College Football News has USF Going 9-3

[NewEnglandBull]

Yet they have no information on how good the replacements are or can be...

[Bull Dozer]

13 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Yet they have no information on how good the replacements are or can be...

No but odds are you're going to have some drop off from a DT that should be drafted, your all time tackler,  a guy like Hector who could consistently good pass rush from the DT spot (which is a rare bird in and of itself), and the leadership and play making ability of Nichols.  That's not even mentioning the best QB in program history.  If anything 9-3 could be considered optimistic....    

[chapelbull]

In this conference we should expect a minimum of 9-3 every year.  Anything less is a disappointment and some years that in itself may be disappointing.  If you want to play with the big boys, you better be able to reload each year especially in the AAC

[NewEnglandBull]

1 hour ago, Bull Dozer said:

No but odds are you're going to have some drop off from a DT that should be drafted, your all time tackler,  a guy like Hector who could consistently good pass rush from the DT spot (which is a rare bird in and of itself), and the leadership and play making ability of Nichols.  That's not even mentioning the best QB in program history.  If anything 9-3 could be considered optimistic....    

I guess my point is no one can quantify the drop off yet and there may not be any by the end of the year. What happens if the new QB throws a better pass than Q (not out of the question)? If one position is down compared to last year, what happens if another position is up? It could lead to more success than last year. Further, other teams have to be put into the equation. For example did ucf  have any significant change (new coach)? Again, I think there are just too many variables to say that this is at best a 7-5 team as some have suggested. 

[Bull Dozer]

16 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

I guess my point is no one can quantify the drop off yet and there may not be any by the end of the year. What happens if the new QB throws a better pass than Q (not out of the question)? If one position is down compared to last year, what happens if another position is up? It could lead to more success than last year. Further, other teams have to be put into the equation. For example did ucf  have any significant change (new coach)? Again, I think there are just too many variables to say that this is at best a 7-5 team as some have suggested. 

With all predictions you play the percentages.  It's not often any program (not just USF) replaces guys who went around breaking school records with guys just as good.  It's also rare that G5 teams replace NFL caliber guys with more NFL caliber guys. We lose more than a few of these type of guys and that's not even taking into account intangibles like leadership or Flowers giving the guys around him the feeling that they are never out of a game. These predictions just play the percentages and honestly 9-3 is probably more than fair, especially for an outside observer.  They're basically saying we should be as good as last season and maybe the ball doesn't bounce our way in a close game like the bowl game or that our tougher schedule will lead to one more team tripping us up.  We were also blessed to be relatively healthy last season. 

In the end these previews/projections aren't much different than most of the conjecture here.  It's all stuff to pass the time until the ball kicks off in the fall.  

[NewEnglandBull]

43 minutes ago, Bull Dozer said:

With all predictions you play the percentages.  It's not often any program (not just USF) replaces guys who went around breaking school records with guys just as good.  It's also rare that G5 teams replace NFL caliber guys with more NFL caliber guys. We lose more than a few of these type of guys and that's not even taking into account intangibles like leadership or Flowers giving the guys around him the feeling that they are never out of a game. These predictions just play the percentages and honestly 9-3 is probably more than fair, especially for an outside observer.  They're basically saying we should be as good as last season and maybe the ball doesn't bounce our way in a close game like the bowl game or that our tougher schedule will lead to one more team tripping us up.  We were also blessed to be relatively healthy last season. 

In the end these previews/projections aren't much different than most of the conjecture here.  It's all stuff to pass the time until the ball kicks off in the fall.  

Good points BD. Especially the impact Q made in making players feel like winners. I agree, 9-3 is fair and we won't know until the rubber hits the road in September.

[George_Bullnard_Shaw]

20 hours ago, Bourbon Bull said:

Can't wait to go 7 - 5 and playing those 12 to 6 games again. That was fun.

People here may be ok with winning like that but beating the rest of the AAC in a grind isn't going to fill the stands.  GCO is the kind of entertainment people crave.

[Bull Dozer]

8 minutes ago, George_Bullnard_Shaw said:

People here may be ok with winning like that but beating the rest of the AAC in a grind isn't going to fill the stands.  GCO is the kind of entertainment people crave.

Just like plants crave electrolytes 

[Triple B]

1 hour ago, George_Bullnard_Shaw said:

People here may be ok with winning like that but beating the rest of the AAC in a grind isn't going to fill the stands.  GCO is the kind of entertainment people crave.

Neither the GCO nor winning has filled the stands ... 

[charsibb]

1 hour ago, Bull Dozer said:

Just like plants crave electrolytes