It was a forgettable season for USF football.
The first year of Jeff Scott’s head coaching career produced a dud for the Bulls. Simply put, 2020 was a disastrous year for college football at the Tampa school.
USF won one game last season, going 0-7 in American Athletic Conference play.
The offense, which showed a glimpse of what it could be against Temple and UCF, mostly meandered while the defense was awful. Fixing the quarterback situation was a top priority for Scott, who enjoyed tons of success as a top assistant under Dabo Swinney at Clemson before joining the Bulls.
Simply put, the quarterback room was a mess in 2020, producing 216.6 yards per game and only 12 passing touchdowns.
“Deep down, when [offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.] and I get in that room and shut the door, there are more than two guys we feel like we can win with this year,” Scott told the media in August. “We did not feel that way last year.”
The primary quarterbacks last season are both gone this season. Jordan McCloud transferred to Arizona, and Noah Johnson graduated.
That left a four-player battle to win the starting job. North Carolina transfer Cade Fortin beat out former Miami quarterback Jarren Williams, freshman Timmy McClain and sophomore Katravis Marsh, who was recruited out of Miami Central High.
The task for Fortin is to lead a Bulls offense that only cracked 40 points one time last season and that came in the final game of the season against a UCF defense that ranked 121st in the country in passing yards allowed.
The Bulls lost their annual War on I-4 rivalry game with the Knights again. It marked the fourth straight victory in the series for UCF, showing the distance between the two programs currently.
For USF to build off the offensive output against the Knights, the Bulls need Fortin to be efficient, but also a rushing offense to do better than a middle-of-the-pack 148.8 yards per game.
Kelley Joiner, a junior, is listed as the top back on the depth chart, but backup Brian Battie, of Bradenton, can be elusive in the open field. Joiner is a dual-threat out of the backfield, both rushing and receiving. He tallied 4.7 yards per carry en route to leading USF’s rushing attack with 368 yards. Joiner also had eight receptions for 73 yards.
Although the Bulls get their leading rusher back with more experience in Scott’s system, the defense must improve to be competitive in any games this year. USF gave up more than 30 points in all but two games in 2020. The only teams that didn’t exceed that threshold were the Citadel and conference champion Cincinnati. The Bearcats weren’t known as an offensive juggernaut, relying more on their defense to get to a New Year’s Six Bowl game.
Senior linebacker Antonio Grier must be an anchor for a unit that was tied for 108th in the country in tackles for a loss per game in 2020.
The schedule doesn’t help USF’s rebuilding efforts, either. The Bulls play North Carolina State, Florida and BYU in three of their first four games to begin the season, before beginning AAC play.