The USF Bulls offensive line gets ready for a play in a game against Georgia Tech on Sep. 7, 2019 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

South Florida Head Coach Charlie Strong made sure to indicate that several positions were going to be taken a “serious look at” in Monday morning’s press conference.

There’s two that are glaring, but looking deeper at the team, are there some other positions that could stand to get taken a look at?

Let’s take a look at some of those positions:

The Obvious:

Quarterback - Blake Barnett or Jordan McCloud:

Jordan McCloud looked solid in his chances against Wisconsin and Georgia Tech as the backup for USF. That’s who the fan base wants. That’s what the team looks like it wants. However, is that what the coaching staff wants?

“They’re both accepting the challenge,” offensive coordinator Kerwin Bell said in his weekly meeting with the media on Wednesday. He also made sure to emphasize that Strong has the final call on that choice and that the decision will be made either Wednesday or Thursday.

McCloud has been statistically the better passer over the first two weeks and showed a lot of poise stepping in a game where the Bulls needed a spark in a hostile Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday. Bell told reporters that Barnett has stepped up in practice and risen up to the competition this week in practice. The major question: is it just in practice, or will those create results on the field?

Left Tackle:

Bell said that Billy Atterbury and Donovan Jennings will swap positions once again, this time to get them back at their natural positions. Atterbury returns to right guard, where he started 23 consecutive games in a Bulls jersey. Jennings returns to left tackle, where he played in high school at.

The two Bay Area products - Atterbury a CCC grad, Jennings a Gaither alumnus – will look to jumpstart an offensive line that has struggled in the first two weeks. USF quarterbacks have been sacked four times in each of the first two games.

The Not-So-Obvious:

Right Tackle – Marcus Norman vs. Jarrett Hopple:

Another position along the offensive line that Bell expects some shakeup at is right tackle. Fifth-year senior Marcus Norman has started 36 career games at that position but is currently locked in a battle with Virginia Tech transfer Jarrett Hopple.

A native of Suffolk, Va., Hopple redshirted his freshman season of 2016 and didn’t see any action in ’17. He joined the team in 2018 at the start of fall camp. The junior stands taller than every offensive lineman at 6’7” (except St. Petersburg CC transfer Antonio Spanolios, same height) and could be a solid option to put at right tackle.

Expect Norman to receive the start but watch for Hopple to get time in with the top unit at some point on Saturday night.

Punt Returner – Bentlee Sanders vs. K.J. Sails or Johnny Ford

Sanders, a Tampa Catholic graduate, has had an excellent start to the season on the defensive side of the ball, operating as the Bulls nickel back. He registered just his third career start at free safety on Saturday. He struggled as the punt returner at Georgia Tech, muffing a pair of punts in the four-point loss. The first rolled off of his arms and landed into a Yellow Jackets’ hands, the second was a misjudging of where the ball was coming as Sanders took an awkward dive towards the ball.

Keep Sanders on kick returns with either Johnny Ford, Terrence Horne Jr. or Jernard Phillips, but maybe it’s time to take a look at replacing Sanders as the punt returner. K.J. Sails was listed as the next in line on the Week 3 depth chart with Ford behind him. Ford returned four punts in 2018.

The Deeper Looks:

Defensive Tackle – Kevin Kegler vs. Kelvin Pinkney vs. Rashawn Yates

This isn’t necessarily a position of concern more like a decision of playing time. With Kirk Livingstone’s move inside on speed packages, it leaves one rotation of defensive tackles to determine. Every time there’s a big play at the line of scrimmage, it looks like Rashawn Yates is right in the middle of it all. He registered his first sack of the season against Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, Kegler’s had a nice start to his season with 3.5 TFL early. Pinkney, however, has played in both games to begin the year, starting against Wisconsin, he just has not registered a tackle to this point.

Running Back:

The answer to getting the running game going is not only to have a solid offensive line but to also have a stable of running backs that can get yardage in any down. Jordan Cronkrite isn’t a bad back, by any means. Part of his success en route to a 1,000-yard season was having a solid No. 2 running back behind him. With Ford’s move to slot receiver, USF doesn’t have that solid second option.

Trevon Sands or Odunayo Seriki, Jr. could be used as that option, the problem is that they aren’t being used. Sands didn’t travel with the team to Atlanta and got limited time against Wisconsin in the opener.

It’s hard to look past the three names on the depth chart with the lack of depth behind Cronkrite, Sands and Seriki. With true freshman Josh Berry out until further notice with a leg injury, the Bulls only have four running backs on the roster (not including Ford) available at this time. Kelley Joiner Jr. could be one that might see some time, although recruited as a wide receiver, Joiner had a fantastic high school career in the backfield with 4,525 career yards and 55 touchdowns at South Lake (Groveland, Fla.).