College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the USF Bulls season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– USF Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 5-7 overall, 2-6 in AAC
Head Coach: Jeff Scott, 1st year
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 76
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 104
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 78
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Offense 3 Things To Know
– And here comes the USF offense. After finishing 112th in the nation and last in the AAC – it averaged just 331 yards and 21 points per game – the program now gets Dabo Swinney’s offensive coordinator to ramp things up.
Jeff Scott spent the last five years dealing with the Clemson wide receivers along with his job as the co-OC, and now the 39-year-old will combine forces with his own coordinator – Charlie Weis Jr. – to turn things around.
And they have the pieces to do it. At least, they have the experience to do it.
CFN in 60 Video: Texas Preview
USF at Texas, Sept. 5
It all starts with finding a quarterback who can start pushing the ball down the field more for an attack that finished 116th in the nation. Last year’s offense wanted to throw more, but it just didn’t work.
Sophomore Jordan McCloud led the way with 1,429 yards and 12 scores with eight picks – and ran for 283 yards and four touchdowns – but in comes 6-3, 220-pound North Carolina transfer Cade Fortin to make a push.
Also entering the ring is Alcorn State transfer Noah Johnson – a dangerous dual-threat option – and freshmen Jordan Smith and Katravis Marsh will each get a shot.
– Leading receiver Mitchell Wilcox is gone after making 28 grabs from his tight end spot. Juniors Bryce Miller and Randall St. Felix are back after combining for just 43 catches for 493 yards and six touchdowns, and they were the team’s top two wide receivers.
Senior Jacob Mathis has the upside to be a deep threat tight end, and former Michigan star recruit Eddie McDoom has the potential to blow up as a deep threat after making 13 grabs. Everyone should get to fed a lot more passes under the new coaching staff.
– The offensive line that struggled so much in just about every way – the Bulls were 126th in the nation in sacks allowed and 114th in tackles for loss given up – gets back three starters and gets a little help from the recruiting class and transfer portal.
One thing this group has is bulk – 6-5, 328-pound junior Donovan Jennings will handle one tackle job, and 6-3, 324-pound junior Demetris Harris will work at a guard spot. The starting five will likely end up averaging close to 320 pounds per man.
Leading rusher Jordan Cronkrite is gone, but the running backs should be interesting. South Carolina transfer Lavonte Valentine comes in to battle with Johnny Ford – a 5-5, 180-pounder who missed half of last year and never got going – and speedster Kelley Joiner.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Defense 3 Things To Know
– Glenn Spencer went from being the Florida Atlantic defensive coordinator for a year – he spent years as the Oklahoma State coordinator – to being Jeff Scott’s DC. He takes over a defense that wasn’t anything special last year, but it did a nice job of taking the ball away and could’ve looked better if the offense provided any support.
Three of the top five tacklers are gone, but the pass rush should be strong again, even without main man Greg Reaves on the end.
– The linebackers did most of the heavy lifting when it came to getting behind the line, starting with leading pass rusher Dwayne Boyles, who also led the way with 12.5 tackles for loss. He’s not that big, but the 6-3, 227-pounder can move.
Antonio Greer is a 222-pound junior at the other outside spot, but he could end up moving to the middle to take over for third-leading tackler Patrick Macon if Michigan transfer Devin Gil is ready to roll outside.
– Top defensive end Greg Reaves has to be replaced, but the tackle combination of Rashawn Yates and Blake Green are veterans who should be okay with a good group behind them, helped by Stanford transfer Bo Peek.
Losing Tyrik Jones to the transfer portal is a problem for the end rotation. 6-5, 233-pound Jason Vaughn is one of the key players to the season – he’s coming off a 14-tackle season with three tackles for loss.
The pass rush has to be there to help out a promising secondary. Second-leading tacklers Devin Studstill is gone, but junior Nick Roberts is back after finishing fourth on the team with 63 tackles. The corner combination of KJ Sails and Mike Hampton is fine.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top USF Bulls Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top USF Bulls Players
Best USF Bulls Offensive Player
RB Johnny Ford, Jr.
Is he going to be a receiver or a running back? No matter where he’s put, he’s the potential gamebreaker who can explode whenever he has the ball in his hands.
He ran for 787 yards and eight scores – averaging 6.8 yards per carry – and last year he ran for 103 yards and two scores and caught 13 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, but he missed half the season. Now the 5-5, 180-pounder will likely one of the main backs in the rotation.
2. WR Randall St. Felix, Jr.
3. QB Jordan McCloud, Soph.
4. QB Cade Fortin, Soph.
5. RB Kelley Joiner, Soph.
Best USF Bulls Defensive Player
LB Dwayne Boyles, Jr.
The team needs playmakers for the new staff to build around, and Boyles is one to get excited about. The 6-3, 227-pound outside linebacker led the team with 75 tackles with three sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in just 11 games.
A potential big-time pass rusher, he’ll have to carry a whole lot of the load with the defensive ends one of the team’s biggest early question marks.
2. CB KJ Sails, Sr.
3. S Nick Roberts, Jr.
4. LB Antonio Grier, Jr.
5. CB/S Bentlee Sanders, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Keys To The Season
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
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: USF Bulls Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Is this a rehab or a total gut job?
USF was a player in the American Athletic Conference world not all that long ago, winning 21 games in 2016 and 2017 as part of a run of four straight bowl appearances before it all fell apart under Charlie Strong.
There’s just enough talent and experience returning to think there might be a massive rebound about to come, but last year was so ugly, and so strange, and so inept – the team failed to score more than ten points six times – that it’s going to take something massive to turn this around in one year under a new coaching staff …
And without a normal offseason to get it all together.
But Jeff Scott is a promising young prospect who’s getting his first crack at a head coaching gig, and he has some good coordinators around him to help the cause.
Set The USF Bulls Regular Season Win Total At … 5.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 4.5
Just how quickly can this offense work?
Here’s the problem. The American Athletic Conference should be a lot stronger with Tulsa, East Carolina and Houston all looking more dangerous. Those are games USF has to take down if this is going to be a big year.
There’s going to be a win over Bethune-Cookman, and assume a possible home win over Nevada here, a good performance against Tulsa there, and maybe a big upset like the team almost got against Cincinnati last season, but the Bulls are going to be the likely underdogs in at least eight games.
The new coaching staff will be good enough to pull out a win somewhere to get to five, but getting that sixth to go bowling will be tough.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
