USF Football: Bulls hoping to take small step forward in Jeff Scott’s first year

How will USF football fare in 2020?

There are areas where the Bulls can have plenty of success in the upcoming 2020 season. The Bulls have potential, but they also have a tough schedule.

Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the Bulls:

• Game 1: at Texas (L) – South Florida immediately starts their season with a tough trip to Austin against a determined Longhorns team.
• Game 2: vs. Bethune-Cookman (W) – The Bulls will open their first home game of the season with a huge decisive win.
• Game 3: vs. Nevada (W) – Nevada is a team not to be taken lightly as the Bulls’ defense will just be efficient enough to stop the Wolf Pack.
• Game 4: at Florida Atlantic (W) – The Bulls will face their former head coach in Willie Taggart and show their potential against a reloading Owls team.
• Game 5: at Cincinnati (L) – Defensively, the Bearcats will be too stout for the Bulls to create some sort of consistent scoring offense.
• Game 6: vs. East Carolina (W) – South Florida with a depleted team beat East Carolina on the road 45-20 last season. The Results might not differ this upcoming season for the Bulls.
• Game 7: at Temple (L) – The Bulls will not be able to keep pace against the Owls in a potential shootout.
• Game 8: vs. Tulsa (L) – The Golden Hurricanes will have one of the most productive passing offenses in the AAC, which will lead to a difficult shootout to win.
• Game 9: at Memphis (L) – This will be the toughest game for the Bulls’ defense to compete against as the Tigers are one of the most well-balanced teams in the nation.
• Game 10: at Houston (L) – The Cougars expect to be much efficient on the offensive side of the ball than last season.
• Game 11: vs. Navy (L) – South Florida’s inexperienced defensive line will not be ready for the triple-option offense of the Midshipmen.
• Game 12: vs. UCF (L) – The Bulls will finish their season with a conference foe that will be highly difficult to score against.

Prediction: 4-8, 1-7 AAC

The Bulls have a long way to go to get back near the top of the AAC again. In the time that the Bulls have been an FBS program, they have only won one divisional title in 2016 as co-champions with the Temple Owls. Jeff Scott was brought on because the program looks demands championship-caliber mentality and determination.

This season’s success will depend on which quarterback and which offensive scheme the Bulls decide to go into. Even if they find a quarterback that has the potential to create high-volume of productivity either in the passing game or through the rushing game, they will need the offensive line to be efficient to not allow constant pressure on their quarterback.

Finding starters and sticking with the starters would be beneficial to the team overall. This is the case with the offensive and defensive lines. The defensive line will need to add more impact in creating chaos in the backfield of an opposing offense.

There are plenty of games in which the Bulls can find themselves achievable victories. Their away game matchup versus Temple is an ideal game where the Bulls can win once they find their biggest strengths by the time the middle of October rolls around. The Bulls will be playing against eight FBS teams this season that accumulated a winning record last season.

There is potential for the Bulls to become conference championship contenders, but this season will be the first small forward for Scott to develop his program.