American college football season
The 2019 South Florida Bulls football team represented the
University of South Florida (USF) during the
2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Bulls were led by third-year head coach
Charlie Strong and played their home games at
Raymond James Stadium in
Tampa, Florida . They competed as members of the East Division of the
American Athletic Conference . They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in AAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division.
On December 2, head coach Charlie Strong was fired.
[1] He finished at South Florida with a three-year record of 21–16.
Preseason
Coaching changes
In January 2019, South Florida hired
Kerwin Bell as their new offensive coordinator, replacing
Sterlin Gilbert , who left to take the head coaching job at
McNeese State . Bell had spent the previous three seasons as the head coach at
Valdosta State , where he led the school to an
NCAA Division II national title in 2018.
[2]
AAC media poll
The AAC media poll was released on July 16, 2019, with the Bulls predicted to finish third in the AAC East Division.
[3]
Media poll (East)
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
UCF
169 (19)
2
Cincinnati
157 (11)
3
USF
107
4
Temple
101
5
East Carolina
66
6
UConn
30
Pre-season award watch lists
Heading into the 2019 season, five Bulls were named to various award watch lists:
Blake Barnett (Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award),
[4] Coby Weiss (Lou Groza Award),
[5] Marcus Norman (Outland Trophy),
[6] Mike Hampton (Jim Thorpe Award),
[7] and
Mitchell Wilcox (John Mackey Award).
[8]
Schedule
South Florida's 2019 schedule will begin with three non-conference games: at home against
Wisconsin of the
Big Ten Conference , then on the road against
Georgia Tech of the
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and then at home again against
South Carolina State of the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Their fourth non-conference game will be played at home against
BYU , a
football independent , after the start of the conference schedule. In
American Athletic Conference play, the Bulls will play the other members of the East Division and draw
Memphis ,
Navy , and
SMU from the West Division. They will not play
Houston ,
Tulane , or
Tulsa as part of the regular season.
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance 7:00 p.m. No. 19
Wisconsin * ESPN L 0–4946,704
September 7 2:00 p.m. at
Georgia Tech *
ACCN L 10–1446,599
September 14 6:00 p.m.
South Carolina State * Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL
ESPN3 W 55–1631,368
September 28 4:00 p.m.
SMU Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL
ESPNU L 21–4828,850
October 5 12:00 p.m. at
UConn
CBSSN W 48–2218,038
October 12 3:30 p.m.
BYU * Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL CBSSN W 27–2335,375
October 19 3:30 p.m. at
Navy CBSSN L 3–3529,774
October 26 3:45 p.m. at
East Carolina ESPNU W 45–2033,088
8:00 p.m.
Temple Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL
ESPN L 7–1726,214
November 16 7:00 p.m. No. 17
Cincinnati Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL CBSSN L 17–2029,112
November 23 4:00 p.m. No. 18
Memphis Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL ESPNU L 10–4925,136
8:00 p.m. at
UCF ESPN L 7–3445,216
Source:
[9]
Game summaries
Wisconsin
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 19 Badgers
7
21
14
7
49
Bulls
0
0
0
0
0
At Georgia Tech
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
3
0
0
7
10
Yellow Jackets
0
14
0
0
14
South Carolina State
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulldogs
3
0
6
7
16
Bulls
7
17
17
14
55
SMU
1
2
3
4
Total
Mustangs
14
20
7
7
48
Bulls
0
0
7
14
21
At UConn
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
7
20
7
14
48
Huskies
0
14
0
8
22
BYU
1
2
3
4
Total
Cougars
3
13
7
0
23
Bulls
0
7
7
13
27
At Navy
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
0
3
0
0
3
Midshipmen
7
14
0
14
35
At East Carolina
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
14
21
3
7
45
Pirates
7
3
0
10
20
Temple
1
2
3
4
Total
Owls
0
7
7
3
17
Bulls
0
0
7
0
7
Cincinnati
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 17 Bearcats
0
0
10
10
20
Bulls
7
3
7
0
17
Memphis
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 18 Tigers
7
21
14
7
49
Bulls
10
0
0
0
10
At UCF
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
0
0
7
0
7
Knights
7
17
7
3
34
References
^
"Charlie Strong fired at South Florida after 3 seasons" . December 2019.
^ Knight, Joey (January 10, 2019).
"Kerwin Bell hired as USF offensive coordinator" . Tampa Bay Times .
^ Page, Fletcher.
"Media picks UCF to win AAC, ranks UC second in East Division" . Cincinnati.com . Retrieved July 16, 2019 .
^
"Barnett Named to Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List" . USF Athletics . Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
^
"Weiss Named to Lou Groza Award Watch List" . USF Athletics . Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
^
"Norman Named to Outland Trophy Watch List" . USF Athletics . Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
^
"Hampton Named to Thorpe Award Watch List" . USF Athletics . Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
^
"Wilcox Named to Mackey Award Watch List" . USF Athletics . Retrieved August 26, 2019 .
^
"2019 USF Football Schedule" . FBSchedules.com . Retrieved February 28, 2019 .
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