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Charlie Strong

South Florida Football Aims For The New Year’s Six

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It’s a race that begins with 62 teams and only one survives. The schools of “The Little Five” conferences (American, Mountain West, MAC, Conference USA & Sun Belt) get one bid in college football’s big bowls, The New Year’s Six. Anointing any one team as a prohibitive favorite in a field this large is dicey, but if anyone deserves that status it’s the South Florida Bulls.

South Florida is coming off an 11-2 campaign in 2016, the best since they began playing big-time college football in 2000. Predictably, they lost their head coach, Willie Taggart, to a big-time gig at Oregon. But the Bulls landed on their feet, getting Charlie Strong as the replacement.

Strong’s three-year stint in Texas didn’t go well, but he was an unequivocal success at Louisville, winning a Sugar Bowl in 2012. He developed Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback and remains an acknowledged defensive expert. I believe that experience, rather than the tension-filled drama in Austin where he was never fully accepted by the boosters, to be more relevant to his new new job.

The smart money agrees. South Florida’s Over/Under for wins is 10, the highest of any Little Five school. Only two others, Western Kentucky and San Diego State, are as high as 9.5 and everyone else is 8.5 or lower.

Strong has a defense and offensive line stacked with experience, and an explosive quarterback to direct it all. Quinton Flowers, a multi-dimensional threat, has a chance to at least be invited to New York City for the Heisman ceremony on the second Saturday in December.

South Florida was one of the handful of teams to start their season last Saturday. They struggled early against San Jose State, digging a 16-zip hole, but quickly took over. South Florida scored 28 points in the second quarter, extended the lead to as much as 42-16 before giving up a fourth-quarter touchdown that left the final at 42-22.

The late TD cost South Florida bettors, as the pointspread was (-21), but for those of us who use the lines as a gauge of realistic expectations, it’s fair to say that South Florida met them in this game, which is a good start to meeting them for the season overall.

September’s gauntlet won’t be easy. South Florida isn’t going to lose to Stony Brook on Saturday, but the mere fact they’re already playing their second game is noteworthy. They visit Connecticuit on September 9, where the Huskies’ Randy Edsall—another coach who reached a big bowl game at the midmajor level, then struggled in the power conferences—has returned to rebuild.

South Florida then plays two straight games on a short week, hosting Illinois on a Friday night, followed by Temple on a Thursday. If the Bulls are 5-0 after September 21, they’re in good shape to reach November undefeated when they host Houston and Tulsa.

The stakes are high for Little Five teams—if you don’t get the bid to the New Year’s Six, it’s a long fall into the array of bowl games played the week prior to Christmas. I won’t say South Florida’s season is a failure if they don’t get that premium bowl bid, but it will be tough for anyone to really celebrate anything less .

A Texas Sports Week At TheSportsNotebook.com

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The state of Texas drew a lot of attention here at TheSportsNotebook over the last few days. It wasn’t by design, it just seemed the best stories—or at least the ones I found most interesting, were popping up in the Lone Star State. Here’s a recap of the week in Texas sports…

*Does Tony Romo deserve the MVP? The case for the Dallas Cowboys quarterback was examined. I began as a skeptic. I won’t say I ended as a believer, but after going deeper into everything, I at least became open to the idea. READ MORE

*The NBA had what for a lot of casual fans is its unofficial opening day, with the five-game TV bash on Christmas. The San Antonio Spurs are struggling right now, but I think they’re still the team to beat and it’s based on more than the lame “they’re the champions until someone knocks their crown off” default that absolves anyone of serious thought. The underlying indicators for the Spurs this year are still decent. READ MORE


*We’ve got an interesting bowl game coming up on Monday night, as two rivals from the old Southwest Conference, Texas and Arkansas hook up in a game that will be played in Houston. This is a big game for defining the first season of Longhorn head coach Charlie Strong. READ MORE

And even though Arkansas isn’t the Lone Star State per se, they’re close enough. A little more than a week ago, I took a look at a program that holds my interest—I root for the Wisconsin Badgers, and the prospects of Bret Bielama in rebuilding Arkansas football is intriguing. READ MORE

‘Cause God blessed Texas with His own hand
Brought down angels from the promised land
Gave ’em a place where they could dance
If you wanna see heaven brother here’s your chance
I’ve been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas

–Little Texas, 1993

Charlie Strong & Texas Need A Win On Monday Night

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It was a trying first year for Charlie Strong as he began his tenure as the Texas football coach. The Longhorns struggled to a 6-6 record, far from acceptable at the school with its own network and the most popular program in a football-mad state. But Texas showed some strides at the end of the season and that makes Monday night’s bowl game with Arkansas all the more important for Strong to continue building momentum for his program.

Texas lost five of their first eight games. The only wins were over North Texas (who finished 4-8), over Kansas (one week after KU fired Charlie Weis) and the Longhorns barely survived Iowa State (who went winless in Big 12 play). In the meantime, the lost the following five games, listed in sequential order…
*BYU 41-7–Texas gave up 28 third-quarter points. BYU quarterback Taysom Hill outrushed the entire Texas team.
*UCLA 20-17—It was a close game in Dallas, but the Bruins lost quarterback Brett Hundley early in the game. Texas still gave up over 200 yards rushing and allowed backup QB Jerry Neuheisel to lead a late game-winning drive.
*Baylor 28-7—The defense stepped up in this game, holding Bryce Petty to 7/22 for 111 yards, but the rush defense was again pounded, as the Bears rushed for 278 yards.
*Oklahoma 31-26—Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes played his best game, throwing for 334 yards, but 11 penalties did the ‘Horns in.
*Kansas State 23-0—Texas was simply dismantled in Manhattan
Texas got off the mat with a win over lowly Texas Tech, and with the record at 4-5, it set up two big games with West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Both teams are bowl-bound, and with TCU as the opponent in the finale, the Longhorns needed to win both if they wanted to get bowl-eligible. It’s here that the signs of hope began to show.
*They beat West Virginia 33-16, with a good two-pronged rushing attack, as Jonathan Gray ran for 101 yards and Malcolm Brown rushed for 90.
*Then Texas went on the road and beat Oklahoma State 28-7, with the rush defense showing how far they had come, holding Okie State to 34 rush yards. Swoopes went 24/35 for 305 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The game with TCU went as expected, and Texas lost 48-10, as the Horned Frogs were gunning for a spot in the College Football Playoff. That’s why that game doesn’t have to be too alarming…if Texas can play well in their bowl game.
Strong’s specialty is defense, and this unit came on strong as the season went on. They were the best in the Big 12 at yards-per-play and point-per-drive in conference games. The Longhorns have a tough defensive front that can match up with Arkansas’ physical running style.
It’s the offense that’s the issue. Texas ranks 88th in the nation in rushing and 83rd in passing. Swoopes’ season-long numbers aren’t pretty. Just 6.55 yards-per-pass, a 59% completion rate and a woeful 13-10 TD/INT ratio. The fact he played well in the wins over WVA and Oklahoma State gives hope that his development is coming along. Like the rest of the team, we need to see it in the bowl game.
I don’t want to imply that a win over Arkansas means everything is destined to roll onward and upward for Strong in Austin, or that a loss means it’s all over. But consider that’s in an opponent from a neighboring state, the game will be played in Houston and the credibility of the late-season sparks of life are at stake—if nothing else, Monday night sets the tone for the offseason for Strong.

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