The 2018 South Florida Bulls football team represented the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

(USF) in the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018. The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ended ...

. They played their home games at

Raymond James Stadium Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The se ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, and were led by second-year head coach Charlie Strong. The Bulls competed as members of the East Division of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. They finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in AAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. They were invited to the

Gasparilla Bowl The Gasparilla Bowl is an annual NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game played in the Tampa Bay area. It was first played in 2008 as the St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game was renamed the G ...

where they lost to

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

. The 2018 Bulls became the first team in college football history to start a season 7–0 and lose their final six games.

Previous season

The Bulls finished the 2017 season with a record of 10–2. After ending the regular season with a record of 9-2, 6-2 in the AAC, the Bulls were invited to the

Birmingham Bowl The Birmingham Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game played annually in Birmingham, Alabama. First held in 2006, the game is owned and operated by ESPN Events. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UA ...

, where they defeated

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

38-34.

Preseason

The Bulls replaced 11 starters from a 10-2 season in 2017. One of the biggest storylines of the offseason was the addition of graduate transfer

Blake Barnett Blake Austin Barnett (born December 24, 1995) is a former American football quarterback for the South Florida Bulls football team. He previously played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Early years ...

who was named the starting quarterback following stints at Alabama and Arizona State.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Bulls predicted to finish in second place in the AAC East Division.

Schedule

:Schedule Source:

Game summaries

Elon

Georgia Tech

At Illinois

East Carolina

At Massachusetts

At Tulsa

UConn

At Houston

Tulane

At Cincinnati

At Temple

UCF

Marshall (Gasparilla Bowl)

Rankings

References

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

South Florida Bulls football seasons

South Florida Bulls football The South Florida Bulls football team represents the University of South Florida. The Bulls began playing in 1997 and compete in the American Athletic Conference (The American) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) within the National Collegiat ...

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