Tampa is ready for the Charlie Strong era to start. The South Florida Bulls may have lost former head coach Willie Taggart to Oregon in the offseason, but replaced him with the best possible candidate in Strong. Strong will try to keep the momentum going for a program that is finally heading in the right direction again after the disastrous Skip Holtz era. The Bulls first test will come on the road when they head to California to take on the San Jose State Spartans.
This contest in Week 1 will go down Saturday, August 26, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports.
Week 1 College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
South Florida -20.5
San Jose State +20.5
Over/Under 69
Odds Analysis
The Spartans went 4-8 in 2016 and that meant it was time for former head coach Ron Caragher to go. Brent Brennan is the new sheriff in town after six seasons with Oregon State and the administration is hopeful that the former assistant can make San Jose State competitive again.
Give credit to Caragher for keeping this team competitive until the very end. San Jose State covered three of its last four games, beating UNLV outright and giving both Boise State and Air Force a scare during that stretch.
A loss to Temple kept South Florida out of the AAC title game last season, but many believed the Bulls were the best team in the conference at the end of the year. They finished at 11-2 and won five straight to close out 2016, with four of those wins coming against bowl teams.
This offense was incredible last season. USF scored at least 30 points in every game and unsurprisingly that led to a lot of shootouts. The over went 10-3 on the year as a result.
Coaching Angle
This will be both coaches first game at their new programs, but they have vastly different levels of experience.
Brennan spent 12 seasons as an assistant at San Jose State and Oregon State before getting his first head coaching gig. He worked with receivers almost exclusively there but was mostly hired for his ability to recruit.
As for Strong, he’s been here before. Strong made a name for himself as a defensive coordinator and recruiter at Florida under Urban Meyer. He became the hottest coaching commodity after a phenomenal four-year run at Louisville, but couldn’t get it to work at Texas.
These two coaches have very different philosophies. Brennan is going to throw the ball over the place and hired a young offensive coordinator who worked under Dino Babers to do that. Strong is going to rely on his defense and a strong running game to win games. However, while Strong walked right into a system that is built to many of his strengths, Brennan is having to build everything from scratch.
Matchup to Watch
The Spartans defense allowed 5.5 yards per carry last season and you can bet the Bulls are aware of that. South Florida has one of the most dynamic running games in the country thanks to quarterback Quinton Flowers. Flowers ran for more yards than any other quarterback last season, rushing for 1,530 yards and 18 touchdowns.
This unit no longer has Marlon Mack to tote the rock, but it should still be extremely effective. D’Ernest Johnson was more than competent in short spells last year and the offensive line is one of the best in the conference. The Bulls should have no problem moving the ball on this front seven.
Free ATS Pick
South Florida had a lot of issues on defense last year, but the Bulls should solve those with the return of nine starters and a new defensive scheme.
It’s always tough to lay a lot of points on the road, but this is one of those times. The Bulls play an FCS opponent next week so the lookahead factor is not in the cards and the offense is going to score points.
College Football Odds: Bulls 48, Spartans 17
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
