Grading our season

[Outlaw]

Golesh B+: He took a bunch of misfits, castaways, and players that didn't know how to compete or how to win and built their confidence up. We went from the bottom of the AAC to the upper half. We had some bumps and a few bad losses along the way, like getting blown out and embarrassed by losing record conference mates UAB and FAU. The team didn't quit or fold after those games and came out every week to compete for a win. The recruiting is trending up, but we will really only find out once the recruits sign and get on campus. Golesh has some improvements and blemishes in his play-calling and design runs, but a lack of talent in the trenches could be a reason for the predictable run calls. The defense still needs work, but it did have some improvements and bright spots this year.

Quarterbacks A- : Brown delivered and is in the history books for USF football. We didn't play QB musical chairs this year, and the coaching staff coached this boy into the history books. I still don't think he is done growing and could be really special.

Running backs C+: The running backs are very inconsistent as a pack and have ups and downs. Powell looks the worst of the group, and I hope he takes a step forward. I hope we can give at least two of Wright, Dukes, and Joiner a way to find another year with the portal and COVID loopholes.

Receivers B: Atkins had a great year and is in the books. Simmons, Brown, and Alexis are produced but are very inconsistent. I think they outperformed the group with Weaver and Horn in it. Not bad for a bunch of transfers and walk-ons.

Offensive Line D+/C- : The group needs to improve drastically if we want to win a championship in the AAC or FBS football, but they were put together and did the best with the talent they had. Skinner looks like he can be a great lineman in the future. Kid is getting nasty out there as a true freshman. Thank you, Jennings, for coming back and leading this group of inexperienced players and transfers to a bowl season. You could have transferred out like the others, but you decided to stay a Bull and make a difference on the field.

Defense D+/C-  : The defense is still bad and needs a lot of work. Todd Orlando will need to show major improvement next year if he wants to keep his job for year three. The defense did look good against Bama, Navy, Temple, and Charlotte. The defense won the game for USF against Temple when the offense struggled in the second half, which is something I hadn't seen in a while. There are lots of things to improve on here, especially the pass rush, tackling, and defensiveback coverage. The defense never quits but will need to improve moving forward. We are still in the bottom quartile of FBS football.

Special Teams  Outside of the blocked punted special teams, this has not been good. We haven't returned any kicks or punts this year for a TD. The kicking game will need to improve; hopefully Cannon and Gramatica can fix that.

Overall B+ for Bulls: Golesh and the Bulls surpassed expectations and are going bowling. The Bulls have extra practices now and hopefully will take the momentum to land some better recruits and transfers to fill in the gaps. I assume there will be a lot of roster turnover again, but I hope Golesh has a plan to keep Byrum Brown at all costs. I have a suspicion that some Power 5 teams will be trying to get him to transfer there. We improved and are moving forward, not backwards, which is a great change. We have erased the curse of Jeff Scott and now need to move on to erasing the curse of Judy by continuing to heavily invest in athletics. Let's go win our first championship next year after we win our bowl game.

Stats to compare the growth of the offense.

2023

2022

Edited November 26, 2023 by Outlaw

[zarnozdabull]

The season as a whole: A-

We might actually end up with a winning record in year one of the Golesh era.

Understanding how putrid we've been the last three years, that exceeds all expectations.

[Outlaw]

5 minutes ago, zarnozdabull said:

The season as a whole: A-

We might actually end up with a winning record in year one of the Golesh era.

Understanding how putrid we've been the last three years, that exceeds all expectations.

I didn't get usf an A because we allowed UAB and FAU losing programs give us an old school *** whooping on the scoreboard.  Next year we  to need destroy them. I got no problem with the Memphis,Bama, UTSA, and WKU loss.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Outlaw

[Grateful Dad]

Good post, Outlaw.

[79 Bull]

NO ONE would have predicted the Bulls in 5th place (with tiebreaker wins over Rice and Navy) out of 14 for the AAC.  No one.

GO BULLS!

[John Lewis]

9 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

we allowed UAB and FAU losing programs give us an old school *** whooping on the scoreboard.  Next year we  to need destroy them.

I don't believe we play UAB next season.

[belgianbull]

8 minutes ago, 79 Bull said:

NO ONE would have predicted the Bulls in 5th place (with tiebreaker wins over Rice and Navy) out of 14 for the AAC.  No one.

GO BULLS!

I kind of predicted wins against Rice, Temple, Charlotte, FAMU,U Conn and one more.

Nice to see it come to fruition though.

I am at B or B- for the season based on the fact that our defense is still at the bottom and the two blow out losses against FAU and UAB. The one against FAU hurt especially.

Win a bowl game and I would bring it up to a B+ or A-

Regardless a successful season

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by belgianbull

[79 Bull]

July 25, 2023. I'd have to give our 5th place finish an A.

 

 

2023 American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll
 

		Team (First-Place Votes)	Points
	1.	Tulane (20)	457
	2.	UTSA (9)	440
	3.	SMU (3)	397
	4.	Memphis (1)	362
	5.	Florida Atlantic	312
	6.	East Carolina	303
	7.	North Texas	261
	8.	UAB (1)	209
	9.	Navy	199
	10.	Temple	182
	11.	Tulsa	160
	12.	Rice	138
	13.	South Florida	86
	14.	Charlotte	64

[WoolyBully]

Given the starting point, coming off of four abysmal years, I think an A is warranted.  But let's be clear. This is an "A" for this year, without deducting points for any existing shortcomings or 'room for improvement'. Just going with the overall product.That's a huge lift, winding up with 50% wins and bowl game. 

Five wins would have been a welcome improvement. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by WoolyBully
text

[Outlaw]

9 minutes ago, belgianbull said:

I kind of predicted wins against Rice, Temple, Charlotte, FAMU,U Conn and one more.

Nice to see it come to fruition though.

I am at B or B- for the season based on the fact that our defense is still at the bottom and the two blow out losses against FAU and UAB. The one against FAU hurt especially.

Win a bowl game and I would bring it up to a B+ or A-

Regardless a successful season

 

I gave Golesh a B+ for that exact reason. No excuses to get blown out by UAB or FAU. It was year one and we have to keep moving forward.