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USF Football Picked Fourth in AAC Preseason Media Poll
7 hours ago
TAMPA, JULY 23, 2024 – Entering its second season under head coach Alex Golesh, South Florida football was picked fourth in the AAC Preseason Media Poll announced Tuesday at the AAC Kickoff event in Arlington, Texas.
In the 2023 poll, the Bulls were picked 13th before Golesh led the team to the greatest turnaround in program history and the second-best in FBS football with a six-win improvement capped by a 45-0 rout of Syracuse in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Golesh and returning starting quarterback Byrum Brown (Raleigh, N.C.) and senior cornerback Ben Knox (DeLand) are in Dallas for the Kickoff event. Golesh was set to address the gathered media at the podium at noon on Tuesday. That can be viewed live on ESPN+.
The media picked Memphis (23 first place votes) first followed by UTSA (4), Tulane (2), South Florida and conference newcomer Army (1) rounding out the top five.
Brown, who set USF season marks for passing yards (3,292), touchdowns (26), completions (276), and completion percentage (64.6%) in his first season in Golesh’s offense, leads a Bulls offense that also returns senior wide receiver Sean Atkins (Viera), who set program records with 92 receptions for 1,054 yards in 2023 and was named a 2024 preseason All-American by Phil Steele. Brown also added 809 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground to join Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU as the only FBS players to post 3,000-plus passing yards and 800-plus rushing yards in 2023.
Brown, Atkins, offensive guard Zane Herring (Madison), running back Nay’Quan Wright (Opa Locka), center Mike Lofton (Clearwater), offensive tackle Derek Bowman (Magnolia, Texas), wide receiver Naiem Simmons (Cherry Hill, N.J.),), cornerback Aamaris Brown-Bunkley (Tampa), defensive tackle Rashad Cheney (Atlanta), linebacker Jhalyn Shuler (Abbeville, S.C.), safety Jaelen Stokes (Auburndale) and kickers John Cannon (Fort Lauderdale) and Nico Gramatica (Tampa) where among the Bulls to earn preseason all-conference recognition from national publications.
USF returns 19 starters in 2024 (nine on offense, eight on defense, and two specialists) from a team that set 12 team and 16 individual program records while going 7-6. The Bulls return record-setting starting quarterback Brown, 85 percent of their rushing yards, 84 percent of their receiving yards and four primary starters on the offensive line. On defense, USF returns nine of its top 11 tacklers led by Shuler, who logged a team-best 97 stops to go with 8.5 tackles for loss in 2023.
USF opens the season on Saturday, Aug. 31 in Raymond James Stadium when the Bulls take on Bethune-Cookman in a 7:00 p.m. kick on ESPN+. The Bulls also have non-conference dates at Alabama (Sept. 7/7 pm/ESPN), at Southern Miss (Sept. 14/7 pm/ESPN+) and vs. Miami (Sept. 21).
2024 American Athletic Conference Preseason Media Poll
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 27th season in 2023 with a program-best six-game turnaround and Boca Raton Bowl victory under first-year head coach Alex Golesh . USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 16 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 32 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 11 bowl game appearances (going 7-4), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season. Follow @USFFootball on Twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
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