Game 1 Preview: Bulls Renew Series With Elon on Saturday
USF GAME NOTES
By JIM LOUK
Voice of the Bulls
TAMPA, AUG. 30, 2018 - Here we go! The 22
nd season of USF Football is about to begin!
A lot has changed since USF's thrilling last-minute win over Texas Tech in Birmingham in December. Thirteen starters must be replaced. A lot of familiar names are gone, but some return, and there are a lot of new names that will become familiar soon enough.
While some of the personnel on the field has changed, the personnel on the sideline has not. A big advantage for the 2018 Bulls is the stability of the coaching staff, which returns intact from last year.
Our favorite time of the year has arrived, so here are a few things the well-prepared USF fan should know heading to Raymond James Stadium on Saturday:
- This is the fourth meeting with Elon. In USF's sixth-ever game, the Bulls traveled to Burlington, N.C, played Elon in a high school stadium and lost, 41-13. That's the infamous game where the Bulls held meetings under a tree because the locker room was so small.
- In the early days of USF Football, the Bulls evened the score pretty quickly with teams they had lost to in the first meeting. The Bulls followed the 1997 loss to Elon with a 35-7 win in Tampa in 1998.
Saturday will mark the second time the Bulls have opened a season against Elon. USF beat the Phoenix, 28-13, in 2007, the last time the two teams met.- When the Bulls played the Phoenix the first two times, Elon was known as the "Fightin' Christians." To the disappointment of team nickname fans everywhere, it changed to Phoenix in 2000.
- The Bulls are 20-1 in home openers, with the only blemish being the loss to McNeese State in 2013. Including road games, the Bulls are 16-5 in season-opening games.
- Historically Sept. 1 is a good day for the Bulls. The 2007 win over Elon happened on that day, and USF also beat Chattanooga on Sept. 1, 2012, making the Bulls a perfect 2-0 on the day.
The game will be telecast on ESPN3. Our radio broadcast begins at 4 p.m. You can hear it on AM-820, as well as 96.7-FM in Hillsborough County and 98.3-FM in Pinellas County. And, of course, we're available worldwide on USF Bulls Unlimited through the free iHeart app. This game will mark the debut of our friend Sam Barrington in the analyst chair, marking the first-ever USF Football broadcast without Mark Robinson, who we presume will be sitting at home relaxing with his feet up, enjoying Bulls football from a much different perspective after his offseason retirement. We'll miss him, but I think you'll really enjoy Sam's perspective on the game.
We've waited a long time for this one, Bulls fans. There's nothing better than the beginning of another college football season. Have a great day at the stadium, or wherever you follow the Bulls on Saturday.
Horns up!
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
Follow @USFFootball on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
- #GoBulls -
