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2021 South Florida

2–⁠10 (1–⁠7 American Athletic Conference), coached by Jeff Scott.

Schedule and results

South Florida in 2021, game by game: lost at NC State 0–45; lost vs. No. 13 Florida 20–42; won vs. Florida A&M 38–17; lost at No. 15 BYU 27–35; lost at SMU 17–41; lost vs. Tulsa 31–32; won vs. Temple 34–14; lost at East Carolina 14–29; lost vs. No. 20 Houston 42–54; lost vs. No. 2 Cincinnati 28–45; lost at Tulane 14–45; lost at UCF 13–17+21−45Lost 0–45 at NC State-45NC StateLost 20–42 vs. No. 13 Florida-22No. 13 FloridaWon 38–17 vs. Florida A&M+21Florida A&MLost 27–35 at No. 15 BYU-8No. 15 BYULost 17–41 at SMU-24SMULost 31–32 vs. Tulsa-1TulsaWon 34–14 vs. Temple+20TempleLost 14–29 at East Carolina-15East CarolinaLost 42–54 vs. No. 20 Houston-12No. 20 HoustonLost 28–45 vs. No. 2 Cincinnati-17No. 2 CincinnatiLost 14–45 at Tulane-31TulaneLost 13–17 at UCF-4UCF
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2atNC StateL 0–⁠4526%
Sep 11vs13FloridaL 20–⁠4223%
Sep 18vsFlorida A&MW 38–⁠1759%
Sep 25at15BYUL 27–⁠3511%
Oct 2atSMUL 17–⁠4117%
Oct 16vsTulsaL 31–⁠3241%
Oct 23vsTempleW 34–⁠1450%
Oct 28atEast CarolinaL 14–⁠2932%
Nov 6vs20HoustonL 42–⁠5426%
Nov 12vs2CincinnatiL 28–⁠4512%
Nov 20atTulaneL 14–⁠4538%
Nov 26atUCFL 13–⁠1714%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCF 17–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 28 on file).

Record
2–⁠10
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 9th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
278–⁠416
Coach
Jeff Scott
Elo
1332 −59 this season
SP+ rating
-12.1 No. 110 of 130; offense No. 95, defense No. 117
SRS
−9.4 No. 104 of 130 in FBS
Returning
92% of last season’s EPA, No. 19 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 63 roster talent No. 73 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Charlie Weis Jr.
Defensive coordinator
Glenn Spencer
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense105th of 130
  • Defense119th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted96th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted117th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0542%1.15105th of 130
Defense0.2950%1.34119th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.24 def		43% off
48% def		—96th off
117th 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
Offense3.4own 2816% allowed
Defense4.2own 3112% caused

CORE rating -14.2, 109th of 130 (offense -2.1, defense 12.0).

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 yardsTimmy McClain QB1,888 yds
Passing touchdownsTimmy McClain QB5 TD
Rushing yardsJaren Mangham RB671 yds
Rushing touchdownsJaren Mangham RB15 TD
Receiving yardsXavier Weaver WR715 yds
Receiving touchdownsXavier Weaver WR2 TD
TacklesTony Grier Jr. LB85 tkl
SacksTony Grier Jr. LB3 sacks
InterceptionsChristian Williams S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Jimmy Horn Jr. WR★★★No. 864
Gunnar Greenwald TE★★★No. 923
K’wan Powell RB★★★No. 953
Jordan Blackmon S★★★No. 1017
Gabe Nealy S★★★No. 1123

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

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.846
Running backs13.00.859
Receivers43.00.849
Offensive line33.00.829
Defensive line33.00.833
Linebackers23.00.840
Defensive backs33.00.853
Athletes and specialists33.00.826
Whole class203.00.840

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.

Roster 112

The 2021 roster

112 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 62 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 10

The 2021 portal
Chris Curry RB★★★from LSU
Jaren Mangham RB★★★from Colorado
Christian Williams CB★★★★from Miami
Matthew Hill WR★★★★from Auburn
Demarcus Gregory WR★★★from Ole Miss
Jamari Stewart DE★★★from Mississippi State
Timarcus Simpson CB★★★from Eastern Michigan
Will Jones II CB★★★from Kansas State
Yusuf Terry WR★★★from Baylor
Xander Yarberough DE★★from New Mexico State

Transfers out 17

Jordan McCloud QB★★★to Arizona
Jacob Mathis TE★★★★no new school on file
Armon Williams DL★★★to Colorado Mesa
Bentlee Sanders S★★★to Nevada
David Anderton OT★★★returned to South Florida
Devin Gil LB★★★no new school on file
Eddie McDoom WR★★★no new school on file
Jah’Quez Evans WR★★★returned to South Florida
Jean Marcellus OL★★★no new school on file
Jernard Phillips WR★★★no new school on file
Johnny Ford RB★★★to Florida Atlantic
Nick Roberts S★★★returned to South Florida

And 5 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2021 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Cincinnati8–⁠013–⁠14
Houston8–⁠012–⁠217
UCF5–⁠39–⁠4
East Carolina5–⁠37–⁠5
Tulsa5–⁠37–⁠6
SMU4–⁠48–⁠4
Memphis3–⁠56–⁠6
Navy3–⁠54–⁠8
Temple1–⁠73–⁠9
Tulane1–⁠72–⁠10
South Florida1–⁠72–⁠10

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