USF Bulls ready to rise in third year under Jeff Scott

Year-three for Jeff Scott is starting like seasons in the past – without much respect from outside the program. 

The University of South Florida Bulls will kick off the season against BYU as double-digit underdogs, but there is a noticeable difference within the team: raised confidence.

"We're going to have several opportunities this year for kind of those breakthrough moments," said Coach Scott. "For our program to take that next step."

After scoring just three wins over the last two seasons, Jeff Scott knew they needed to inject more talent into this team. The Bulls landed 15 players from the college football transfer portal, including 13 from Power 5 programs.

The 15 players the Bulls got from the Transfer Portal is going to give the Bulls much added depth. That's something Jeff Scott didn't have in his first two seasons as the Bulls head coach. 

He feels where he's going to see the biggest benefit from it will be in the fourth quarter.

"We've had game where we popped out with good energy early on," said Scott. "We've had games where it may be slow at the beginning, but to be able to play for 4 quarters that's the biggest thing that I'm looking to see out of this team."

This biggest addition is quarterback Gerry Bohanon, who helped Baylor to a 10-2 record last season, throwing 18 touchdown passes which is three times as many as USF threw as a team. 

The Bulls hit a new program low with just six.

"This age of college football you can't just survive just on running the ball three and four yards every time," said Scott. "You've got to mix in some explosive plays down the field."