Bull Speed Ahead Podcast: Episode 21
TAMPA, FEB 21, 2020 – USF Vice President of Athletics
Michael Kelly sits down with USF football head coach
Jeff Scott to preview the Bulls' 2020 season schedule and spring ball during Kelly's 21st
Bull Speed Ahead podcast.
Schedule Strength
Season Opener – Saturday, Sept. 5 at Texas, 95,000-seat Darrel Royal Stadium. Longhorns were picked No. 14 in early Top 25.
Conference opener - Saturday, Oct. 3 at AAC East Division champion Cincinnati (Bearcats 11-3 last year).
By the Numbers
5 - Five AP Top 25 ranked teams are on the Bulls' schedule. USF will face two of those teams at home (No. 20 Navy & No. 24 UCF) and three on the road (No. 17 Memphis, No. 21 Cincinnati and No. 25 Texas).
.629 - The 11 FBS teams on the USF schedule posted a .629 winning percentage in 2019.
8 - Opponents reached a bowl game in 2019.
5 - Opponents won a bowl game in 2019.
9 - Opponents posted a winning record last season.
5 - Opponents posted 10 or more wins in 2019.
Big Road Opener/Possibly Highest-Ranked Opener Ever
The Bulls open the 2020 season on the road vs. Texas in 95,594-seat Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin on Saturday, Sept. 5.
It will mark the Bulls' seventh-ever season opener on the road and the first since winning at San Jose State (42-22) to open the 2017 campaign. With Texas picked as highly as No. 14 in several "Way Too Early Top 25" polls, the game will also likely mark USF's second straight season opener vs. a Top 25-ranked opponent and its biggest road opener since downing No. 16 Notre Dame, 23-20, in South Bend to open the 2011 season. Texas could be the highest-ranked opponent the Bulls have ever faced to open a season. USF fell to No. 19/17 Wisconsin to begin the 2019 campaign. Texas finished 2019 ranked No. 25 after completing an 8-5 campaign with a 38-10 victory over No. 11 Utah in the Alamo Bowl.
Conference Road Opener
USF opens its eighth season in The American at
Cincinnati on Sat., Oct. 3.
The Bulls are 2-6 all-time at Cincinnati and the contest will mark the first conference opener on the road for USF since the Bulls traveled to Cincinnati and won, 45-20, to begin the 2016 AAC campaign. That game also marks the Bulls' only other road conference opener since joining The American in 2013. Cincinnati finished No. 21 in the Final AP Top 25 Poll of 2019 after completing an 11-3 season with a 38-6 victory over Boston College in the Birmingham Bowl.
Road Warriors
The Bulls will play six road games in 2020, their most since 2015 (3-3) and just the seventh season in program history with six road games.
The Bulls will face a tough stretch through the middle of the season (Sept. 26-Nov. 14) where they will play five of seven games on the road, including contests at FAU (11-3), Cincinnati (11-3), Temple (8-5), Memphis (12-2) and Houston (4-8) that went a combined 46-21 (.686) in 2019.
FAU Intrigue
USF will finish off the nonconference campaign at
FAU on Sat., Sept. 26. The defending Conference USA champion Owls went 11-3 last year and downed SMU, 52-28, in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Jeff Scott's first USF staff will feature defensive coordinator
Glenn Spencer, offensive coordinator
Charlie Weis Jr. and safeties coach
Wes Neighbors, whom all served in similar roles for FAU last year, as well as several other former FAU staff members now at USF. Meanwhile, former USF head coaches Willie Taggart (2013-16) and
Jim Leavitt (1997-2009) are now FAU's head coach and defensive coordinator, respectively, on an FAU staff that features several other former USF staff members.
Friday Lights
The Bulls will play a pair of Friday home games, facing Tulsa on
Fri., Oct. 23 in a primetime clash that will air on an ESPN Network and UCF in the
War on I-4 clash on Fri., Nov. 27, which will air on an ESPN Network.
Conference teams will play seven Friday games - six in prime time along with the annual Black Friday matchup between UCF and USF.
American Athletic Conference
The American will operate as an 11-team league in 2020 with the departure of UConn. Each of the 11 teams in The American will once again play eight conference games. The top two teams in the final regular-season standings will meet Dec. 5 in the sixth American Athletic Conference Football Championship. The 2020 will be The American's first under the league's landmark 12-year media rights extension with ESPN, which runs through 2031-32. A minimum of 40 conference-controlled regular-season games on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, including at least 20 games on either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. A series of games will be available exclusively on ESPN+, the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service which has grown to 7.6 million subscribers in less than two years.
The American Athletic Conference enjoyed a remarkable 2019 season as four teams (No. 17 Memphis, No. 20 Navy, No. 21 Cincinnati, No. 24 UCF) finished in the top 25 of both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches' polls to close the season. Only the Big Ten (six) and SEC (five) had more ranked teams than The American. The league's winning percentage in nonconference games (38-17, .691) was better than those of both the Pac-12 and the ACC among other conferences, while The American went 30-2 against opponents from outside the power conferences and Notre Dame.
Spring Football Details
Coach Scott and his staff will hit the field for the first time with the Bulls in their first practice of the spring on March 10. The USF Spring Game returns to Corbett Stadium on Saturday, April 18.
About USF Football
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 23rd season (20th at the FBS level) in 2019. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 14 All-America selections and 29 first-team all-conference selections and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft. USF has made 10 bowl games appearances (going 6-4 in those games) and posted a program record six straight appearances from 2005-2010. The Bulls most recently made four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18 and posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
Follow @USFFootball on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
- #GoBulls –
