It will be a season of change for the 2010 version of the South Florida Bulls under new head coach Skip Holtz. After a successful stint at East Carolina, Holtz agreed to make the move to the Big East when Jim Leavitt was dismissed following allegations that he made physical contact with a player. The Bulls won 95 games in the 13 seasons under Leavitt, but could never quite get over the hump to reach the next level. Coach Holtz rebuilt the ECU program, but with 15 returning starters and plenty of talent to go around this should be a fairly easy transition. USF is currently +500 to win the Big East crown.
The cupboard is usually left bare when a coach that has cemented his status on a program leaves town. That is not the case for South Florida as QB BJ Daniels returns to lead a team that won eight games a year ago. The gifted signal caller led the Bulls in passing and rushing as a true freshman. He accounted for 23 total touchdowns and over 2700 yards of total offense after taking over for the injured Matt Grothe in the third game of the season. Skip Holtz would be wise to utilize his talents in a variety of ways, but other players will need to step forward also. Moise Plancher is a down hill runner that accounted for 581 yards and five tds last season. They will need better production out of the senior back in 2010. There are plenty of options to go to in the backfield and a name to keep an eye on is junior college transfer Michael Hayes. The receiving core is a little less settled. WR AJ Love tore his ACL in the spring game and is going to miss a considerable amount of time. Holtz loves to use the run to setup big plays in the passing game. Who will become Daniels' favorite target is yet to be determined but it will most likely be a committee of players. This unit should match or exceed the 366 yards averaged last season under new offensive coordinator Todd Fitch.
The defensive side of the ball has some question marks that need to be addressed. Only five starters return from a defense that featured four NFL draft selections in 2009. The Bulls put up respectable numbers last year, holding opponents to under 200 yards passing a game due in large part to the pass rush that was generated by the outstanding duo of George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul. Defensive coordinator Mark Snyder will not have the luxury of having these two studs come off the edge for the 2010 season. Newcomer Claude Davis could provide some extra punch up front along with red shirt freshman Ryne Giddens. Former coaches at USF were high on linebacker Sam Barrington before they were let go. The sophomore showed positive signs in his first year in the Big East totaling 41 stops and should be one of the major forces on defense for the Bulls. South Florida has quite a bit of depth in the secondary even though they lost their two best players. It will not be easy to replace 160 tackles and eight interceptions, but there is enough talent available to form a solid secondary.
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South Florida gets a warm up game against Stony Brook in the opener before heading to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators. Road games at West Virginia, Cincinnati and Miami (FL) will test this group of young players and a first year head coach. They do have three non conference games that are all but guaranteed wins. The offense should score enough points to pull off a couple of key wins, but I am not sure the defense is going to stop many teams. If they catch a couple of breaks, I see this team going 7-5 and heading back to bowl play.
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