That's among the most respectful predictions for USF I've seen to date.
I honestly think we'll be in the 5-6 to 6-5 range, unless auburn transfer courtney denson just TAKES OVER for our offense (i guess carlton hill and julmiste have a chance, but hill is a frosh and julmiste has looked bad 2 years in a row). Andre Hall is either the best or 2nd best running back coming into the season (check out the ypc, even in our bigger games!), but last year he got no help from the passing game...
Games like FAMU and UCF are extremely winnable, whereas a road trip to Miami is just about the opposite. When I look at my team I see it this way:
Probable wins: UCF, FAMU, Cincy (breaking in a new QB, and our D is much better)
Toss ups: SU, UCONN, WVU (lost lots of starters, and we get them at home), RU
Probably L's: @Miami (shudder), UL, @PSU (road opener with either a historically bad or new QB vs a top notch defense...ick), Pitt (less of a blowout though, secondary is much improved)
That sits USF anywhere from 3-8 to 7-4. If we do any worse than 4-7 or any better than 7-4, i'll be very surprised though, as our schedule is on par with the "big 3" this year.
Biggest need for improvement: USF had just 4 interceptions last year, and were -10 in turnover margin.
In the 2002 season, where USF went 9-2, we were PLUS 21 (led the nation). If USF expects to beat some BE teams, they'll have to gain some of that back, as it is probably the single greatest statistic to jump out at me. Our D needs more turnovers, without a doubt.
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