USF 2017 vs. Western Michigan 2016

[Flowers4Heisman]

2017 Coaches' preseason: USF #21  

2016: Western Michigan wasn't on the radar in the preseason polls. They were ranked for the first time in week 6, in the Coaches' poll, at #25. And they made the AP poll in week 7.

Lesson to be learned here: being undefeated matters a lot more than schedule.

As far as the teams go, I think USF has a lot more talent on both sides of the ball than the 2016 Broncos. Regular season schedule, I think both are about equal: oven-fresh soft!

 

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 26	7:30 p.m.	at San Jose State*		CEFCU Stadium • San Jose, CA	CBSSN
September 2	4:00 p.m.	Stony Brook*		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN3
September 9	12:00 p.m.	at Connecticut		Pratt & Whitney Stadium • East Hartford, CT	ESPNews
September 15	7:00 p.m.	Illinois*		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN
September 21	8:00 p.m.	Temple		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN
September 30		at East Carolina		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC
October 14		UMass*		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL
October 21		at Tulane		Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, LA
October 28		Cincinnati		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL
November 4		Houston		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL
November 16	8:00 p.m.	Tulsa		Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN
November 24		at UCF		Spectrum Stadium • Orlando, FL (War on I-4)
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

 

 

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	Noon	at Northwestern*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNU	W 22–21	30,635
September 10	7:00 pm	North Carolina Central*		Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN3	W 70–21	23,727
September 17	4:00 pm	at Illinois*		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	ESPNews	W 34–10	40,954
September 24	7:00 pm	Georgia Southern*		Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN3	W 49–31	17,208[28]
October 1	7:00 pm	at Central Michigan		Kelly/Shorts Stadium • Mount Pleasant, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy/Victory Cannon)	CBSSN	W 49–10	30,411[29]
October 8	6:30 pm	Northern Illinois		Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	CBSSN	W 45–30	28,042[30]
October 15	3:30 pm	at Akron	No. 24	InfoCision Stadium • Akron, OH	CBSSN	W 41–0	11,321[31]
October 22	3:30 pm	Eastern Michigan	No. 20	Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI (Michigan MAC Trophy)	ASN	W 45–31	23,721[32]
November 1	8:00 pm	at Ball State	No. 17	Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN	ESPN2	W 52–20	5,614
November 8	7:30 pm	at Kent State	No. 14	Dix Stadium • Kent, OH	ESPN2	W 37–21	4,536
November 19	3:30 pm	Buffalo	No. 14	Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	ESPNU	W 38–0	26,136
November 25	5:00 pm	Toledo	No. 14	Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN2	W 55–35	24,191
December 2	7:00 pm	vs. Ohio	No. 13	Ford Field • Detroit, MI (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN2	W 29–23	45,615
January 2, 2017	1:00 pm	vs. No. 8 Wisconsin*	No. 12	AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	ESPN	L 16–24	59,615

[USFBulls727]

If Temple runs the same offense they ran last year, that will be an interesting game. Our defense was clueless, and just ill-equipped to stop them last year, and it will be interesting to see how much change has taken place since. As far as how our schedule compares to 2016 Western Michigan, our's may be a tad tougher, but I doubt it's enough to make a difference in the polls. IIRC, Western Michigan had at least two 3-loss teams ahead of them after running the table, which probably isn't unfair IMO. Just wasn't a tough enough schedule to deserve playoff consideration. As much as I would love to see us reach the playoffs, the Peach Bowl definitely looks like the ceiling for us, but, first thing's first......beat San Jose State.

[Triple B]

2 hours ago, FarEastBull said:

As far as the teams go, I think USF has a lot more talent on both sides of the ball than the 2016 Broncos. Regular season schedule, I think both are about equal: oven-fresh soft!

WMU had 2 P5's and Georgia Southern so the ooc schedule was definitely not equal. Maybe the ic schedule balanced it out ...

[E.T.]

And Bronco's had a beloved coach, we do also.

Undefeated and we'll be Top 6

[Ionbull]

Holy crap check the attendance on the Ball State and Kent State games; that has to be a typo? 5000 people?

[JoeB]

12 minutes ago, Ionbull said:

Holy crap check the attendance on the Ball State and Kent State games; that has to be a typo? 5000 people?

Probably not a typo, my guess is those are midweek games (Tuesdays or Wednesdays)

[Triple B]

4 minutes ago, JoeB said:

Probably not a typo, my guess is those are midweek games (Tuesdays or Wednesdays)

That would mean they have less than 5K season ticket holders. I kind of find that hard to believe, but maybe ....

[E.T.]

There were AT Ball & Kent State.

Edited August 10, 2017 by E.T.
Added

[George_Bullnard_Shaw]

8 minutes ago, E.T. said:

There were AT Ball & Kent State.

Clearly WMU does not travel well. Should exclude them from bowl considerations.

[Paisa el Toro]

15 hours ago, USFBulls727 said:

If Temple runs the same offense they ran last year, that will be an interesting game. Our defense was clueless, and just ill-equipped to stop them last year, and it will be interesting to see how much change has taken place since. 

Our lack of LB'er depth concerns me for this game.