USF vs. San Jose State Pick
No. 19 South Florida hopes to avoid any kind of letdown when the Bulls hit the road to take on San Jose State tonight at 7:30PM ET.
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, South Florida is favored on the road, as the Bulls are getting odds of -22 points against the Spartans. The over/under total for the game has been set at 69 points. These two will meet from the CEFCU Stadium in San Jose, California. The game will air live on the CBS Sports Network.
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South Florida is coming off an 11-2 record in 2016, but the team lost coach Willie Taggart to Oregon. The Rams hired Charlie Strong, who was let go at Texas in the offseason. USF was 8-5 against the spread last season and 3-2 against the spread in non-conference games. USF had one of the top offenses in the nation last season, averaging 512 yards and 43.8 points per game. Their run game was very powerful, posting 285.8 yards per contest. Quarterback Quinton Flowers led the team with 1,530 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns while throwing for 2,812 yards and 24 touchdowns. He is back to lead the offense again this season. While the Bulls were dominant on offense, their defense was a hot mess. USF gave up 31.6 points and 482.2 yards per game. Their pass defense ranked 122nd in the nation by giving up 285.5 yards per game through the air.
The San Jose State Spartans went just 4-8 last season and they were 1-3 in non-conference games. Against the spread, San Jose State was 5-6-1 against the spread last season, including an 0-3 mark ATS in non-conference games. Brett Brennan is taking over the program for his first season. He comes over from being an assistant at Oregon State the last six seasons. He will be tasked with improving an offense that averaged just 24.4 points per game last season. The Spartans will be working in a new starting quarterback, but they do returning two of their three leading rushers from 2016. Two of their top three receivers from last year are back as well. Defensively, San Jose State also was a mess. The Spartans gave up 34.7 points and 435.2 yards per game. The run defense gave up 246.7 yards per game, which ranked 121st in the nation.
Bet on South Florida vs. San Jose State
Both teams are working in a lot of new parts, but South Florida brings one of the most dynamic players in all of college football to the field today. Flowers should be able to dice up this defense of San Jose State. While the Bulls struggle on defense, I don’t think that will show against the Spartans, who are breaking in a new quarterback.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREDICTION: SOUTH FLORIDA -22