Can anyone find 6 wins?

[Triple B]

Meh, it's a message board so it's not really a big deal. 

If I thought it was a really big deal, I would have dug up the thread ...

[Guest]

Last year we were exactly THREE PLAYS away from 6-6.

 

Maryland ... In the middle of the 4th quarter, one of our up men on the punt team let himself get pushed back straight... Ciabatti hit him in the back, and Maryland recovered for a TD.  USF held Maryland in check most of the day... no reason to think if that punt is successful that MD would have scored.

 

East Carolina ... USF was manhandling the best offense (at the time) in the conference.  USF winning in the 3rd quarter, and had driving into ECU territory - one short play away from at least a Kloss FG, if not continuing a great drive.  Then we had two really bad plays in a row: holding, illegal substitution (before the next snap), and holding.  We went from what should have been 2nd and 2 inside the ECU 35 yard line t0 a 3rd and 30 in our own territory.  Mike White threw a "punterception" ... ECU took that ball and drove down to take the lead... That series took the wind out of our sails, and gave ECU the game.

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So let's look at 2015.  New QB, new offensive scheme, new defensive scheme, with great leaders in the secondary (who allowed the 6th fewest plays of 20+ yards!).

FAMU -- FAMU is the weakest team we have played under Taggart.  This will be an easy win.

 

FSU -- Florida State lost a lot of talent, and might even have a new QB (Golson) by the time we play, but I still look at this as a loss.

 

Maryland -- The Terps lost a lot of talent from a team that almost lost to USF last year.  To me, this is a pure toss up game.  Let's call it a loss for this post.

 

Memphis -- The Tigers return their talented QB... but they lost their star running back who gashed us for some big runs.  This is in Tampa, so I think it's more in play.  A new RB... and they have to replace 8 starters on defense.  This puts their strengths and against ours... (and their weaknesses against ours). I like our chances to win this game.

 

Syracuse -- The Orange have to replace 12 of 22 starters... from a team that went 3-9 and had to go 2 OTs to beat Villanova.  The Bulls win this one.

 

U Conn -- The game last year was sloppy; hard to really get a read from that.  I like this is an early fall game - it won't be as cold.  The Huskies went 2-10 last year... and looking at common opponents, USF did better than U Conn against all but UCF.  I still think USF is the better team, so this should be another win.

 

SMU -- Yes, it took a miracle comeback here... but Quinton Flowers had his first start ever on the road only 2 days after the death of his brother.  We can forgive Flowers for that.  The Mustangs are not rebuilding yet with their new coach... and since this back in Tampa, it's a win.

 

Navy -- I am having a tough time with this one.  The triple wishbone will be tough, because the 4-2-5 scheme is designed to beat spread offenses - not power running teams.  Let's call this a loss, even though I am not really sure.  It's on the road, so that's as good of a reason as any.

 

East Carolina -- New QB for the Pirates. New WRs.  New RB.  5 new starters on Defense.  These are not last year's Pirates... and you'll note above close USF was to winning last year.  Yes, it's on the road... but I think this is USF's "upset" where Bulls win one they're not suppsed to.

 

Temple -- The Owls have a lot coming back to a team that caught more breaks than USF to finish 6-6 and almost go to a bowl game.  I think both teams are rebuildng in the same way at the same time... It's in Tampa, but coming off the big road victory the week before, I will say this is a loss for the Bulls.

 

Cincinnati -- The Bearcats have Gunner Kiel coming back, and most of their WR corps.  They do replace quite a bit on defense... if this was in Ohio, it would be a loss.  In Tampa, I put it in the toss-up category, but we'll give this to Cincy for now.

 

UCF -- The Knights have to rebuild their defense... and their skill positions on offense. If this game were early in the season, I would give this to USF hands down.  UCF has the season to get their ship in better order... but this game is always hard fought.  I think USF wins this one.

 

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There you have it.  The Bulls finish 7-5 but 5-3 in conference (best conference record ever for USF).

 

Thanks for whoever pulled up the old thread... Here was my prediction at 7-5... I was wrong about Memphis, Temple, and Cincinnati.... although I did say Cincy was a tossup.

[Calibull]

So are you saying our QB is great? Or do you really just have no idea what you are talking about and just say idiotic things for sake of seeing your words on the interwebpage

[Breedwell]

[Leviathan]

So are you saying our QB is great? Or do you really just have no idea what you are talking about and just say idiotic things for sake of seeing your words on the interwebpage

I'd say 21 TDs and over 2,000 yards passing and over 800 yards rushing qualifies as great play from the QB position, and is largely responsible for why we got more than five conference wins. 

 

What is idiotic about what he said? 

[DELdaBull]

We found 8. Can we find the 9th? 

[RedBull13]

Thanks for whoever pulled up the old thread... Here was my prediction at 7-5... I was wrong about Memphis, Temple, and Cincinnati.... although I did say Cincy was a tossup.

It WAS a toss up. Flowers tossed the ball up for a touchdown. And then another one. And then another one. And then another one....

[MaltLiquorBull]

It WAS a toss up. Flowers tossed the ball up for a touchdown. And then another one. And then another one. And then another one....

It was a clinic.

[raptorcj]

It was a clinic.

It was kid-in-a-candy-store wonderful.

[Calibull]

It WAS a toss up. Flowers tossed the ball up for a touchdown. And then another one. And then another one. And then another one....