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2009 South Florida Football Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

South-Florida-7209 Two seasons ago, the South Florida Bulls climbed as high as No. 2 in the nation behind a strong start, but the team has not performed up to its ability down the stretch in league play. Will this be the season South Florida finally breaks through with a Big East title? Get my take in this 2009 college football betting preview. South Florida is listed at +5000 to win the 2009 BCS Championship.

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Offense – It’s now or never for senior star quarterback Matt Grothe, who has helped take the South Florida football program to new heights, but has not met his own high expectations. Grothe led the Bulls is both passing and rushing yards last season, throwing for 2,911 yards and 18 scores and running for 591 yards and four more touchdowns. The dual-threat QB has racked up 10,242 yards of total offense in his career. When you’re as talented as Grothe, sometimes you try to make the impossible play and it gets you into trouble. We have seen this time and time again in the NFL with Brett Favre. What I’m getting at is the team will benefit if Grothe can cut down on his 14 interceptions and will settle for making the simpler play more often. The coaching staff must get the ball into the hands of running back Mike Ford a lot more this season. He’s fully recovered from an injury plagued 2008 and is in the best shape of his life, dropping 20 pounds during his rigorous rehabilitation. Plain and simple, the guy has a nose for the end zone with 17 rushing scores in 23 career games. Grothe has a nice arsenal to work with at the wide receiver spot as well. Senior Jessie Hester Jr. is coming off a 54-catch, 579-yard campaign and Dontavia Bogan and A.J. Love give the Bulls home run threats. While the skill spots remain solid, the offensive line could hold the Bulls back. Only tackle Jacob Sims returns up front and the whole unit will have to mesh under a new offensive coordinator.

Defense – The Bulls have put a very good defense on the field the past few seasons. They finished the 2008 season with a national ranking of 10th in the total defense column (287.7 yards per game allowed). Still, there is a sense that the unit underachieved for as much talent as it had a year ago. It all starts up front for the Bulls with an experienced defensive line led by two-time All-American end George Selvie. Selvie was a maniac in 2007, recording 14.5 sacks and 31.5 total tackles for loss, but he slipped to just 5.5 sacks in 2008 while facing constant double and triple teams. The rest of the line is good enough to make the opposition pay if they pay too much attention to Selvie this season and with the NFL up next for him, I expect another spectacular season. The Bulls will miss linebacker Tyrone McKenzie, but senior Kion Wilson should be up to the task of filling his big shoes. While the passing defense numbers look respectable on the season (37th nationally), the secondary was beaten often down the stretch to take the Bulls completely out of the Big East race. Returning starters Jerome Murphy and Nate Allen must inspire a better performance as they lead this unit.

Prediction: 5th Big East Conference – While plenty of talent remains, I’m afraid the Bulls missed their window of opportunity to win the Big East last season. We can expect another fast start, but it’s how you finish, and the Bulls did not finish well in 2008. With new coordinators on both offense and defense to adjust to and with an inexperienced offensive line, a middle of the pack finish appears to be the fate of the Bulls. South Florida is listed at +250 to win the Big East title.

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