Season Outlook

[bullsmeanbusiness]

As mentioned in the USF vs NC State Prediction thread and on the Daily Stampede live podcast earlier, a lot of the success of this season is going to be dependent on how we our D Line performs and if we can stop the run. Looking at the post by @Gatorbull325, on paper it's hard to argue that this group will be worse than last year. I see more aggressive D play calling now that they have been in the system for a year and have a Secondary that actually has some size. 

On 8/20/2021 at 12:01 PM, Gatorbull325 said:

1. Blake Green (DT) 280 -> 276 (5 years of college football and 23 years old)
2. Thad Mangum (DT) 285 -> 275 (6 years of college football and 24 years old)
3. Rashawn Yates (DE) 271 -> 280 (3 years of college football and 21 years old)
4. Darrien Grant (DL) 254 -> 263 (4 years of college football and 22 years old)
5. Tyrone Barber (DL) 265 -> 257  (3 years of college football and 21 years old)
6. Kelvin Pinkney (DT) 315 -> 310 (4 years of college football and 23 years old)
7. Kevin Kegler (DT) 294 -> 303 (4 years of college football and 23 years old)
8. De'Juan Sease (DT) 250 -> 290 (2 years of college football and 20 years old)
9. Ryan Thaxton (DE) 245 -> 230 (4 years of college football and 23 years old)
10. Stacy Kirby (DT) 252 -> 230 (3 years of college football and 22 years old)

 

If Cade can stay healthy, along with utilizing Timmy McClain in a similar role that Florida did with Leak & Tebow, this O could be scary good. Our depth of size and speed in the skill positions, along with an experience O line, makes this team deceptively good. 

 

 

I will go on record and say that if we win against NC St we win a minimum of 8 games this season. If we lose, 4 wins is more likely. @Brad $50 donation to the site if I am wrong? Who else wants to hop on this?

[bulloni]

I think our season is dependent on what happens in the stretch of game 6 to game 9. Odds are pretty good we lose to NC State and Florida then beat FAMU. BYU and SMU will be tough, I think the fanbase will feel good if we win one of those games and are 2-3 but there's a good chance we're 1-4 at this point. But then we have a stretch of our 4 most winnable games: Tulsa, Temple, ECU, Houston.

Win all 4 of those and we probably make a bowl game and the outlook for 2022 will be great.

Win 2-3 of those and we probably end the season with 4-5 games and things will seem on track enough that fans won't be calling for Jeff Scott's head yet.

Win 0-1 of those and USF football will be on life support

[DJBulls]

We definitely have begun building talent back...the Dline group though could hold the team back though from getting to 5 or 6 wins...that group may be improved, but by how much?

Edited August 25, 2021 by DJBulls

[BullyPulpit]

1 hour ago, DJBulls said:

We definitely have begun building talent back...the Dline group though could hold the team back though from getting to 5 or 6 wins...that group may be improved, but by how much?

Even a modest improvement should be enough if the offense is playing up to its capabilities. I think the improvement in the secondary will benefit the D-line as well. I don't have much concern over our first line guys, its a lack of depth that will be a problem for us. We have to avoid injuries and Covid outbreaks. Hopefully, CJS has gotten through to the players and we can get the vaccination percentage up over 90%. Would hate to see the season derailed because we lost an entire position group to Covid protocols. 

[smazza]

i cant feel sorry for any program that doesnt have their team fully vaccinated

[DJBulls]

Just now, BullyPulpit said:

Even a modest improvement should be enough if the offense is playing up to its capabilities. I think the improvement in the secondary will benefit the D-line as well. I don't have much concern over our first line guys, its a lack of depth that will be a problem for us. We have to avoid injuries and Covid outbreaks. Hopefully, CJS has gotten through to the players and we can get the vaccination percentage up over 90%. Would hate to see the season derailed because we lost an entire position group to Covid protocols. 

I was concerned with the LB'er unit as well...we've built a bit of depth though...I think all other units have improved immensely...

[DELdaBull]

Is bleak, until it isn't 

[BullyPulpit]

9 minutes ago, DJBulls said:

I was concerned with the LB'er unit as well...we've built a bit of depth though...I think all other units have improved immensely...

LB is thin. We only have about 4 of 5 guys that I feel are serviceable. Grier is awesome, even if he is undersized. Just has to keep his head in the game. Boyles is solid as well. We missed his presence early last year due to Covid, but he played well upon his return. Bellamy is a nice depth piece. Mac Harris showed some flashes last year and was progressing nicely before Covid derailed his season. Mims is not athletic enough, but can at least eat some minutes if needed. 

[bulloni]

1 minute ago, BullyPulpit said:

LB is thin. We only have about 4 of 5 guys that I feel are serviceable. Grier is awesome, even if he is undersized. Just has to keep his head in the game. Boyles is solid as well. We missed his presence early last year due to Covid, but he played well upon his return. Bellamy is a nice depth piece. Mac Harris showed some flashes last year and was progressing nicely before Covid derailed his season. Mims is not athletic enough, but can at least eat some minutes if needed. 

Word is Brian Norris has looked great in camp, could be a breakout guy at linebacker

[BullyPulpit]

2 minutes ago, bulloni said:

Word is Brian Norris has looked great in camp, could be a breakout guy at linebacker

I hope so. He didn't do much last season aside from the Cincy game. Should have had his opportunities given injuries and Covid to make an impact and really couldn't find much playing time. Hopefully something clicked for him. We also have some freshman that look like they could be decent, but you can never count on them either.