Post-spring review: A look at South Florida
As players, coaches, fans and, yes, even the media, await the start of Wisconsin fall camp to arrive in less than two months, BadgerBlitz.com takes a look at some of UW's 2019 opponents.
On Aug. 30, Wisconsin will kickoff its season down in Tampa against the South Florida Bulls. Charlie Strong enters his third season with the American Athletic Conference program, which started off strong in 2018 before hitting a rough patch towards the end of the year.
We caught up with Kelly Quinlan of RunningtheBulls.com, and he answered some questions we had about the Bulls before they enter fall camp.
In 2018, South Florida started off hot with a 7-0 record before dropping its final six games. What led to that streak, and has that affected any hype leading into the 2019 season?
Kelly Quinlan: Several things piled up on the Bulls. Multiple injuries including a significant one to quarterback Blake Barnett as well as some behind the scenes issues with multiple coaches. Those coaches were all let go after the season and Charlie Strong hired a new offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and two new defensive assistants - cleaning up some of the internal issues. Strong also cleaned house with some of the players and they go into the season with around 75 scholarship players now.
Looking at coaching staff changes, Kerwin Bell comes to USF as its new offensive coordinator after a 2018 campaign where his Valdosta State offense scored 52 points per game. What style of offense does he bring, and what have been the reactions from players and other coaches during spring ball?
Kelly Quinlan: It is a run-heavy spread offense very similar to what they’ve been running at USF for the last few years, but Bell has a better feel for play calling than his predecessor Sterlin Gilbert. The players have raved about the new offensive wrinkles and his game planning compared to the previous offensive coordinator. The players really seem to enjoy on a personal level as well. He has been a nice breath of fresh air into the program.
Regarding key returners for the Bulls, who comes back for 2019 and what impact could they make?
Kelly Quinlan: Offensively the two main returning pieces are quarterback Blake Barnett and running back Jordan Cronkrite, who both came to USF from other P5 schools as transfers. They are the core pieces of the offense, and tight end Mitchell Wilcox is also a guy who will benefit from the new offensive scheme. He has NFL potential and is on several early draft boards.
Defensively the front four should be a strength with both defensive ends Greg Reaves and Kirk Livingstone back as seniors and several strong defensive tackles led by Kelvin Kegler up the middle. The Bulls use a 4-2-5 base defense and they are also strong in the secondary led by cornerback Mike Hampton and safeties Nick Roberts and Mekhi LaPointe.
Who departed the program heading into this season, and who will have to step up?
Kelly Quinlan: There are a lot of issues at linebacker because of injuries and attrition. The projected starting middle linebacker Nico Sawtelle has been sidelined with neck/shoulder issues since the sixth game of last season. The Bulls lost their top wide receiver Tyre McCants and several other defensive players to various forms of attrition. The Bulls are in the 70s in scholarship players on the roster right now, showing the depth issues.
Were there one or two spring practice surprise players that could propel themselves into key fall camp reps and a role on this team?
Kelly Quinlan: Two young linebackers stepped up in the spring, Dwayne Boyles and Tony Grier, who hadn’t done a whole bunch yet. That was an area where the Bulls needed some help. They also picked up a grad transfer from Oklahoma State Patrick Macon to help the depth at linebacker.
I always like asking this question being a former high school football player (not a good one) in southwest Florida. With it bound to be warm and humid in Tampa during that late August week, how have you seen those conditions affect road opponents who may not be used to this weather?
Kelly Quinlan: Lots of cramping, last year Georgia Tech came down from Atlanta on a very hot day and struggled and got beat by USF. They had players cramping up left and right. The Bulls don’t have an indoor so they are out in the heat regardless of the weather to practice. The practice fields have zero shade and are like the surface of the sun during camp. It is a real factor when teams who aren’t used to it come down. Wisconsin caught a huge break with an evening kickoff. That should really help and may also avoid some weather delays with the afternoon thundershowers that are typical that time of year.
