2010 South Florida Football Predictions

August 4, 2010

The Bulls head into the 2010 season with a new head coach, as Skip Holtz has replaced Jim Leavitt this offseason after the Bulls went just 3-4 in the Big East in 2009. The Bulls still managed to finish the season at 8-5 and finished up the season on a strong note with a dominating win over Northern Illinois in the International Bowl. Hotlz enters into a pretty good situation with 15 starters back from last year, including 10 on the offensive side of the ball.  Here is a quick breakdown of what the Bulls will look like this season, plus my thoughts on where they finish up the year in the Big East.

Offense:

The Bulls head into the 2010 season with one of the top weapons at the quarterback position in sophomore BJ Daniels, who not only led the way with 1,983 yards passing, but was also the team’s leading rusher with 772 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. I expect Daniels to be even more of a threat in the passing game in his second season as the starter.

The Bulls return senior running back Moise Plancher, who added 581 yards and five touchdowns last season, and the hope has to be that as Daniels improves as a passer the running lanes will start to open up for Plancher this season. Also in the mix at running back is sophomore Demetris Murray and red-shirt freshman Bradly Battles.

Daniels will be without his favorite target from last year in tight end Carlton Mitchell, who hauled in a team best 40 catches for 706 yards and four scores. Daniels does have some weapons to work with on the outside in sophomores Evan Landi and Sterling Griffin and seniors Dontavia Bogan and AJ Love. Sophomore Jeff Hawkins will step in for Mitchell at tight end, and could quickly become a big factor in the Bull’s offensive game plan.

The Bulls get all five starters back on the offensive line this season, and that should go a long way in this unit becoming one of the top offenses in the Big East this season.

Defense:

With only six starters back in 2009 the Bulls still had one of the top defenses in the Big East, as they allowed just under 20 points a game last season. This unit will have to live up to the challenge again this season with only five starters back.

Up front the Bulls return senior Terrell McClain and Keith McCaskill at the two defensive tackle slots, but will have to find two new starters at defensive end to put pressure on the quarterback. Heading into the fall it looks like red-shirt freshman Ryne Giddins and senior David Bedford have the edge to take over the two spots, and these two must produce for the defense to replicate its performance from last year.

At linebacker the Bulls only starter back is senior strong-side linebacker Sabbath Joseph. Sophomore Sam Barrington had 41 tackles in his freshman season, and will likely take over at middle linebacker this year.  Senior Jacquian Williams appears to have the edge to start at weak-side linebacker, but could get a push from fellow senior Donte Spires.

The Bulls have a very young talented sophomore corner in Kayvon Webster, who will join the starting lineup opposite of junior Quentin Washington, and Webster has the talent to become one of the best corners in all of the Big East. At safety the Bulls bring back another talented sophomore in strong safety Jon Lejiste, who should be joined in the defensive backfield with senior free safety Mistral Raymond.

Big East Prediction – 3rd:  If the defense plays like it did in 2009 the Bulls will definitely have a shot at winning the Big East this season. I currently have them finishing just behind Pitt and West Virginia for the conference title, but they do get Pitt on their home field this season, and that game could very well decide who  comes out on top. We should get a good feel for how good the Bulls are when they travel to take on Florida on Sept. 11.

For a complete look at how the Big East will play out this season, check out our 2010 Big East predictions.

Looking to make some money betting on the college football odds this season? Be sure to stop back each week this season for our expert college football picks.

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Posted by Jimmy Boyd · Filed Under Football Picks, Football Predictions, Football Rankings 

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