How do you assess this?

[NewEnglandBull]

9 minutes ago, USFBulls727 said:

I can't help but look at the big picture. Like Boise losing 44-21 for example...

Been burned too many times. I am at an age where it is one game at a time for me LOL...

[USFBulls727]

12 minutes ago, NCBull said:

We also showed today we have the potential to easily crap the bed.  Lots of season left still.

11-1 is based on the fact that we have a mostly soft schedule, and that the Coaching Staff can iron out the obvious wrinkles on Defense. I have some confidence that Strong can do that. I don't think we've seen the best of this team yet. This offense can be ridiculously good once Barnett in fully in sync with them. 

[bullsfan27]

These close games will help later in the season as we will have experience in handling late game pressure. The takeaway from this game for the team has to be this is what happens when you don't come out ready to play at opening kickoff. According to Joey Strong was not happy with the entire team and has taken the blame for the team not coming out ready. Hopefully this lights a fire under the coaching staff and the team and they don't come out flat again. Otherwise when we play houston and the last 5 games we could easily lose those if we play like this again against the back half of the schedule

[Bulls On Parade]

We have a new qb and faces on offense and defense.  Ill take it. We didnt play our best but beat a p5 team on the road.  This team was going to struggle.

This team if we played better wins like 35+ to 19.

This is a team that over the year should get better.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Bulls On Parade

[USFBulls727]

I guessed 9-3 last season, and I'm not normally foolishly optimistic about USF Football, but I'm getting the feeling that this is the team that can finally get us a Conference Championship. There are all kinds of flaws right now, but I get the feeling that this team will continue to improve, and get it done this year.

[bullsfan27]

[Massbull]

They overcame 124 yards in penalties and every possible Mistake & still won on the road.  Illinois was fired Up & without question USF was flat being on the road for the first time this year. 

Although I hope this is the worst game they play this year, credit has to be given to the quarterback for keeping his poise  and  leading his team back. Also the  defense settled in, Illinois had 200 yards rushing however 80 that was on the first TD drive.

 Still way too many missed tackles and bad angles by linebackers.

 That being said I agree 3-0 better than 2-1

 

[BrassBulls12]

We survived ourselves....... Barely. 

[bullsbucsfan426]

Initially you'd think it's hard to assess this but after looking the game as a whole, it really isn't. 

1. We have struggled to stop the run all season. We got progressively better as the game went on by keying on Epstein. At this point you assume we are who we are. I expected more from BJM and CCS. They turned around a veteran defense last year-maybe this defense needs more time to gel? It's hard to say. They just give up so much size. This is what worries me for when we play UCF, Houston (and to some extent) Cincinnatti. The Bearcats will be happy to pound it all day and they have the ability to succeed. 

2. I think the team was overconfident after the way we won against GT last week. Penalties have always been a problem since Strong took over, and this week wasn't any different. The turnovers were just killers. The play calling wasn't great at times, but Barnett just seemed rattled a great deal of the time. There were a lot of open throws he missed. The defense is young and they will learn, but I wonder where things will go down the stretch. 

3. Big 10 teams tend to be built very similarly-they're big on the lines, have enough speed to take advantage of you, and want to drive the ball downfield. It's like us facing Rutgers or UConn in the mid-2000s. They were just so big and power-based that they would run all day against USF, and this isn't the first time we've had a grossly undersized defense. I'd say "recruit better" but at some point you wonder how much we can get in terms of talent in the trenches. I was heartened to see the late plays by Barber and Pinckney, yet you have to think that if we score early and go into the second quarter with 14 points on the board, UI would have gotten away from the run. 

4. The Tampa 2 defense Smith ran caused problems. Most spread offenses in college are used to scoring in bunches, on 3-4 play drives, and generally not facing a ton of opposition. That's how our team seemed to be operating for most of the day-and that helped the Illini get interceptions. I give them credit for hunkering down, realizing they needed to do some work, and eventually were patient enough to drive the ball down the field and score TDs. If they keep that driven mindset for the rest of the season, they will get much, much better. 

5. It wasn't a good win, even though UI is a Big 10 team. They are no better than they were last season, they struggled to beat Kent State and Western Illinois. They gave us enough of a scare that they will be taken seriously now. That said, there are wins on their schedule. Rutgers looked awful today against Kansas...let that sink in. Purdue is still winless and looks like a winnable game. I don't fancy their chances against PSU or Wisconsin at all. If they want to go to a bowl game they will have to get much, much better. Maybe Nebraska will end up sucking and then they only need one more win against the rest of their schedule. 

[NewEnglandBull]

6 minutes ago, bullsbucsfan426 said:

Initially you'd think it's hard to assess this but after looking the game as a whole, it really isn't. 

1. We have struggled to stop the run all season. We got progressively better as the game went on by keying on Epstein. At this point you assume we are who we are. I expected more from BJM and CCS. They turned around a veteran defense last year-maybe this defense needs more time to gel? It's hard to say. They just give up so much size. This is what worries me for when we play UCF, Houston (and to some extent) Cincinnatti. The Bearcats will be happy to pound it all day and they have the ability to succeed. 

2. I think the team was overconfident after the way we won against GT last week. Penalties have always been a problem since Strong took over, and this week wasn't any different. The turnovers were just killers. The play calling wasn't great at times, but Barnett just seemed rattled a great deal of the time. There were a lot of open throws he missed. The defense is young and they will learn, but I wonder where things will go down the stretch. 

3. Big 10 teams tend to be built very similarly-they're big on the lines, have enough speed to take advantage of you, and want to drive the ball downfield. It's like us facing Rutgers or UConn in the mid-2000s. They were just so big and power-based that they would run all day against USF, and this isn't the first time we've had a grossly undersized defense. I'd say "recruit better" but at some point you wonder how much we can get in terms of talent in the trenches. I was heartened to see the late plays by Barber and Pinckney, yet you have to think that if we score early and go into the second quarter with 14 points on the board, UI would have gotten away from the run. 

4. The Tampa 2 defense Smith ran caused problems. Most spread offenses in college are used to scoring in bunches, on 3-4 play drives, and generally not facing a ton of opposition. That's how our team seemed to be operating for most of the day-and that helped the Illini get interceptions. I give them credit for hunkering down, realizing they needed to do some work, and eventually were patient enough to drive the ball down the field and score TDs. If they keep that driven mindset for the rest of the season, they will get much, much better. 

5. It wasn't a good win, even though UI is a Big 10 team. They are no better than they were last season, they struggled to beat Kent State and Western Illinois. They gave us enough of a scare that they will be taken seriously now. That said, there are wins on their schedule. Rutgers looked awful today against Kansas...let that sink in. Purdue is still winless and looks like a winnable game. I don't fancy their chances against PSU or Wisconsin at all. If they want to go to a bowl game they will have to get much, much better. Maybe Nebraska will end up sucking and then they only need one more win against the rest of their schedule. 

Disagree with point 5. I’ve watched both Illinois games this year. They are significantly better than last year. Also,  if their suspended players have played today this game may have ended much differently. 

Edited September 16, 2018 by NewEnglandBull