2018 South Florida Bulls football team

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.

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 Bulls became the first team in college football history to start a season 7–0 and lose their final six games.^[1]

Preseason

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

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

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
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

Elon

	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

	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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	7	0	0	18	25
Fighting Illini	10	6	3	0	19

See also: 2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	7	3	3	0	13
Bulls	6	7	0	7	20

See also: 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

At Massachusetts

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	10	10	28	10	58
Minutemen	7	7	14	14	42

See also: 2018 UMass Minutemen football team

At Tulsa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Bulls	3	0	7	15	25
Golden Hurricane	7	3	14	0	24

See also: 2018 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

UConn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	0	7	16	30
No. 21 Bulls	0	7	17	14	38

See also: 2018 UConn Huskies football team

At Houston

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Bulls	0	21	15	0	36
Cougars	14	14	15	14	57

See also: 2018 Houston Cougars football team

Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Green Wave	7	20	7	7	41
Bulls	3	0	6	6	15

See also: 2018 Tulane Green Wave football team

At Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	9	7	7	0	23
No. 25 Bearcats	7	7	21	0	35

See also: 2018 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

At Temple

	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

	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)

	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

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

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.