Will we be better this year? A random fans break down

[BULLZ]

I will take my best stab at this. Not comprehensive and limited to my opinion and knowledge to this point with no research.

 

FAMU- Win by 2 TDs at least. no explanation necessary.

 

FSU- IF FSU is ever going to regress in these few years it will be this year. ESPECIALLY 2 GAMES into the season. They lose Jameis, top qb, dalvin cook wont play, top rb, rashad green is in the nfl, top wr, and nick o leary top te. All their best starting skill guys on offense are gone. This combined with us playing well as the underdog when we travel for big games is going to make this a closer game than people think. I still think theres like an 80% chance we lose but least it can be a competitive game. I call it FSU 27-17.

 

Maryland- Last year our horrible team only lost by a TD to Maryland. ONE TOUCHDOWN. I also think our team will be motivated by the FSU game if it was close so we can ride that momentum. so if we can at least have a better offense (which I think we will), we should beat Maryland. USF wins by 10 points.

 

Memphis- I honestly know very little about memphis. I know they won the AAC last year and their coach seems to know what hes doing so I give them the W.

 

Syracuse is a bottom dweller in the ACC. They are not leaps and bounds above us just like Maryland isnt. Most teams that beat us badly are teams that have good offenses. We cant score a lot but if they cant either it levels the playing field some and makes it a more defensive game.This game can easily go either way. By game 5 I think our team will know a little bit about how good we really are, so it will come down to team morale on this one in my opinion. If our team is feeling like this is just another losing season they may not make it over the hump this game, but if they believe this year is different at this point and if they believe, I think we win this game 9 times out of 10. 

 

UCONN & SMU -  I think we win both of these games like most on here do. 

 

Navy- Navy runs a majority of the game and because of that I think defensively we will match up well against them. I dont know how good their defense is but if its not anything special I think this game could go either way 50/50.

 

ECU- ECU's qb last year was the reason they were great. Period. The guy was a baller. Hes gone now and so is the top wr so that offense is going to take a step back so to me that game is a toss up. especially since last year we hung in with them the majority of the game. 50/50

 

Temple- Honestly dont know anything about temple, so to be conservative will just call this a loss.

 

Cincy- Lose, Cincy is a favorite in the AAC and if there is any team in our conference we are most likely to lose to its them. 

 

UCF - This will all depend on if we are in a bowling situation/where the season is. I believe if we are already going bowling/this game is the one that decides it we win. If this is another losing season I think the fight is largely gone by this game and we have a much greater chance of losing. TO quote someone else earlier in this post, in UCFs best years they cant whoop us. 

 

So by my count we have 5 more likely than not Wins, 2 toss ups with Navy and ECU, and 4 prety sure losses in cincy, temple, fsu, memphis. And UCF will serve as the grand finale.

 

So with 5 wins, plus 1 of the 2 toss ups were at 6, then the toss up with UCF. So we finish either 7-5, or 6-6. Depending on UCF game

[WWMJD]

 

Didnt we lose 3 starters on OL??? I know Gibbons is a talent but he has never played college ball....lose best center in usf history imo

I don't think anyone doubts Reiter is indeed a loss, what people question is whether Williams and Q were actual losses because they both had some horrible moments.  Q had to be moved to Guard because he couldn't play tackle and Williams was just awful.  

 

 

If there were somebody better on the roster, don't you think they would have been playing? That's what's scary.

[footnfan1]

Fair judgement of what has happened to the competition, but the analysis seems to lack visibility as to what USF has lost or gained. USF lost some good players as well.

 

Just my opinion.

[Gatorbull325]

I think we lost some good players, but redshirted a lot of better players and gave them time to physically mature. Andre Davis was great, but we were one dimensional with him. Now we are forced to finally give other receivers a chance. plus we have a bunch of awesome transfers, walk ons and freshman coming in. I think this is probably the deepest USF team ever. Before we relied on a few stars or playmakers, but the rest of the team was so so, now we are truly deeper with talent which is why we always started losing toward the end of the season. Taggart built this team from scratch and saved a lot of talent for this year. Now there is truly no excuse

[footnfan1]

I think we lost some good players, but redshirted a lot of better players and gave them time to physically mature. Andre Davis was great, but we were one dimensional with him. Now we are forced to finally give other receivers a chance. plus we have a bunch of awesome transfers, walk ons and freshman coming in. I think this is probably the deepest USF team ever. Before we relied on a few stars or playmakers, but the rest of the team was so so, now we are truly deeper with talent which is why we always started losing toward the end of the season. Taggart built this team from scratch and saved a lot of talent for this year. Now there is truly no excuse

 

Deepest USF team ever? Maybe the most potential, but currently deep, I would beg to differ. 3 or 4 other ( maybe more) USF teams have had a two deep much better than the current team IMO. What do I know though.

[raptorcj]

unproven players are unproven. Untested offenses can't really be predicted. The performance of individual talent ≠ performance of the team. etc, etc. Until they hit the field, I'm not predicting anything beyond "better".

[ArmyBull]

I think we lost some good players, but redshirted a lot of better players and gave them time to physically mature. Andre Davis was great, but we were one dimensional with him. Now we are forced to finally give other receivers a chance. plus we have a bunch of awesome transfers, walk ons and freshman coming in. I think this is probably the deepest USF team ever. Before we relied on a few stars or playmakers, but the rest of the team was so so, now we are truly deeper with talent which is why we always started losing toward the end of the season. Taggart built this team from scratch and saved a lot of talent for this year. Now there is truly no excuse

What, what, and what?  Please don't allow the UCF fans that troll this blog be right.  I can't even begin to understand where you are coming from with this.  

[CaliforniaBull]

Always a Bulls fan but we have been talking about getting better every year. Every year we list the reasons why THIS year will be better. In my opinion, last year, because of our schedule should have been our bowl year. This years schedule is MUCH more difficult and all of the teams we are playing have gotten better. I think the OP was pretty much on target.

I would like some kind of support for opinion this -- because you are not the only one -- I think you are dead wrong, and that our schedule is significantly EASIER this year.

Here is why I think that way:

FAMU < WCU. -- Yes, they are both FCS teams, but WCU was a decent program that was in the hunt for their conference championship for most of the season. FAMU went 3-9 last year.

FSU < Wisconsin -- Wisconsin won their division in the B1G last year. Yes, last year FSU was better... but not this year... heck, the media picked Clemson to win the division this year.

Maryland < Maryland -- Tthe Terrapins lose their starting QB and 11 other starters, including their top two wide receivers. On defense, only two starers are coming back to the same position - and they do have a new DC. The 2015 Terps are worse than the 2014 Terps.

Syracuse < NC State -- Yeah, I hope you realize this is true. Syracuse went 3-9 last year... and they are also implementing a new offensive system and have to replace 8 starters... they are predicted to be 6th in their division this year.

Okay... so all four of our OOC games are EASIER. Let's look at our conference games.

Memphis = Memphis -- I call this a push. Most of their offense returns, except for their starting RB -- but they have to replace most of their defense as well as a new DC. I think this should be a good game on Friday night at USF.

U Conn = U Conn -- I call this another push. New QB and new starting WRs have to be found for a revamped offense... one that USF had no real problem stopping last year. Their defense will be back, and they have solid LBs. So they are about the same as last year.

SMU = SMU -- Another push because it's hard for a team to get worse than SMU was last year. 11 starters gone. New offense. New defense. These Mustangs won't be running wild this year.

Navy < Houston -- This is a tough comparison. Navy's triple-wishbone offense will be different for USF. But it's really a run-heavy spread when it comes down to it... and the 4-2-5 should stand up well against it. On defense, Navy lost a bunch of starters as well.

ECU < ECU -- They lost the best QB and best WR in their history. They may still be better than USF (although I would say barely because USF was in a good position to win last year if not for 2 holding penalties on 2 consescutive plays) -- but there is no way that ECU got better this year.

Temple > Tulsa -- Okay, so here is the first place on our schedule where I am willing to admit the opponent got better. Tulsa was bad and we had to comeback to beat them. Temple's offense is rough at best, but they have a stout defense -- maybe the best in the conference this year.

Cincinnati = Cincinnati -- I might even concede here that this year's Bearcats are better. Their offense might be the best we face in conference -- but their defense last year was dead was near the bottom of the nation last year... and they lost a few key players.

UCF < UCF -- The Knights lost most of their WR corps (to the NFL, no less)... along with a boatload of their defense. So they are clearly taking a step backward.

------------

So if there is anyone out there who thinks our schedule this year is HARDER than last year, please list out your reasons why. I gave you some good thoughts to the contrary... and I would honestly like to see someone tell me where I am going wrong.

I would argue that Florida state is at least even with wisky, if not better. I would say Memphis is going to be better than last year, i would say navy (returning star senior qb) = houston, and that SMU will be better than last year. So our schedule is very similar difficulty to last year imo.

[USFbulls24]

I'll admit it's very hard for me to just look at the schedule and say it's easier or harder. I look for wins and losses because I think when you have a team like ours who is not very good, just because you have an easier schedule doesn't mean a whole lot.

 

NC State went 3-9 in 2013. They came in and absolutely wrecked us last year 49-17. NC State is a better program than Syracuse, but given what we've seen from our football team there's nothing to say Syracuse doesn't come in and walk away with an easy W. Who knows maybe Syracuse has some talent they've been waiting on to develop and red shirting, etc. Maybe they don't.

 

Maryland has us at home. I know nothing about them or personnel. I do know they found a way to beat us committing 6 turnovers and giving up a defensive TD to us on the road last year. Maryland has a new DC, we have an entire new offense with players recruited for the power run.

 

It's easy to understand why FSU is very likely to not be as good as they were last year, but if anyone in the country has players to step up and help replace players it is FSU. They have had a top 10 recruiting class the last 5 years, and 3 of those were top 5. 2011: 2, 2012: 6, 2013: 10, 2014: 4, 2015: 3. I know rankings don't mean a whole lot all of the time, but it would be foolish to think they don't have studs waiting in the wings to come in and play. Obviously the QB is a different story, but they don't need a Jameis Winston or a Dalvin Cook to throw us to the side handily. It's nice to see people have optimism with this game, and reference the last time we were in Tallahassee, but in 2009 our roster was loaded with legitimate veteran talent who had won big games before this is about the exact opposite. FSU will wreck us. 

 

Navy went 8-5 last year playing a very similar schedule as us and returns really the only thing that matters in a triple offense the decision maker, the senior QB. That offense is going to give us fits.

 

Agree UCF should not be as good as they were last year, and last year they were mediocre. Pays to be in the AAC.

 

Agree Temple is better than Tulsa, PJ Walker is a heck of a football player and going to be a headache trying to deal with him.

 

Don't see the need to compare FCS teams. 

 

If it's easier it's not by much at all. Just hope there's 6 wins on there somewhere. I don't see 6, but maybe we can catch one of these teams with a banged up QB or something.

[Gatorbull325]

I think we lost some good players, but redshirted a lot of better players and gave them time to physically mature. Andre Davis was great, but we were one dimensional with him. Now we are forced to finally give other receivers a chance. plus we have a bunch of awesome transfers, walk ons and freshman coming in. I think this is probably the deepest USF team ever. Before we relied on a few stars or playmakers, but the rest of the team was so so, now we are truly deeper with talent which is why we always started losing toward the end of the season. Taggart built this team from scratch and saved a lot of talent for this year. Now there is truly no excuse

What, what, and what?  Please don't allow the UCF fans that troll this blog be right.  I can't even begin to understand where you are coming from with this.

First of all Im am a UF graduate, Florida Gator baby and a Bulls fan hence the name "GATORBULL" 2nd, ive watch video on every recruit taggart has brought in and did research. 3rd, All u can do in the offseason is have fun and predict ****. I promise to make my I told u so post when the season comes so remember my name homie