2018 South Florida Bulls football team

Last updated

2018 South Florida Bulls football
South Florida Bulls wordmark.png
Gasparilla Bowl, L 20–38 vs. Marshall
Conference American Athletic Conference
Record7–6 (3–5 AAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert (2nd season)
Offensive scheme Veer and shoot
Defensive coordinatorBrian Jean-Mary (2nd season)
Base defense 3–3–5
Home stadium Raymond James Stadium
Seasons
←  2017
2019  →
2018 American Athletic Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$  8 –0   12 –1  
Temple  7 –1   8 –5  
No. 24 Cincinnati  6 –2   11 –2  
South Florida  3 –5   7 –6  
East Carolina  1 –7   3 –9  
UConn  0 –8   1 –11  
West Division
Memphis xy  5 –3   8 –6  
Houston x  5 –3   8 –5  
Tulane x  5 –3   7 –6  
SMU  4 –4   5 –7  
Navy  2 –6   3 –10  
Tulsa  2 –6   3 –9  
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida (USF) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They played their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and were led by second-year head coach Charlie Strong. The Bulls competed as members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in AAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. They were invited to the Gasparilla Bowl where they lost to Marshall.

Contents

The 2018 Bulls became the first team in college football history to start a season 7–0 and lose their final six games. [1]

Preseason

The Bulls replaced 11 starters from a 10-2 season in 2017. One of the biggest storylines of the offseason was the addition of graduate transfer Blake Barnett who was named the starting quarterback following stints at Alabama and Arizona State.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

AwardPlayerPositionYear
John Mackey Award [2] Mitchell Wilcox TEJR
Outland Trophy [3] Marcus NormanTJR
Wuerffel Trophy [4] Jaymon ThomasDBSR

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Bulls predicted to finish in second place in the AAC East Division. [5]

Media poll (East)
Predicted finishTeamVotes (1st place)
1UCF175 (25)
2USF140 (5)
3Temple132
4Cincinnati91
5UConn51
6East Carolina41

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.No. 12 (FCS) Elon *
 ESPN3 W 34–1431,217
September 812:00 p.m. Georgia Tech *
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
 ABC/ESPN2 W 49–3834,182
September 153:30 p.m.vs. Illinois *
 BTN W 25–1921,725
September 228:00 p.m. East Carolina
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
 ESPNews W 20–1334,562
October 63:30 p.m.at Massachusetts *
 ELVN W 58–427,988
October 127:00 p.m.at Tulsa No. 23
ESPNW 25–2416,142
October 207:00 p.m. UConn No. 21
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
 CBSSN W 38–3042,127
October 273:30 p.m.at Houston No. 21
ABC/ESPN2L 36–5731,631
November 33:30 p.m. Tulane
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
CBSSNL 15–4131,388
November 107:00 p.m.at No. 25 Cincinnati
ESPNU L 23–3529,310
November 1712:00 a.m.at Temple
ESPNewsL 17–2721,029
November 234:00 p.m.No. 8 UCF
ESPN L 10–3857,626
December 208:00 p.m. Marshall *
ESPNL 20–3814,135
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time
Schedule Source: [6]

Game summaries

Elon

1234Total
No. 12 (FCS) Phoenix007714
Bulls7177334

Georgia Tech

1234Total
Yellow Jackets17014738
Bulls14772149

At Illinois

1234Total
Bulls7001825
Fighting Illini1063019

East Carolina

1234Total
Pirates733013
Bulls670720

At Massachusetts

1234Total
Bulls1010281058
Minutemen77141442

At Tulsa

1234Total
No. 23 Bulls3071525
Golden Hurricane7314024

UConn

1234Total
Huskies7071630
No. 21 Bulls07171438

At Houston

1234Total
No. 21 Bulls02115036
Cougars1414151457

Tulane

1234Total
Green Wave7207741
Bulls306615

At Cincinnati

1234Total
Bulls977023
No. 25 Bearcats7721035

At Temple

1234Total
Bulls7100017
Owls00101727

UCF

1234Total
No. 8 Knights71071438
Bulls037010

Marshall (Gasparilla Bowl)

1234Total
Thundering Herd2173738
Bulls7310020

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP ——RVRVRVRV232121RV——————
Coaches RVRVRVRVRVRV232020RVRV—————
CFP Not released——————Not released

References

  1. ↑ "Gasparilla Bowl loss caps off USF's horrendous finish to 2018". Yahoo Sports. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  5. ↑ "UCF Tabbed as Favorite in 2018 Preseason Media Poll". TheAmerican.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  6. ↑ "2018 South Florida Bulls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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