April 18th was the day USF’s 2020 Spring Football Game was supposed to take place at Corbett Stadium. This game, which is usually the Bulls’ first time publicly showcasing their talent and improvements since the previous season, is always a fun day for all players and fans.
The last few years Bulls fans have enjoyed an eventful, family friendly day on the USF campus. Food trucks, live music, and the Sundolls line Elm Street. Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic the game was cancelled, which would’ve been the first look for Bulls fans at transfers and early enrollees, but more importantly at new Head Coach Jeff Scott and his staff.
The Spring Game is something that college football players across the United States look forward to each April. Players are hyped to strap up and play in front of a crowd for the first time in over three months.
On the day of what would have been USF’s Spring Game, starting Quarterback Jordan McCloud (@Jordan_McCloud3) tweeted, “Today would’ve been our chance to compete and put on a show for our fans at the spring game. Of course we are hurt we couldn’t play but trust me, we are all excited to get back to work!! See y’all in Austin [Texas].” Though understandably disappointed, McCloud remained positive and reassured Bulls Nation the team is anxiously awaiting the green light to get back to work.
In 2019 USF only beat four teams: South Carolina State, Connecticut, BYU, and East Carolina. One win was over an FCS opponent in South Carolina State, another over now free spirit UConn (2-10), BYU (7-6), and ECU (4-8). After finishing the season with a lackluster 4-8 (2-6) record, the Bulls once again ended the season at the bottom rung in the American Athletic Conference East Division. USF snapped a four year bowl birth streak, which began under Willie Taggart in 2015, after Charlie Strong & Co. failed to reboot dating all the way back to Houston 2018.
With no live sports currently being played, the Bulls can only do one thing, and that is to look forward and see what the future holds. The penciled in season begins with a bang as the Bulls travel to Austin for the road opener on September 5, 2020 against the Texas Longhorns. The following week, USF will host in-state opponent Bethune-Cookman, then host Nevada, followed by a very intriguing trip to Boca Raton to face the Willie Taggart, Jim Leavitt led Florida Atlantic Owls
Be sure to earmark the FAU game, it’ll be very personal on both sidelines for the new coaching staffs respectively. The next eight games, four of which will be home at Raymond James Stadium, are against conference foes. The Bulls will face Cincinnati, East Carolina, Temple, Tulsa, Memphis, Houston, Navy, and that other school in the repugnant town of Oviedo.
With hopes of improvement from the unfathomable fall out that was 2018 and its heinous 2019 sequel, USF will look to newly minted Head Coach Jeff Scott to lead the program into the future with a mapped out path to success.
As we all await the start of the season, all Bulls fans, coaches, and players can do is to stay home, social distance, and watch USF Football highlight videos. The season will be here before we know it.