One year ago, the USF Bulls were coming off of a 3-year stretch of being one of the worst teams in all of college football (you can thank Dabo for sending them Jeff Scott) and they had just hired Alex Golesh, the offensive coordinator at Tennessee who had the Vols and Hendon Hooker being all the rage in college football.

We didn’t totally know what to expect, but the Bulls were expected to improve on offense, at least. A few games into the season, and they took on Alabama, giving the Tide one of the most frustrating games of Nick Saban’s career. Except, for some reason, it was because the Bulls kept Alabama’s offense in check, not because their offense ran wild.

Whatever the case, the game seemed to be both a springboard and a fluke for them, as their defense was generally bad in 2023, but they turned into one of the better offenses in the country and racked up 7 wins ( a big deal when you won less than two for three straight years).

in 2024, much of the same offense returns. This is what I wrote about their scheme last year, and much of it remains true:

As a Heupel disciple, the offensive scheme is one that Alabama fans are now familiar with: the wide receivers will be lined up WIDE, and the ball will often be snapped within 10 seconds of the previous play ending. It’s an offense predicated on very little mental work from the QB, but more of a stand-up-and-throw it kind of thing that relies on slants, screens, and the occasional go-ball for most of the passing game.

So far, though, it’s not been too effective through the air. First year starter QB Byrum Brown is sitting at 51.5% completion rate, a paltry 5.3 yards per attempt, and 2 interceptions to 4 TDs. Receiver Sean Atkins is the only returning pass catcher from last year’s team, and small slot guy is Brown’s favorite target. Khafre Brown (transfer from UNC) also caught an 80-yard go ball in the season opener, so he leads the team with 109 yards.

The rushing game, on the other hand, has been much more of the focus for Golesh. Transfer Nay’Quan Wright played on and off for the Florida Gators the last four years, and now takes over as the lead back, rushing 17 times for 111 yards against WKU in the opener.

Meanwhile, Michel Dukes was a transfer from Clemson a couple of years ago that got 62 touches for the Bulls last year and looks to be building on that role this year. He’s got 21 carries for 104 yards so far. Both backs are averaging over 5 yards per carry through two games. The USF offense is built to spread a defense out as wide as possible and have them open up running lanes between the tackle/guard or just off tackle with TE’s coming across the formation as a lead blocker.

And, of course, Byrum Brown is really the centerpiece of the rushing attack. There’s plenty of designed QB draws, and USF has 0 issues calling a speed option play on 3rd and long. Brown is lanky and quick. He’s not going to break many tackles, but he can gobble up open yards in a hurry. He leads the team with 183 rushing yards.

Byrum Brown really turned things on as the season progressed last year, completing 65% of his passes for 3300 yards and 26 TDs to only 11 picks, while also leading the team with 809 rushing yards and 11 more TDs on the ground. He’s as dynamic of a runner as you’ll find at QB in college football, and he’s steadily improving as a passer. Slot receiver Sean Atkins also returns as a his main target from a year ago, and the diminutive receiving threat is a Biletnikoff Watch list and First Team All-AAC preseason guy who looks poised to really build on his 1000 yards from last year.

Running back Nay’quan Wright (the guy who trucked Caleb Downs last year) returns as well as a former SEC running back that can really do some damage on the ground.

Overall, it’s a fast, dynamic offense that takes some parts of the Tennessee/Huepel offense – the wide splits and the ridiculously fast tempo – but incorporates more of a power running and QB option game out of those wide splits. Screens and deep shots make up the bulk of the passing game to stretch the defense as far from the middle as possible, then they’ll relentlessly run the ball at those vacated areas.

For Alabama’s new look “Swarm” defense, this will be something of a test to see how the new scheme fares against what is considered the up and coming current trend of college football offenses. Can the linebacker crew handle the QB run, or will they get caught vacating rush lanes? Can the new secondary effectively swarm to screen passes while still being wary of the vertical shots?

I think Alabama may do better against the QB scrambles than we’ve seen in years past, as the defensive coverage should be more focused on watching the QB than under Saban’s pattern-match coverages. But I do worry that the Bulls may be able to get some deep shots on them and score a few more points than we like.

I predict they will score 17 on the Alabama defense.