2018 South Florida Bulls football team

2018 South Florida Bulls football
2018 South Florida Bulls football
Gasparilla Bowl, L 20–38 vs. Marshall
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	7–6 (3–5 AAC)
Head coach	Charlie Strong (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Sterlin Gilbert (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Veer and shoot
Defensive coordinator	Brian Jean-Mary (2nd season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Raymond James Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

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 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
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

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

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

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]

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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	No. 12 (FCS) Elon*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN3	W 34–14	31,217
September 8	12:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ABC/ESPN2	W 49–38	34,182
September 15	3:30 p.m.	vs. Illinois*		Soldier Field Chicago, IL	BTN	W 25–19	21,725
September 22	8:00 p.m.	East Carolina		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNews	W 20–13	34,562
October 6	3:30 p.m.	at Massachusetts*		Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium Hadley, MA	ELVN	W 58–42	7,988
October 12	7:00 p.m.	at Tulsa	No. 23	H. A. Chapman Stadium Tulsa, OK	ESPN	W 25–24	16,142
October 20	7:00 p.m.	UConn	No. 21	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 38–30	42,127
October 27	3:30 p.m.	at Houston	No. 21	TDECU Stadium Houston, TX	ABC/ESPN2	L 36–57	31,631
November 3	3:30 p.m.	Tulane		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	L 15–41	31,388
November 10	7:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Cincinnati		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNU	L 23–35	29,310
November 17	12:00 a.m.	at Temple		Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPNews	L 17–27	21,029
November 23	4:00 p.m.	No. 8 UCF		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (War on I–4)	ESPN	L 10–38	57,626
December 20	8:00 p.m.	Marshall*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Gasparilla Bowl)	ESPN	L 20–38	14,135
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[6]

Game summaries

Elon

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

Georgia Tech

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

At Illinois

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

East Carolina

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

At Massachusetts

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

At Tulsa

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

UConn

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

At Houston

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

Tulane

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

At Cincinnati

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

At Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	7	10	0	0	17
Owls	0	0	10	17	27

UCF

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

Marshall (Gasparilla Bowl)

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

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	21	21	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	20	20	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—
CFP	Not released									—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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