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In the second season of the Alex Golesh regime, the USF Bulls look forward to improving from their 7-6 record. After finishing 2023 with a bowl win against Syracuse, 45-0, they could certainly do better than they did last year.
The Bulls return 19 starters (nine on offense, eight on defense and two specialists). Of those returning is quarterback Byrum Brown, who was added to the Maxwell Award Watch List (best all-around, presented by the Maxwell Football Club). Also returning is running back Nay'Quan Wright who was added to the Doak Walker Award Watch List (top running back). Brown and Wright were responsible for 85 percent of the Bulls' rushing attack. With both returning, they will lead the Bulls' offense in 2024.
Week 1: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
USF has never faced Bethune-Cookman University before in the history of its program. However, on Aug. 31, the Bulls will play in what will likely be a tune-up game for them before getting into regular season. The Bulls are projected to win (96.4 percent) one of the heaviest favorites for any team. Despite this, it will be the first game of the season and every team needs to work everything out from the long off-season. The Bulls should win this game handedly, 42-3.
Record: 1-0
Week 2: at Alabama Crimson Tide
In Week 2, the Bulls go on the road and face the Crimson Tide of Alabama. Any game in Tuscaloosa is difficult, but the Tide will be honoring former head coach Nick Saban who will have the field named after him at the game. It is likely that this game will be packed and the Bulls will struggle against a large Southeastern Conference crowd.
The Bulls and Crimson Tide have played just two times before. The first was in 2003 in Birmingham, Ala., where the Tide cruised to a 40-17 win. Just last year was the second matchup where the Bulls made it a slightly more competitive game. The Tide won 17-3 in Tampa. The Crimson Tide are 34-point favorites for the game. While Kalen DeBoer will take over as the head coach at Alabama this year, it is expected that Alabama will walk away with the win. Our prediction: 45-14 in favor of Alabama.
Record: 1-1
Week 3: at Southern Miss Golden Eagles
After their clash with Alabama, the Bulls head northwest to Hattiesburg, Miss. This will be the fifth time the two universities have met. Southern Miss has won three of the four meetings so far, winning in 2000, 2003 and in 2004. USF's sole win came in 2002 where they won in Tampa, 16-13. This will be the first time that these two faceoff earlier than October and will be played on Sept. 14. There is no spread currently listed, but if we had to make a prediction, this would be a close USF win in Hattiesburg, 17-14.
Record: 2-1
Week 4: Miami Hurricanes
Both the Bulls and the currently No. 19-ranked Hurricanes will be quite battle-tested when we get to Week 4. The Bulls will have faced top-notch competition from Alabama in Week 2 and the Hurricanes will have gone to the "Swamp" to face the Florida Gators in the first week of the season in Gainesville, another hostile SEC environment.
When the two teams meet in Tampa, it will be the seventh meeting between the two Florida teams. Miami has won the last three games by a combined score of 95-32. USF's only win against the Hurricanes was in Miami Gardens, Fla., four meetings ago in 2010. They won by three, 23-20. The expectation is that the Hurricanes will win by a good amount, even though it will be in Tampa. We are picking the Hurricanes to win, 28-17.
Record: 2-2
Week 5: at Tulane Green Wave
In Week 5, USF begins its American Athletic Conference season on the road against Tulane. Tulane has had USF's number in recent years, beating the Bulls in Tampa and New Orleans the last three meetings. Not only that, but they posted upward of 40 points in all three of those games while keeping USF below 20 points (except last year). After two difficult opponents, USF might just lose again to the Green Wave, 38-10.
Record: 2-3
Week 6: Bye
After two consecutive losses, the Bulls have a well-placed bye to regroup and continue the season.
However, being 2-3 already is not great heading into the meat of the AAC schedule if they want to improve from last year.
Week 7: Memphis Tigers
In what might be the most important game for the Bulls, USF faces off with Memphis at home. With UCF no longer in the AAC, USF will look to replace them as one of the bigger names in the conference. How could the Bulls do that other than take down one of the top teams in AAC in Memphis? If the Bulls want to win the conference, they will have to go through the Tigers.
Over the years, the Bulls and the Tigers have had many instant classics with 12 meetings in all dating back to 2001. Memphis holds an 8-4 lead in the series and a three-game winning streak on the Bulls. The Bulls' last win came in 2016 in Memphis when the Bulls managed to pull off a 49-42 win. In 2023, the Tigers and Bulls played in a shootout with Memphis besting USF, 59-50. Most of the games have ended this way, with the score being no more than two scores. The one exception was when the two met in the St. Petersburg Bowl in St. Peterburg, Fla., and the Bulls won 41-14. Our prediction is that it will be another close one, but not in favor of the Bulls, 24-17, Memphis.
Record: 2-4
Week 8: UAB Blazers
UAB and USF share some similar qualities. Both head coaches (Trent Dilfer and Golesh, respectively) are headed into their second season at their respective schools and both have bright futures in the AAC. However, what USF has that UAB does not is practically a second year with many of its starters from the year before. Several of them have been named to preseason award watch lists and they are ready to make a case for the award they are named to.
Last year, these two teams faced off in Birmingham. It wasn't pretty as the Blazers won 56-35. With the game in Tampa, the Bulls should have a better game. The Bulls have the opportunity to tie the all-time series against UAB with a win this season at home. We favor the Bulls to win, 31-17.
Record: 3-4
Week 9: Bye
The Bulls will have their second bye of the season before finishing out the year and again, regroup. They would be 3-4 according to our predictions.
Week 10: at FAU Owls
FAU and USF will match up once again in Tampa for the second consecutive year. This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams. USF won the first three games, however, the last win was in 2010. Since then, it has been back-to-back wins for the Owls (2013 and 2023). The Owls could tie the series with a win this season in Boca Raton, Fla. This will be the first time that the Bulls play a regular season game in Boca Raton. Every other game against FAU was in Tampa or in 2007, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They did play Syracuse on FAU's field last year, but in the Boca Raton Bowl. At the end of the day, USF should outplay Willie Taggart's Owls. Bulls by two touchdowns, 35-21.
Record: 4-4
Week 11: Navy Midshipmen
In Week 11, Navy will visit USF in what has become a semi-regular series between the two teams. They both have two wins each with USF getting the most recent win in 2023, 44-30. This will be the second matchup to be played in Tampa despite it being the fifth game overall.
With USF being at home and building off a strong win last year, this should be a win year with nine starters returning on offense and the defense is looking even better this year. This score could become significantly lopsided. We have the Bulls winning 49-14.
Record: 5-4
Week 12: at Charlotte 49ers
The Charlotte 49ers and the USF Bulls have previously only met once before (2023). In that game, the Bulls blew away the 49ers, winning 48-14. With that first matchup being only a year ago and this Bulls team relatively unchanged, the Bulls should win easily. Our prediction is a 38-10 win for USF in Charlotte, N.C. to become bowl eligible.
Record: 6-4
Week 13: Tulsa Golden Hurricane
The final home game and senior night for the Bulls will be against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. In the six matchups the two teams have played, Tulsa has won the last three games in the series (2020, 2021 and 2022). In two of their wins they scored upward of 40 points and in 2021, they escaped with 32-31 win in Tampa. The largest margin of victory came in the series came in 2014 when USF won by eight points in the first game of the series in Tulsa, winning 38-30. If history were to repeat itself, this game is going to be very close. It could be a toss-up, but with the form the Bulls would be on in this time in the season, we give it to USF, 35-31.
Record: 7-4
Week 14: at Rice Owls
The Bulls round out the season with a road trip to face Rice in Houston. The Bulls only time facing the Owls was in 2023 where they promptly dispatched them, 42-29. The Bulls will be looking to do same thing, this time in Houston. The Owls have struggled in recent years. They are likely a just a year from the position that USF is in now. We expect USF to win again, this time 31-14.
Record: 8-4
USF Bulls Overview
With that, USF would be 8-4 and headed to a bowl. It will likely be one of the AAC-selected bowls (the Birmingham Bowl, the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa and would be a home game for USF, the First Responder Bowl in Dallas, the Boca Raton Bowl, the Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas, the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., the Myrtle Beach Bowl in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M.).
While the Bulls could certainly be happy with being one game better than the year before, they likely want to better than that. They also have the opportunity to do even better with a defense that can play better with some teams that took advantage of that in 2023. If Golesh fixes that in 2024, the Bulls could have upwards of 10 wins and be vying for a playoff spot.
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