College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The USF Bulls Offense
The passing game has to start to work. The new coaching staff should do wonders with an attack that has a ton of quarterback options – more on that in a second – and a decent-yet-underutilized receiving corps.
The Bull quarterbacks combined to complete just 54% of their passes, they only hit the 200-yard mark four times, and when they stalled, the really stalled. The O can’t average just 6.2 yards per pass again, and it has open things up enough to make some defense worry.
Biggest Key To The USF Bulls Defense
Where were the third down stops? It’s bad enough that the offense couldn’t move the ball consistently enough and couldn’t do anything to control the clock, but the defense couldn’t get off the field, either.
Making things weirder under the former coaching staff was how the pass rush worked well enough that the D should’ve been able to rock on third downs, and it didn’t happen.
46%. That’s what opposing offenses were able to do on third downs, and only allowed four teams to convert fewer than 40% of their tries. Navy converted 75% of their third down chances, and teams hit the 50% clip in five of the last seven games.
Key USF Bulls Player To A Successful Season
QB Jordan McCloud, Soph.
Or Cade Fortin, or any one of slew of other options. There’s a decent team coming back, but none of it works unless the quarterback play is a whole lot better.
McCloud was throwing into a spit-storm last year when the offense really, really wasn’t working, and he did what he could. The 6-0, 190-pounder can move, and he tried moving a passing game that didn’t do enough, but at least he’s experienced.
The 6-3, 220-pound Fortin was a good get for North Carolina, and he’s got the size and the skills to be an instant spark if if it’s not McCloud.
Key Game To The USF Bulls Season
at Florida Atlantic, Sept. 26
There are plenty of important conference games that will matter as the season goes on, but for the sake of new head coach Jeff Scott and his coordinators who have FAU ties, don’t lose to new Owl-former-USF head coach Willie Taggart in late September.
Assuming a loss at Texas, a win over Bethune-Cookman, and in a nice world, a home win over Nevada, being 2-1 is a possibility before going over to Boca Raton. Start 3-1, and a bowl game is a real possibility. Lose, and getting to six victories will be a major problem.
– USF Bulls Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 USF Fun Stats
– Sacks: Opponents 45 for 246 yards – USF 29 for 184 yards
– Penalties: USF 102 for 888 yards – Opponents 73 for 655 yards
– Time of Possession: Opponents 32:09 – USF 27:51