2019 South Florida Bulls football team

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.

2019 South Florida Bulls football
Conference	American Athletic Conference
	East Division
2019 record	4–8 (2–6 The American)
Head coach	Charlie Strong (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Kerwin Bell (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Brian Jean-Mary (3rd season)
Home stadium	Raymond James Stadium (Capacity: 65,890, grass)

2019 American Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 21 Cincinnati xy		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 24 UCF		6	–	2					10	–	3
Temple		5	–	3					8	–	5
South Florida		2	–	6					4	–	8
East Carolina		1	–	7					4	–	8
UConn		0	–	8					2	–	10
West Division
No. 17 Memphis xy$		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 20 Navy x		7	–	1					11	–	2
SMU		6	–	2					10	–	3
Tulane		3	–	5					7	–	6
Houston		2	–	6					4	–	8
Tulsa		2	–	6					4	–	8
Championship: Memphis 29, Cincinnati 24
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

On December 2, head coach Charlie Strong was fired.[1] He finished at South Florida with a three-year record of 21–16.

Previous season

In 2018, South Florida began the year with seven consecutive victories, but lost their remaining six games, becoming the first team in FBS history to do so.[2] This was achieved after a loss to Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl.

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.[3]

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.[4]

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),[5] Coby Weiss (Lou Groza Award),[6] Marcus Norman (Outland Trophy),[7] Mike Hampton (Jim Thorpe Award),[8] and Mitchell Wilcox (John Mackey Award).[9]

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
August 30	7:00 p.m.	No. 19 Wisconsin*	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN	L 0–49	46,704
September 7	2:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech*	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ACCN	L 10–14	46,599
September 14	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina State*	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN3	W 55–16	31,368
September 28	4:00 p.m.	SMU	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNU	L 21–48	28,850
October 5	12:00 p.m.	at UConn	Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT	CBSSN	W 48–22	18,038
October 12	3:30 p.m.	BYU*	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 27–23	35,375
October 19	3:30 p.m.	at Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	L 3–35	29,774
October 26	3:45 p.m.	at East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 45–20	33,088
November 7	8:00 p.m.	Temple	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN	L 7–17	26,214
November 16	7:00 p.m.	No. 17 Cincinnati	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	L 17–20	29,112
November 23	4:00 p.m.	No. 18 Memphis	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNU	L 10–49	25,136
November 29	8:00 p.m.	at UCF	Spectrum Stadium Orlando, FL (War on I–4)	ESPN	L 7–34	45,216
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Source:[10]

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

1. https://www.al.com/sports/2019/12/charlie-strong-fired-at-south-florida-after-3-seasons.html
2. "Gasparilla Bowl loss caps off USF's horrendous finish to 2018". Yahoo Sports. December 20, 2018.
3. Knight, Joey (January 10, 2019). "Kerwin Bell hired as USF offensive coordinator". Tampa Bay Times.
4. Page, Fletcher. "Media picks UCF to win AAC, ranks UC second in East Division". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
5. "Barnett Named to Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List". USF Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
6. "Weiss Named to Lou Groza Award Watch List". USF Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
7. "Norman Named to Outland Trophy Watch List". USF Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
8. "Hampton Named to Thorpe Award Watch List". USF Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
9. "Wilcox Named to Mackey Award Watch List". USF Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
10. "2019 USF Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 28, 2019.