2018 South Florida Bulls football team

American college football season

2018 South Florida Bulls football

Gasparilla Bowl, L 20–38 vs. Marshall

Conference| American Athletic Conference
Record| 7–6 (3–5 AAC)
Head coach|

* Charlie Strong (2nd season)

Offensive coordinator| Sterlin Gilbert (2nd season)
Offensive scheme| Veer and shoot
Defensive coordinator| Brian Jean-Mary (2nd season)
Base defense| 3–3–5
Home stadium| Raymond James Stadium

Seasons

<- 2017

2019 ->

2018 American Athletic Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$  |  | 8  | - | 0  |  |  |  |  | 12  | - | 1  |
Temple |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
No. 24 Cincinnati |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 11  | - | 2  |
South Florida |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
East Carolina |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
UConn |  | 0  | - | 8  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 11  |
West Division
Memphis xy  |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 6  |
Houston x  |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Tulane x  |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
SMU |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 7  |
Navy |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 10  |
Tulsa |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41

* $ - Conference champion
* x - Division champion/co-champions
* y - Championship game participant

Rankings from AP Poll

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]

## 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

Award  | Player  | Position  | Year

|
|
|

John Mackey Award[2] | Mitchell Wilcox | TE  | JR
Outland Trophy[3] | Marcus Norman  | T  | JR
Wuerffel Trophy[4] | Jaymon Thomas  | DB  | SR

### 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

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|
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|

September 1| 6:00 p.m.| No. 12 (FCS) Elon*| |

* Raymond James Stadium
* Tampa, FL

| 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*| |

* Soldier Field
* Chicago, IL

| 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*| |

* Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium
* Hadley, MA

| ELVN| W 58–42| 7,988
October 12| 7:00 p.m.| at Tulsa| No. 23|

* H. A. Chapman Stadium
* Tulsa, OK

| 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|

* TDECU Stadium
* Houston, TX

| 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| |

* Nippert Stadium
* Cincinnati, OH

| ESPNU| L 23–35| 29,310
November 17| 12:00 a.m.| at Temple| |

* Lincoln Financial Field
* Philadelphia, PA

| ESPNews| L 17–27| 21,029
November 23| 4:00 p.m.| No. 8 UCF| |

* Raymond James Stadium
* Tampa, FL (War on I–4)

| ESPN| L 10–38| 57,626
December 20| 8:00 p.m.| Marshall*| |

* Raymond James Stadium
* Tampa, FL (Gasparilla Bowl)

| 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

See also: 2018 Elon Phoenix football team

### Georgia Tech

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Yellow Jackets  | 17  | 0  | 14  | 7 | 38
Bulls | 14  | 7  | 7  | 21 | 49

See also: 2018 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

### At Illinois

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
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|
|

Bulls | 7  | 0  | 0  | 18 | 25
Fighting Illini  | 10  | 6  | 3  | 0 | 19

See also: 2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

### East Carolina

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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|
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Pirates  | 7  | 3  | 3  | 0 | 13
Bulls | 6  | 7  | 0  | 7 | 20

See also: 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

### At Massachusetts

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Bulls | 10  | 10  | 28  | 10 | 58
Minutemen  | 7  | 7  | 14  | 14 | 42

See also: 2018 UMass Minutemen football team

### At Tulsa

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
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No. 23 Bulls | 3  | 0  | 7  | 15 | 25
Golden Hurricane  | 7  | 3  | 14  | 0 | 24

See also: 2018 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

### UConn

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
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Huskies  | 7  | 0  | 7  | 16 | 30
No. 21 Bulls | 0  | 7  | 17  | 14 | 38

See also: 2018 UConn Huskies football team

### At Houston

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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No. 21 Bulls  | 0  | 21  | 15  | 0 | 36
Cougars | 14  | 14  | 15  | 14 | 57

See also: 2018 Houston Cougars football team

### Tulane

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
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Green Wave | 7  | 20  | 7  | 7 | 41
Bulls  | 3  | 0  | 6  | 6 | 15

See also: 2018 Tulane Green Wave football team

### At Cincinnati

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
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Bulls  | 9  | 7  | 7  | 0 | 23
No. 25 Bearcats | 7  | 7  | 21  | 0 | 35

See also: 2018 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

### At Temple

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Bulls  | 7  | 10  | 0  | 0 | 17
Owls | 0  | 0  | 10  | 17 | 27

See also: 2018 Temple Owls football team

### UCF

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

No. 8 Knights | 7  | 10  | 7  | 14 | 38
Bulls  | 0  | 3  | 7  | 0 | 10

See also: 2018 UCF Knights football team and South Florida–UCF rivalry

### Marshall (Gasparilla Bowl)

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Thundering Herd | 21  | 7  | 3  | 7 | 38
Bulls  | 7  | 3  | 10  | 0 | 20

See also: 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team and 2018 Gasparilla Bowl

## Rankings

[edit]

Further information: 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes| Week

|

Poll| Pre| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| Final
AP| —| —| RV| RV| RV| RV| 23| 21| 21| RV| —| —| —| —| —| —
Coaches| RV| RV| RV| RV| RV| RV| 23| 20| 20| RV| RV| —| —| —| —| —
CFP| Not released| —| —| —| —| —| —| Not released

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Gasparilla Bowl loss caps off USF's horrendous finish to 2018". Yahoo Sports. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
2. ^ "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
3. ^ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
4. ^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
5. ^ "UCF Tabbed as Favorite in 2018 Preseason Media Poll". TheAmerican.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
6. ^ "2018 South Florida Bulls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.

* v
* t
* e

South Florida Bulls football

Venues|

* Tampa Stadium (1997–1998)
* Raymond James Stadium (1998–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games

Rivalries|

* UCF

Culture & lore|

* Rocky the Bull
* Golden Brahman March
* Herd of Thunder

People|

* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

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*[v]: View this template
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*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number