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2017 South Florida

10–⁠2 (6–⁠2 American Athletic Conference), coached by Charlie Strong, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

South Florida in 2017, game by game: won at San José State 42–22; won vs. Stony Brook 31–17; won vs. Illinois 47–23; won vs. Temple 43–7; won at East Carolina 61–31; won vs. Cincinnati 33–3; won at Tulane 34–28; lost vs. Houston 24–28; won at UConn 37–20; won vs. Tulsa 27–20; lost at No. 13 UCF 42–49; won vs. Texas Tech 38–34+36−7Won 42–22 at San José State+20San José StateWon 31–17 vs. Stony Brook+14Stony BrookWon 47–23 vs. Illinois+24IllinoisWon 43–7 vs. Temple+36TempleWon 61–31 at East Carolina+30East CarolinaWon 33–3 vs. Cincinnati+30CincinnatiWon 34–28 at Tulane+6TulaneLost 24–28 vs. Houston-4HoustonWon 37–20 at UConn+17UConnWon 27–20 vs. Tulsa+7TulsaLost 42–49 at No. 13 UCF-7No. 13 UCFWon 38–34 vs. Texas Tech+4Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 26atSan José StateW 42–⁠2269%
Sep 2vsStony BrookW 31–⁠1791%
Sep 15vsIllinoisW 47–⁠2378%
Sep 21vsTempleW 43–⁠769%
Sep 30atEast CarolinaW 61–⁠3180%
Oct 14vsCincinnatiW 33–⁠388%
Oct 21atTulaneW 34–⁠2873%
Oct 28vsHoustonL 24–⁠2874%
Nov 4atUConnW 37–⁠2084%
Nov 16vsTulsaW 27–⁠2082%
Nov 24at13UCFL 42–⁠4943%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvsTexas TechBirmingham BowlW 38–⁠3473%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas Tech 38–⁠34 in the Birmingham Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the American Athletic Conference.

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

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 2: 21
  3. Wk 3: 22
  4. Wk 4: 21
  5. Wk 5: 18
  6. Wk 6: 18
  7. Wk 7: 18
  8. Wk 8: 16
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 11: 22
  11. Wk 12: 23
  12. Wk 13: 22
  13. Wk 14: 23
  14. Wk 15: 23
  15. Final: 21
Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 3rd in American Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 16
Points
459–⁠282
Coach
Charlie Strong
Elo
1675 +64 this season
SP+ rating
10.2 No. 32 of 128; offense No. 47, defense No. 29, special teams No. 72
SRS
7.8 No. 35 of 130 in FBS
Returning
82% of last season’s EPA, No. 21 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 76 roster talent No. 59 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Sterlin Gilbert
Defensive coordinator
Brian Jean-Mary
Offense
Veer and shoot
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense20th of 130
  • Defense14th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted35th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted26th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2044%1.2920th of 130
Defense-0.0436%1.3614th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.14 off
0.00 def		41% off
37% def		—35th off
26th 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
Offense3.8own 3313% allowed
Defense3.3own 3020% caused

CORE rating 9.3, 26th of 130 (offense 1.0, defense -8.3).

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 QB2,911 yds
Passing touchdownsQuinton Flowers QB25 TD
Rushing yardsQuinton Flowers QB1,078 yds
Rushing touchdownsDarius Tice RB11 TD
Receiving yardsMarquez Valdes-Scantling WR879 yds
Receiving touchdownsTyre McCants WR7 TD
TacklesAuggie Sanchez LB84 tkl
SacksBruce Hector DT7 sacks
InterceptionsDevin Abraham S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2017 class

Naytron Culpepper S★★★No. 465
Kevaughn Dingle WR★★★No. 517
Jean Marcellus OG★★★No. 744
Nick Roberts CB★★★No. 1017
Jabreel Stephens WDE★★★No. 1079

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

The 2017 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs12.00.789
Receivers43.00.833
Offensive line32.70.832
Defensive line42.80.809
Linebackers13.00.806
Defensive backs53.00.833
Athletes and specialists12.00.793
Whole class192.80.822

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 2018

The 2018 draft
Rd 3Deadrin Senat DTAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Marquez Valdes-Scantling WRGreen Bay Packers

Roster 108

The 2017 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2017 line; 59 have a stat line. See the roster

2017 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
UCF8–⁠013–⁠06
Memphis7–⁠110–⁠325
South Florida6–⁠210–⁠221
Houston5–⁠37–⁠5
SMU4–⁠47–⁠6
Navy4–⁠47–⁠6
Temple4–⁠47–⁠6
Tulane3–⁠55–⁠7
Cincinnati2–⁠64–⁠8
East Carolina2–⁠63–⁠9
UConn2–⁠63–⁠9
Tulsa1–⁠72–⁠10

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