" At this point, Rivals ranks the class first in the American Athletic Conference and tied for 38th nationally. No other Group of Five program is ranked higher."
" He becomes at least the fourth defensive player to arrive this offseason via transfer, joining [former East Bay cornerback KJ Sails (North Carolina), safety Devin Studstill (Notre Dame) and linebacker Patrick Macon (Oklahoma State)."
Outlook: Bell’s “play fast, score faster” mentality could give the Bulls a big energy boost. The 54-year-old coordinator wants to see his offense eliminate turnovers that proved costly during last season’s six-game losing streak.
USF returns a wealth of experience on defense, but the group needs to go back to what made it successful in 2017, attacking and creating turnovers.
The Bulls can jump out to another hot start in American Athletic Conference play thanks to a favorable schedule, but they must brace for a difficult November.
2019 Schedule
Aug. 31 Wisconsin
Sept. 7 at Georgia Tech
Sept. 14 South Carolina State
Sept. 28 SMU
Oct. 5 at UConn
Oct. 12 BYU
Oct. 19 at Navy
Oct. 26 at East Carolina
Nov. 7 Temple
Nov. 16 Cincinnati
Nov. 23 Memphis
Nov. 30 at UCF
This preview makes USF sound a lot like us last year.
Bell’s offense works if his players can mess with a defense’s eye discipline. In theory, the run calls and play action will look the same, and wide receivers will become adept at double moves. That all creates explosive plays, something USF needs. Trick plays are also used.
“Nowadays, if you want to be really good — you have to be consistent offensively at converting third downs and have to be great in the red zone — I think you have to have the ability to be explosive and create explosive plays,” Bell said. “If you can create four or five explosive plays, it’s going to help you score a lot of points.”
I was surprised by this:
He said USF has a “pretty good arrangement” playing at Raymond James Stadium. The Bulls’ averaged an announced attendance of 38,517, which ranked second in the AAC (behind only UCF). That’s up 22 percent from 2017 and was the third largest jump of any school in the nation, according to the NCAA.
Went back and looked at it and they did have pretty good ticket sales. Biggest boon was their game against UCF that brought in 57,626, had 42,127 against UCONN (they were undefeated and ranked 21…week before they came here and got destroyed) and they never went below 31K.
Of course, their bowl game was in the same stadium and drew 14,135 against Marshall so it may be a case of folks in Tampa buying up season tickets, but not attending the games.
Tickets sold is $$$ regardless but it usually looks rather empty even considering the size of the stadium.
USF in general seems to be on the upswing.
I live in Clearwater/Dunedin are & this was news worthy.
"The university is already harder to get into than ever before, especially after USF Tampa reached “preeminent” status last year. (June 18)
The designation, which is held by only three Florida universities, is driven mostly by student-performance data. And it’s attached to state funding."
Awarded Phi Beta Kappa in August, 18.
When Dr. Judy Genshaft retired (Renu Khator’s old boss) she gave them $20 million to build an honors college.
These UGone fans are a bunch of piss pots & I’m glad to be rid of them but this is sort of funny.
https://twitter.com/UConn6thBorough/status/1148633533642137605?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1148633533642137605&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%231148633533642137605
Got some impressive TE’s in this conference. This guy, the Cincy guy, and Magnifico at Memphis are really good.
I live in Tampa area & driving rain multiple times a day is quite common. Its also notorious for lightning.
Not having an indoor facility has to be a huge issue.
“Sales of group tickets, however, have increased 377 percent, with 3,143 sold to date. Sales of multi-game ticket packages are up 104 percent, with 1,020 sold so far. Single-game ticket sales are up 200 percent, with 1,251 sold to date.”
This guy is really, really good.
“His defensive transfers ― at least those who are eligible in 2019 ― are going to play. A lot.
Safety Devin Studstill (Notre Dame) and cornerback KJ Sails (North Carolina) each had an interception, while rush end Darius Slade (Arizona State)…Those three, and graduate-transfer linebacker Patrick Macon (Oklahoma State), appear to have established themselves as immediate-impact guys”
https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Bulls/status/1160246333867012099
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