







The beginning of the 2019 USF Football season has been an interesting one, to say the least. After the first two weeks the Bulls have been outscored 65 to 10 and looked very uncomfortable in the process. If you are counting, which I am sure you are, losing to Georgia Tech marks 8 straight losses for Charlie Strong and his team; that is over 10 months without a victory. The expert counters out there may have even realized this 8th straight loss marks the most consecutive losses in program history. Yup, even more back-to-back L's than the early stages of Willie Taggart's USF career.





Hold your horses though. Don't lose hope in Strong and USF Football. A lot of big changes have been made this season. Some of these changes have already taken effect and you can see that when you look at the Bull's defense. They are looking far more skilled this year, especially considering they have spent a majority of their time on the field every game. To put the defense into perspective they allowed fewer total yards against Georgia Tech than Clemson did, last years college football national champion. The Bulls are also tied for second nationally with 12.0 tackles for loss per game, with Patrick Macon leading the pack. On the other side of the ball, implementing a new offense is no easy task and it takes a few real time opponents (non-practice squad reps) to oil the machine. Offensive Coordinator Kerwin Bell will be the first to tell you he does not run a simple offense. As the weeks progress and the Bulls begin to understand and trust the playbook there will be drastic improvement in the offense. This has already been showcased when Kerwin Bell became head coach at Valdosta State in 2016. Through Bell's first two games at the helm with VSU they averaged 17.5 points per game. Correct, that is still higher than USF's current average. But go ahead and ask how they did in the remainder of the season... They managed nearly 38.5 points per game. Give the offense some time to figure it out and you may be surprised.









Based on the stat sheet, it looks like the wheels on the bus that Taggart handed over to coach Strong have fallen off. USF is in dire need of a mechanic to realign the wheels and they need it fast. For those of you that watched the Georgia Tech game you might have seen flashes of what could be the mechanic the Bulls are searching for. When Jordan McCloud was put in the game there was an almost tangible atmosphere shift around the Bull's offense. McCloud looked confident, poised, and made some great plays (including a pass to Johnny Ford for the first touchdown of USF's season). McCloud has been able create more offense in his few drives than Blake Barnett has been able to develop in a full game and a half. It will be hard for Charlie Strong to not give Jordan McCloud first team reps at practice this week and the starting position for the South Carolina State game.





Don't be surprised if we still see Barnett get the starting QB spot against SCS. As much as it would be nice to see a change of pace in the quarterback position there are a lot of factors to keep in mind. But we all know Blake is Coach Strong's "guy"; he has a lot of faith in him. Barnett is a skilled quarterback but his lack of exciting play is causing USF fans to lose faith in him. It's hard not to. But it does seem fair to remind the avid Bulls fans how they felt about former USF quarterback, Mike White. White was another QB that seemed to be under-performing and was "the reason USF was losing". Did you realize Mike White ended up being a 5th round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys? All things considered if Barnett does get the start against South Carolina State he will surely be on a short leash. If he doesn't produce some offense quickly, Strong will have to give McCloud another opportunity to shine.









While South Carolina State may not be the toughest opponent on USF's schedule this year the implications for this game are huge. The similarities between 2019 Coach Strong and 2015 Coach Taggart are uncanny. Willie T was one bad result away from getting the boot from USF's head coaching position and the same might be unfolding this year for Charlie. Lucky for Coach Strong the Bulls have a MEAC opponent this week instead of an ACC opponent like Taggart did. Who is MEAC? Exactly. The Bulls are do for a game to impress their fans and that is what is expected this week.





The Bulls need to make a ton of fixes in order to truly get this season turned around. This weeks SCS game can be the beginning of a turning point for Charlie Strong and his team. USF has the potential, we hope... Hopefully missing Patrick Macon for two quarters, after an awful targeting call in the GT game, won't derail the Bull's defense. Hopefully USF won't have a goal line fumble that looks like an obvious touchdown. Hopefully the changes made to the offensive line will boost quarterback protection and open more holes for the running game. Hopefully the penalties are cut down. Hopefully punts are caught. And hopefully the Bulls win their first game of the season this Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.





See you there.

-Go Bulls















