bulls do have a few intriguing options jostling to be his successor.

Junior Brett Kean and sophomore Chris Oladokun have been Flowers’ primary backups for the last two seasons. Both are familiar with Gilbert’s playbook. Both have their relative advantages: Kean won the battle for the second-string job last year and has looked solid in mop-up duty, while Oladokun has a cannon for an arm and could be the prototypical pocket-passer that Gilbert craves.

Alas, neither was able to grab the starting spot for themselves in the spring, which led to Strong and company bringing in former blue-chipper and Alabama quarterback Blake Barnett as a graduate transfer. Barnett is eligible to play right away, but a one-year stint at Arizona State in which he never seriously challenged for the starting job has taken away a bit of the luster behind his arrival.

Logic would dictate that Kean and Oladokun have a leg up in the race, but from all indications from the coaching staff, Barnett will be given every chance to compete for the job come August. This appears to be as wide-open as they come.

Finding the right pieces for Gilbert’s offense

Enough literature has been devoted to the relative struggles of the 2017 USF offense, which, despite putting up big numbers, sputtered too often and failed to adequately utilize the talents of its best players. To avoid beating this dead horse, let us instead evaluate how the Bulls’ current roster fits what Sterlin Gilbert would like to do on offense.

There are some holes to fill at the skill positions. USF loses their top two halfbacks from last year’s team (Darius Tice and D’Ernest Johnson, who combined for 1,739 yards on the ground in 2017), and an NFL draftee at receiver (Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who set the Bulls’ single-season record for receiving yards with 879).

The backfield shouldn’t take too huge a hit, as the Bulls add Florida transfer Jordan Cronkrite (511 total yards in two seasons with the Gators), and the coaching staff is very high on bruising sophomore Elijah Mack, who at 215 pounds might be an ideal feature back for Gilbert’s power running game. Add in a couple studs at receiver in senior Tyre McCants and junior Darnell Salomon, and the new quarterback should have a handful of weapons to help ease his transition. McCants averaged 107 yards receiving over the last four games of 2017, including a record-setting 227 against UCF, while Salomon averaged 70 over the same span.

It seems safe to bet on a bit of regression post-Flowers, but this offense should still have a decent amount of pop to it, no matter who wins the quarterback job. Whether or not they can find pieces to fit into Gilbert’s scheme – or whether or not Gilbert can tailor his scheme to the available talent – will go a long way in determining how successful this team is.