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2016 South Florida

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 American Athletic Conference), coached by Willie Taggart, then T.J. Weist (interim, bowl game), finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

South Florida in 2016, game by game: won vs. Towson 56–20; won vs. Northern Illinois 48–17; won at Syracuse 45–20; lost vs. No. 13 Florida State 35–55; won at Cincinnati 45–20; won vs. East Carolina 38–22; won vs. UConn 42–27; lost at Temple 30–46; won vs. No. 22 Navy 52–45; won at Memphis 49–42; won at SMU 35–27; won vs. UCF 48–31; won vs. South Carolina 46–39+36−20Won 56–20 vs. Towson+36TowsonWon 48–17 vs. Northern Illinois+31Northern Illino…Won 45–20 at Syracuse+25SyracuseLost 35–55 vs. No. 13 Florida State-20No. 13 Florida StateWon 45–20 at Cincinnati+25CincinnatiWon 38–22 vs. East Carolina+16East CarolinaWon 42–27 vs. UConn+15UConnLost 30–46 at Temple-16TempleWon 52–45 vs. No. 22 Navy+7No. 22 NavyWon 49–42 at Memphis+7MemphisWon 35–27 at SMU+8SMUWon 48–31 vs. UCF+17UCFWon 46–39 vs. South Carolina+7South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsTowsonW 56–⁠2080%
Sep 10vsNorthern IllinoisW 48–⁠1763%
Sep 17atSyracuseW 45–⁠2062%
Sep 24vs13Florida StateL 35–⁠5548%
Oct 1atCincinnatiW 45–⁠2046%
Oct 8vsEast CarolinaW 38–⁠2278%
Oct 15vsUConnW 42–⁠2777%
Oct 21atTempleL 30–⁠4657%
Oct 28vs22NavyW 52–⁠4548%
Nov 12atMemphisW 49–⁠4248%
Nov 19atSMUW 35–⁠2766%
Nov 26vsUCFW 48–⁠3178%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsSouth CarolinaBirmingham BowlW 46–⁠3973%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat South Carolina 46–⁠39 in the Birmingham Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 28 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 14: 24
  2. Wk 15: 25
  3. Final: 19

AAC East champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Temple

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in American Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 19
Points
569–⁠411
Coach
Willie Taggart, then T.J. Weist (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1666 +137 this season
SP+ rating
9.8 No. 40 of 128; offense No. 2, defense No. 99, special teams No. 52
SRS
7.8 No. 31 of 128 in FBS
Returning
89% of last season’s EPA, No. 19 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 66 roster talent No. 54 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
T.J. Weist and Darren Hiller
Defensive coordinator
Raymond Woodie Jr.
Offense
Gulf Coast
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense4th of 128
  • Defense88th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted5th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted90th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3246%1.484th of 128
Defense0.1549%1.0988th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.26 off
0.14 def		45% off
48% def		—5th off
90th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.5own 3213% allowed
Defense3.8own 3013% caused

CORE rating 4.6, 40th of 128 (offense 11.2, defense 6.6).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsQuinton Flowers QB2,812 yds
Passing touchdownsQuinton Flowers QB24 TD
Rushing yardsQuinton Flowers QB1,530 yds
Rushing touchdownsQuinton Flowers QB18 TD
Receiving yardsRodney Adams WR822 yds
Receiving touchdownsD’Ernest Johnson RB5 TD
TacklesAuggie Sanchez LB117 tkl
SacksAuggie Sanchez LB6 sacks
InterceptionsDeatrick Nichols CB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Darnell Salomon WR★★★★No. 297
Craig Watts S★★★No. 448
Josh Dunn CB★★★No. 691
Andre Polk OLB★★★No. 790
Micario Stanley ILB★★★No. 872

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.816
Running backs13.00.846
Receivers23.50.857
Offensive line33.00.827
Linebackers23.00.853
Defensive backs43.00.849
Whole class143.00.841

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 4Marlon Mack RBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 5Rodney Adams WRMinnesota Vikings
Rd 6Kofi Amichia OTGreen Bay Packers

Roster 109

The 2016 roster

109 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 64 have a stat line. See the roster

2016 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
South Florida7–⁠111–⁠219
Temple7–⁠110–⁠4
Navy7–⁠19–⁠5
Tulsa6–⁠210–⁠3
Houston5–⁠39–⁠4
Memphis5–⁠38–⁠5
UCF4–⁠46–⁠7
SMU3–⁠55–⁠7
Cincinnati1–⁠74–⁠8
Tulane1–⁠74–⁠8
East Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9
UConn1–⁠73–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.