2018 South Florida Bulls football team

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.

2018 South Florida Bulls football
Gasparilla Bowl, L 20–38 vs. Marshall
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Record7–6 (3–5 AAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorSterlin Gilbert (2nd season)
Offensive schemeVeer and shoot
Defensive coordinatorBrian Jean-Mary (2nd season)
Base defense3–3–5
Home stadiumRaymond 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 Bulls became the first team in college football history to start a season 7–0 and lose their final six games.[1]

Preseason

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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

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Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
John Mackey Award[2] Mitchell Wilcox TE JR
Outland Trophy[3] Marcus Norman T JR
Wuerffel Trophy[4] Jaymon Thomas DB SR

AAC media poll

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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 finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 UCF 175 (25)
2 USF 140 (5)
3 Temple 132
4 Cincinnati 91
5 UConn 51
6 East Carolina 41

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.No. 12 (FCS) Elon*ESPN3W 34–1431,217
September 812:00 p.m.Georgia Tech*
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
ABC/ESPN2W 49–3834,182
September 153:30 p.m.vs. Illinois*BTNW 25–1921,725
September 228:00 p.m.East Carolina
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
ESPNewsW 20–1334,562
October 63:30 p.m.at Massachusetts*ELVNW 58–427,988
October 127:00 p.m.at TulsaNo. 23ESPNW 25–2416,142
October 207:00 p.m.UConnNo. 21
  • Raymond James Stadium
  • Tampa, FL
CBSSNW 38–3042,127
October 273:30 p.m.at HoustonNo. 21ABC/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 CincinnatiESPNUL 23–3529,310
November 1712:00 a.m.at TempleESPNewsL 17–2721,029
November 234:00 p.m.No. 8 UCF
ESPNL 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

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Elon

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 12 (FCS) Phoenix 0 0 7 7 14
Bulls 7 17 7 3 34

Georgia Tech

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1 2 3 4 Total
Yellow Jackets 17 0 14 7 38
Bulls 14 7 7 21 49

At Illinois

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 7 0 0 18 25
Fighting Illini 10 6 3 0 19

East Carolina

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1 2 3 4 Total
Pirates 7 3 3 0 13
Bulls 6 7 0 7 20

At Massachusetts

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 10 10 28 10 58
Minutemen 7 7 14 14 42

At Tulsa

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 23 Bulls 3 0 7 15 25
Golden Hurricane 7 3 14 0 24

UConn

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1 2 3 4 Total
Huskies 7 0 7 16 30
No. 21 Bulls 0 7 17 14 38

At Houston

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 Bulls 0 21 15 0 36
Cougars 14 14 15 14 57

Tulane

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1 2 3 4 Total
Green Wave 7 20 7 7 41
Bulls 3 0 6 6 15

At Cincinnati

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 9 7 7 0 23
No. 25 Bearcats 7 7 21 0 35

At Temple

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 7 10 0 0 17
Owls 0 0 10 17 27
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 8 Knights 7 10 7 14 38
Bulls 0 3 7 0 10

Marshall (Gasparilla Bowl)

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1 2 3 4 Total
Thundering Herd 21 7 3 7 38
Bulls 7 3 10 0 20

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRVRVRVRV232121RV
CoachesRVRVRVRVRVRV232020RVRV
CFPNot releasedNot released

References

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  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.