Will USF Have A Real Shot In 2016 (Finally)?

[nobullaboutit]

Well the odds would be 50/50 & I choose to look at the glass full!  All things are possible & I'll be there rooting them on to victory.  Gooooooo Bulls!

[TheUpperHand]

16 minutes ago, nobull.Bulls said:

I like our chances next year. It'll be our best shot at a conference title in a long time. 

I don't think I'd agree with that. That's belittling this year because it was the closest we've ever been. I do agree that we should be heavy favorites to win the division and get our shot.

[MMW]

On 1/1/2016 at 3:39 AM, usfgrad84 said:

2008 is an interesting comparison to make. What was it about those teams that we couldn't get over the hump during conference play?  I looked up the roster and schedule. Kind of similar roster, experience/depth wise. A lot of sophs and jrs that year who ended up with fair careers here. 

Coming off 2007 the exppectations were fairly high for us  the first time we started out ranked. Beat a ranked Kansas team (one of my favorite, nail biting, craziest games ever).  We got back up to #10 and were still ranked as high as #14 as late as Nov 1  

Why couldn't we win conference games? Was it depth? If we had key injuries we couldn't just bring in someone of like talent.  Was it coaching?  Was it that the teams we were losing to were that much better? 

Personally, i felt we were always a couple of key players away.  

Next year should be fun to watch. It should be us and Temple in our division again.  Navy loses not only Reynolds, but 10 starters on offense.  I also think UCONN is on an upward trend and will be tough for us.

Houston will be strong.  I think our 2 teams could be 2 very dynamic programs for the next couple of years.

"Depth" and "coaching" gets thrown around and is probably correct but I would like to be more specific.  

We were good against teams that we caught off guard and got the out of conference wins under CJL.  CJL could also get the kids amped for the the big in conference games - enough to overcome our shortcoming.

Against the other teams that we probably all felt we should beat the teams would be someone flat (trying not to lose).  

We also had an offense that was effective but stoppable.  They would put a spy on Grothe, limited his running ability, pressured him and did things in the secondary to confuse him - causing him to make mistakes.  We also did not have a ground game to punish them for making those adjustments.

On offense, they would run the ball right at us. We were built to stop the spread (WVU) and were vulnerable to bruising straight ahead runners.  If a team was not passing we could not pressure their QB's into making a mistake and turn overs were our bread and butter.

Our weaknesses were well known in the Big East and teams exploited them.

Today, things appear to be somewhat different on the offense (the defense is still crappy at stopping the run IMO).

On offense we have a more balanced attack.  Flowers and Adams can hurt you long and he (QF) makes few mistakes and is a dangerous runner.  Mack is our best player and running him is CWT's bread and butter (imposing our will) and he has made that a priority.  I think Mack is great but CWT always has a great RB and I think it is because he knows how to set them up for success.

If QF can improve on his intermediate passes and we can get additional receivers to step up we should be more effective next year but there are no guarantees.

I know everyone loves Allen and thinks the defense was great last year so I am in the minority.  I think we were just ok on defense and need to make a lot of improvements there in order to get to the next level.  It will be great to have the same DC for two years straight and I think/hope we get back to our former glory on that side of the ball.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2016 by mark_my_words

[USFbulls24]

A real contender in the AAC of course.. We were a contender this year and should be just about every year we are still in this conference. 

[raptorcj]

I guess it's just nice to be back in the talk for CC. Our boys earned it with this year's turnaround, so let's all hope we continue moving in that direction. I just can't get my mind off the 3rd Q of the bowl game. Just can't have chinks in the armor like that if we want to beat teams like Houston.

[NewEnglandBull]

We will also have to be lucky in terms of injuries. 

[Ionbull]

On January 2, 2016 at 6:13 PM, USFbulls24 said:

A real contender in the AAC of course.. We were a contender this year and should be just about every year we are still in this conference. 

That's the overall hope here. I think we all know how quickly we fell from grace with a coaching change and the fact that the floor for our program is below bowl eligibility; but I also believe our ceiling can be as high as Houston's. It's important to keep the machine rolling with this staff and to strike while the iron is hot with our weapons gaining more experience and playing time together. Lets hope the higher expectations coupled with being a known commodity now won't stall the bus. 

[Gismo]

 Defense concerns me. 3rd down conversions concern me. Flowers still carries too much of the weight of the offense. Defense still looks weak tackling and in coverage.

[BDYZR]

19 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

We will also have to be lucky in terms of injuries. 

100% agree. That's where depth plays a huge roll. Also the reason I like playing the 2's and 3's every chance we get.

[TarHeel_Bull]

19 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

We will also have to be lucky in terms of injuries. 

Agreed, but I feel like we have a lot more depth going into this season at every position except maybe the o-line and d-line, but we got 2 new defensive end transfers this offseason and we get Calloway back so that isn't as much of a worry.