Head Coach: Alex Golesh is entering his second year with the program with a 7-6 record. He’s been a quick riser in the sport, most notably known for his time of success as Tennessee’s OC, but it hasn’t taken him long to re-energize the South Florida program. It’ll be interesting to see how long he continues to build here because bigger programs will be interested soon.
Program Outlook: South Florida was once the rising program in the state. They were the 4th program along with the Big 3 who were in a power conference, they were so close to some absolutely massive accomplishments in the late 2000s highlighted by when they reached 2nd in the BCS rankings in the wild 2007 season but during that season and others around it the Bulls just simply couldn’t stick the landing and faded late. Once that window passed a litany of bad decisions compounded by the collapse of the Big East set the program way back to the point where in-state rival eventually joined and surpassed them to get to the Big 12. South Florida was left to pick up the pieces but finally after Golesh brought a winning season in year 1 there’s excitement again. A new on-campus stadium is on the way and the product on the field is improving as well.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: Golesh opted to go pretty young last season and the result is there is a lot coming back this year. Offensively the Bulls run a veer and shoot which means there’s typically a huge improvement in year 2 as the players get used to the offense, that is scary for the competition because this offense was already really good. QB Byrum Brown is the leader of this attack and he was already incredible setting multiple USF season passing records as a freshman last year. He’s a guy you’re going to want to watch any chance you get. He even chipped in 800 yards rushing, this is despite being sacked a whopping 43 times last year (keep in mind in college sacks count against rushing yards.) As you can probably guess, improvement from the offensive line is going to be a big key to helping this offense take another step this year, they mostly tore up bad opponents last year and they need better protection to start beating the good ones. Defensively South Florida was good enough to handle bad offenses last year but got ripped apart, particularly through the air by good offenses last year. Returning starters and a few transfers will allow the Bulls to hopefully make positive steps forward in both categories.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: The early portion of this schedule is rough. The Bulls get Alabama, Miami FL, and 2 of the best teams in the AAC all right off the bat. That game at Southern Miss could be tough as well. Following the Memphis game is where the schedule mostly eases up and can potentially allow the Bulls to keep their momentum if they pull off some good early wins, or find some if they don’t.
Vegas Projection: South Florida’s win total is set at 7.5 with the odds geared toward the under. Despite the excitement around the program this offseason and the anticipation they can make a jump to AAC title contention, Vegas isn’t quite as optimistic. They do have the 4th best odds to win the AAC at +600.
2024 Best Case: South Florida opens 1-0 and then once again manages to threaten Alabama into the 4th quarter before relenting. The Bulls carry the momentum passed Southern Miss before a huge in-state showdown with the Hurricanes. Brown plays an excellent game and the Bulls defense forces Cam Ward to turn the ball over. The Bulls bring home the massive victory that brings them instant credibility. They manage to avoid a letdown winning at the last moment in a thriller over Tulane. The Bulls then catch a Memphis team who’s undefeated with a win over Florida State setting up a massive Friday night showdown. The game lives up to the hype as a back and forth shootout but Brown leads the offense to the game winning TD with only seconds left on the clock to win. The Bulls handle the rest of the conference slate to reach the AAC championship and get a rematch up Memphis. This time the Bulls play even better and win the game without last moment heroics. Thanks to their strong performance against Alabama and noteworthy wins over both Miami FL and Memphis the Bulls are rewarded an 8 seed in the playoff where Golesh takes on his former boss Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers at home. The game comes with all the fireworks you’d expect but a controversial call late robs the Bulls of the victory but it’s a historic season nonetheless.
2024 Worst Case: The offensive line doesn’t improve and the defense doesn’t force as many turnovers leading to the Bulls demise. They are blown out by Alabama and aren’t able to recover quick enough to face an improved Southern Miss team, suddenly after a loss there and losses in the next 3 the Bulls are 1-5 entering the last stretch of their schedule. Instead of consistently picking up wins the Bulls continue to stumble along the way to a disappointing 4-8 season. Brown decides he’s done with the offensive line struggles and transfers out along with several other key players, making the fans left to wonder if their optimism came too soon.
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