2014
South Florida Bulls
Football Betting Preview
Schedule and Odds
South Florida finished with two total wins last year and one of them happened to be against one of the AAC’s best in Cincinnati. The pieces are there for the Bulls to win Games like that, but with an offense that only averaged 13.8 points per Game, it’s almost impossible to win more than a couple.
The offense is expected to improve this year, mainly because you can’t really be any worse than they were in 2013. The QBs combined for seven total TDs and 16 INTs while the running Game had just Four touchdowns while rushing for only 1,064 yards. They were bad.
The QB competition heated up in the spring between Mike White and Steven Bench and both looked better in spring than at any point last season. It will also help that the offensive line returns most of their starters and should be better after allowing 33 sacks last year.
Whoever’s at QB will have their top receiver back in Andre Davis (49 receptions, 735 yards), who’s numbers doubled anyone else’s on the team. With an improved line, the running Game should also benefit even though they don’t have a lead RB in mind. Michael Pierre and Darius Tice are competing for carries along with a couple other newer guys.
With likely better quarterback play, USF’s offense should be a bit better and they can start challenging opponents every week if that’s the case.
The Bulls were solid on defense last year, but it didn’t matter much if the offense couldn’t score. They only return Four starters which will be tough to overcome, especially with a fairly new and weak defensive line. Elkino Watson moved to end and will have to lead the unit as the only returning starter.
Reshard Cliett leads the linebacking core as a senior after losing last year’s leading tackler DeDe LAttimore. The secondary also took numerous hits, but has a couple transfers coming in that will hopefully help.
A bowl Game will likely be out of reach again for South Florida with two Games against Big Ten teams and another against an ACC squad. The Bulls just don’t have enough right now to beat bigger teams like that, even against weaker ones like Maryland and NC State.
Their AAC Schedule doesn’t help much either and is possibly the toughest one in the conference. They have to face the projected five best teams in the AAC which means they’ll need to win the other three Games. That includes a home Game against Connecticut and road matchups at Tulsa and Memphis.
This is a team that lost to McNeese State and FAU last year, so it’s hard to say how they will look in 2014. But by all means the Bulls should beat Western Carolina. If not, it could be another ugly season. This team may be hoping for a bowl appearance in Willie Taggart’s second season as coach, but will need a big turnaround for that to happen. Expect them to be in the three-win range, Four at most.
5 dimes sportsbook has odds/lines posted for the first few weeks of Games for several AAC teams. Check em out.
2014 South Florida Football Schedule
Aug. 30 vs. Western Carolina
Sept. 6 vs. Maryland
Sept. 13 vs. NC State
Sept. 19 vs. Connecticut
Sept. 27 at Wisconsin
Oct. 11 vs. East Carolina
Oct. 18 at Tulsa
Oct. 24 at Cincinnati
Nov. 1 vs. Houston
Nov. 15 at SMU
Nov. 22 at Memphis
Nov. 28 vs. UCF