Projected 2017 record and S&P+ ranking: 9-3 (56th)
Biggest strength: Quinton Flowers is the quarterback Charlie Strong wishes he could have developed at his last job, and the Bulls return a ton of big-play receivers.
Biggest question mark: USF’s defense couldn’t force passing downs and took on more snaps than anyone in the country. Can the Bulls do a better job of getting off the damn field occasionally?
Biggest 2017 game: The visit from Temple (Sept. 21) will define who the AAC East favorite is heading into October, but the late trip to UCF (Nov. 24) could determine the division winner.
Summary: Charlie Strong is back in Florida, and he inherits a roster far more experienced than the one he left behind at Texas. The schedule is set up for immediate success; can Strong and his Bulls deliver?
The American-Statesman’s Top 25 countdown: No. 18 South Florida
Charlie Strong’s back in Florida and brought five Texas coaches with him. Will his USF tenure be more Texas or Louisville?
Team turnover: South Florida allowed 196.5 rushing yards and 285.5 passing yards per game last season, which means the Bulls ranked lower than Texas in both statistical categories. Only 17 FBS-level teams, however, forced more turnovers than USF. In addition to those 26 turnovers, the South Florida defense scored three touchdowns.
The motor of the whole team is [6‑foot, 210-pound senior quarterback] Quinton Flowers. There were a lot of times last year when schematically they were not quite together, and Quinton could erase some of those issues. Even when you assign a spy to him, he can make that one guy miss. There are not many teams in this league that have somebody that can get him on the ground when it’s one-on-one and he’s flushed out of the pocket. He needs to be treated like a running back in the run game, and in the passing game, he’s going to make his plays. D’Ernest Johnson [a 5’ 10", 208-pound senior running back] will be as good in the running game as Marlon Mack was last year because Johnson won’t miss a read. He’ll make the offensive line better.
They force a lot of fumbles, and they recover just about all of them [11 of 14 in ’16] because of their team speed. [Senior] Deatrick Nichols was the hardest cornerback for us to get open on in the league last year. Overall, the pass defense wasn’t as bad as people think. They’re a big-play offense, and because they scored so fast, their defense played more plays than the offense.
Under coach Charlie Strong, you’re probably going to see more penalty discipline and a little more physicality at the line of scrimmage.
A two-time all-conference cornerback with eight career interceptions, Nichols appears slightly thicker this preseason (listed at 190 pounds) and has drawn raves from coaches. As a result of his move inside, junior Mazzi Wilkins – a Plant High alumnus – is almost certain to make his first career start at cornerback opposite junior Ronnie Hoggins.
“It’s not putting a lot of pressure on us,” McCants said. “The good thing is we know what we’re doing wrong. We can build in the future starting fast. It’s not adding any more pressure on us. We just got to execute.”
Strong agreed.
“All the issues we have, they can be corrected,” Strong said.
When asked Tuesday about the general panic surrounding his offense and its use of Flowers, Strong first took a subtle jab at fans before responding.
“I’d say this, we had a lot of fans that came out to the game, there were a lot of fans that didn’t show up,” said Strong, whose team drew an actual crowd of 18,302 to its home opener Saturday against Stony Brook. “We just need to get everybody on board.”
The school has shut down operations through Tuesday, meaning the Bulls would have two practice days at the most if the game were held Friday. A travel day (if the game were held in Champaign) would further hinder USF’s practice time.
For now, the game is scheduled to kick off Friday at 7 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium before an ESPN audience.
USF’s game Saturday at Connecticut was called off due to travel concerns amid the threat of Irma. That contest is unlikely to be rescheduled, though American Athletic Conference officials wouldn’t totally rule it out.