Florida dispatched Florida Atlantic with relative ease in Week 1, but the performance didn’t go a long way to solidify quarterback Emory Jones as the guy going forward. Jones tossed two interceptions and struggled in the passing game as the team had to rely on a behemoth 400-yard performance from the rushing attack.
While a Group of Five opponent like the Owls should have been no match for the Gators, it’s worth remembering that FAU boasted one of the best defenses in the Football Bowl Subdivision a year ago.
UF’s opponent this week can make no such claim. Florida travels to Tampa for a bit of an odd road game against South Florida at Raymond James Stadium as part of a two-for-one series, and the Bulls have a fairly bleak outlook moving forward.
The USF football program has existed since 2000, and aside from a solid stretch from 2006-10 where the team won no less than eight games each season, there hasn’t been much notable in that span. The Bulls appeared to have turned a corner under coach Willie Taggart in 2016, when they finished with 11 wins and ranked in the final AP Top 25 for the first time.
Taggart left to take the Oregon job after that season, but South Florida replaced him with an experienced coach in Charlie Strong. That seemed to work, as the team went 10-2 in 2017 and finished ranked yet again. But the Bulls were being surpassed by their rival in Orlando. UCF was just two years removed from a winless season, but they went undefeated in 2017, and Strong couldn’t keep up.
READ: That one time Florida faced USF on the college football gridiron
The team fell to 7-6 in 2018 and then 4-8 in 2019, leading to Strong’s firing. USF brought in longtime Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott in for what appears to be a lengthy rebuild.
The team went 1-8 last year, with the lone win coming against the Citadel in Scott’s debut. The first outing in 2021 wasn’t nearly as successful, as the team was blanked 45-0 at NC State. This Bulls team shouldn’t present as much of a challenge as the Owls did last week, but here’s what you need to know about them.
NEXT: A quarterback controversy