2016 South Florida Bulls football team

American college football season

2016 South Florida Bulls football

The American East Division co-champion Birmingham Bowl champion
Birmingham Bowl, W 46–39 vs. South Carolina
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Division	East Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 19
Record	11–2 (7–1 AAC)
Head coach	Willie Taggart (4th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	T. J. Weist (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Darren Hiller (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Gulf Coast
Defensive coordinator	Raymond Woodie Jr. (1st season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Raymond James Stadium
Seasons← 2015 2017 →

2016 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Temple xy$	7	–	1	10	–	4
No. 19 South Florida x	7	–	1	11	–	2
UCF	4	–	4	6	–	7
Cincinnati	1	–	7	4	–	8
UConn	1	–	7	3	–	9
East Carolina	1	–	7	3	–	9
West Division
Navy xy	7	–	1	9	–	5
Tulsa	6	–	2	10	–	3
Memphis	5	–	3	8	–	5
Houston	5	–	3	9	–	4
SMU	3	–	5	5	–	7
Tulane	1	–	7	4	–	8
Championship: Temple 34, Navy 10
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida (USF) in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The 2016 season is the 20th season for the Bulls, and their fourth as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). They played their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and were led during the regular season by head coach Willie Taggart, who was in his fourth year. Following the regular season, but before the team's appearance in the Birmingham Bowl, Taggart left to take the head coaching vacancy at Oregon, with co-offensive coordinator T. J. Weist named as interim head coach for the bowl game.

Even though South Florida had been ranked as high as #2 in 2007, this was their first season finishing the season ranked; even though they were ranked in the 2008 pre-season poll.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	No. 24 (FCS) Towson*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ASN	W 56–20	35,976
September 10	7:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 48–17	36,557
September 17	3:30 p.m.	at Syracuse*		Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ACCN+	W 45–20	32,288
September 24	12:00 p.m.	No. 13 Florida State*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ABC	L 35–55	61,665
October 1	7:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPNU	W 45–20	35,108
October 8	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPNews	W 38–22	30,397
October 15	7:00 p.m.	UConn		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	CBSSN	W 42–27	30,297
October 21	7:00 p.m.	at Temple		Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia, PA	ESPN	L 30–46	25,950
October 28	7:00 p.m.	No. 22 Navy		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN2	W 52–45	31,824
November 12	7:00 p.m.	at Memphis		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	CBSSN	W 49–42	37,218
November 19	7:00 p.m.	at SMU		Gerald J. Ford Stadium Dallas, TX	CBSSN	W 35–27	18,417
November 26	12:00 p.m.	UCF		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (War on I–4)	CBSSN	W 48–31	36,056
December 29	2:00 p.m.	vs. South Carolina*	No. 25	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl)	ESPN	W 46–39	31,229
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Source:

Game summaries

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 (FCS) Tigers	3	7	7	3	20
Bulls	14	14	21	7	56

Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	7	0	10	17
Bulls	14	13	14	7	48

At Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	0	28	7	10	45
Orange	17	0	3	0	20

Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Seminoles	28	10	7	10	55
Bulls	14	0	7	14	35

At Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	10	14	14	7	45
Bearcats	6	14	0	0	20

East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	3	3	7	9	22
Bulls	7	10	7	14	38

UConn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	3	0	14	10	27
Bulls	7	7	7	21	42

At Temple

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	7	6	10	7	30
Owls	3	17	14	12	46

Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Midshipmen	0	14	7	24	45
Bulls	28	14	3	7	52

At Memphis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	14	7	14	14	49
Tigers	3	14	14	11	42

At SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	14	7	7	7	35
Mustangs	7	7	10	3	27

UCF

	1	2	3	4	Total
Knights	7	7	10	7	31
Bulls	14	10	7	17	48

South Carolina–Birmingham Bowl

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
#25 Bulls	15	14	10	0	7	46
Gamecocks	0	14	10	15	0	39

Rankings

Further information: 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	—	—	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	24–T	25	19
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	22	19
CFP	Not released									—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

References

McMurphy, Brett (December 7, 2016). "Oregon hires South Florida's Willie Taggart as coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
"2016 USF Bulls Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 18, 2016.

v t e South Florida Bulls football
Venues	Tampa Stadium (1997–1998) Raymond James Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games
Rivalries	UCF
Culture & lore	Rocky the Bull Golden Brahman March Herd of Thunder
People	NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

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