The 2018 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida (USF) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They played their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and were led by second-year head coach Charlie Strong. The Bulls competed as members of the East Division of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in AAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. They were invited to the Gasparilla Bowl where they lost to Marshall.
The 2018 Bulls became the first team in college football history to start a season 7–0 and lose their final six games.[1]
Table of Contents
Previous season[edit]
The Bulls finished the 2017 season with a record of 10–2. After ending the regular season with a record of 9-2, 6-2 in the AAC, the Bulls were invited to the Birmingham Bowl, where they defeated Texas Tech 38-34.
Preseason[edit]
The Bulls replaced 11 starters from a 10-2 season in 2017. One of the biggest storylines of the offseason was the addition of graduate transfer Blake Barnett who was named the starting quarterback following stints at Alabama and Arizona State.
Award watch lists[edit]
Listed in the order that they were released
AAC media poll[edit]
The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Bulls predicted to finish in second place in the AAC East Division.[5]
Media poll (East)
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
UCF
175 (25)
2
USF
140 (5)
3
Temple
132
4
Cincinnati
91
5
UConn
51
6
East Carolina
41
Schedule[edit]
Date
Time
Opponent
Rank
Site
TV
Result
Attendance
September 1
6:00 p.m.
No. 12 (FCS) Elon*
ESPN3
W 34–14
31,217
September 8
12:00 p.m.
Georgia Tech*
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
ABC/ESPN2
W 49–38
34,182
September 15
3:30 p.m.
vs. Illinois*
BTN
W 25–19
21,725
September 22
8:00 p.m.
East Carolina
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
ESPNews
W 20–13
34,562
October 6
3:30 p.m.
at Massachusetts*
ELVN
W 58–42
7,988
7:00 p.m.
at Tulsa
No. 23
ESPN
W 25–24
16,142
October 20
7:00 p.m.
UConn
No. 21
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
CBSSN
W 38–30
42,127
October 27
3:30 p.m.
at Houston
No. 21
ABC/ESPN2
L 36–57
31,631
November 3
3:30 p.m.
Tulane
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, FL
CBSSN
L 15–41
31,388
November 10
7:00 p.m.
at No. 25 Cincinnati
ESPNU
L 23–35
29,310
November 17
12:00 a.m.
at Temple
ESPNews
L 17–27
21,029
4:00 p.m.
No. 8 UCF
ESPN
L 10–38
57,626
8:00 p.m.
Marshall*
ESPN
L 20–38
14,135
*Non-conference game
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
All times are in Eastern time
Schedule Source:[6]
Game summaries[edit]
Elon[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 12 (FCS) Phoenix
0
0
7
7
14
Bulls
7
17
7
3
34
Georgia Tech[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Yellow Jackets
17
0
14
7
38
Bulls
14
7
7
21
49
At Illinois[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
7
0
0
18
25
Fighting Illini
10
6
3
0
19
East Carolina[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Pirates
7
3
3
0
13
Bulls
6
7
0
7
20
At Massachusetts[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
10
10
28
10
58
Minutemen
7
7
14
14
42
At Tulsa[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 23 Bulls
3
0
7
15
25
Golden Hurricane
7
3
14
0
24
UConn[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Huskies
7
0
7
16
30
No. 21 Bulls
0
7
17
14
38
At Houston[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 21 Bulls
0
21
15
0
36
Cougars
14
14
15
14
57
Tulane[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Green Wave
7
20
7
7
41
Bulls
3
0
6
6
15
At Cincinnati[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
9
7
7
0
23
No. 25 Bearcats
7
7
21
0
35
At Temple[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
7
10
0
0
17
Owls
0
0
10
17
27
UCF[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 8 Knights
7
10
7
14
38
Bulls
0
3
7
0
10
Marshall (Gasparilla Bowl)[edit]
1
2
3
4
Total
Thundering Herd
21
7
3
7
38
Bulls
7
3
10
0
20
Rankings[edit]
Ranking movements Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. — = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
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