<p>Thank God the 2013 season is behind us.&nbsp; USF had one of the worst seasons in team history.&nbsp; Always a contender in the Jim Leavitt era, the Bulls took a tumble in recent years thanks to Skip Holtz.&nbsp; He left the cupboard bare for new Head Coach Willie Taggart in 2013.&nbsp; It was a new low as the team lost to McNeese State.&nbsp; Actually a normal loss would have hurt, but the beatdown they took on opening night resembled the first Clubber Lang/Rocky Balboa bout.&nbsp; The only thing missing was their QB proclaiming, "you want to be with a real man Adrian".&nbsp; It didn't get much better as the&nbsp;season progressed.&nbsp; Somehow they managed to win a couple games without scoring an offensive touchdown.&nbsp; Yep, thats&nbsp;thanks to the mighty AAC opponents and lack of talent as a whole for the conference.&nbsp;&nbsp;And with that being said, here's the skinny on 2014.</p> <p>The Offense:&nbsp; After a fierce battle, Mike White was named the starting QB over former Penn State waterboy Steven Bench.&nbsp; White is a&nbsp;Sophomore who had some flashes last year, but not enough to put the Bulls over .500 for the year.&nbsp; Hopefully he's learned a bit in the offseason.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rumor is he put on some weight which should help him considering he sported&nbsp;the lean Caldwell Jones circa 1982&nbsp;look he had last year.&nbsp; Besides having no running game to speak of and a mediocre Offensive line at best,&nbsp;USF will need to be creative to get the ball to their playmaking Wide Receivers.&nbsp; Andre Davis will become the All time leader in receptions and yardage at some&nbsp;point this season.&nbsp; With Andre getting most of the attention from mediocre defenses Florida transfer&nbsp;Chris Dunkley&nbsp;could be the next in line (as long as Dunkley doesn't get arrested again for hitting his girlfriend).</p> <p>The Defense:&nbsp; Truth be told, as much as the offense scares me...the defense could be worse.&nbsp; The Bulls lost alot of their impact players from a year ago, most of which were in the front 7.&nbsp; Gone is&nbsp;Tevin Mims, Aaron Lynch,&nbsp;Ryne Giddens, and DeDe Lattimore.&nbsp; Not sure who will replace the boys up front, but look for Tashon Whitehurst and Richard Cliett to plug up the middle.&nbsp; The back four will be new as well, and that might be an upgrade from what I've seen over the past few seasons.&nbsp; Hard to tell how they will play, but having the guys up front pressure the QB will be a must for them to keep people out of the endzone.</p> <p>Special Teams:&nbsp; Probably the best part of the Bulls team.&nbsp;&nbsp;Kicker Marvin Kloss had a tremendous season last year and was a finalist for the Judd Davis, er Lou Groza Award.&nbsp; So if a game comes down to the wire the Bulls do have a shot of stealing&nbsp;it.&nbsp;</p> <p>The outlook:&nbsp; It doesn't look like it will be a stellar year.&nbsp; If things go well 6-6 should be manageable and a trip to the illustrious Beefs Bowl could be waiting across the Howard Frankland Bridge.&nbsp; If the offense struggles another 3-9 season could be looming.&nbsp; If that happens Coach&nbsp;Willie and his hand jive could be leaving Hillsborough County for good.&nbsp; We should know relatively soon how good&nbsp;the Bulls are when new Big 10 team Maryland stops by in Week 2.&nbsp; Also an early season game versus the anemic NC State Wolfpack should be a good test for the Bulls.&nbsp; A trip to Madison will be an ugly one for the Green and Gold in late September.&nbsp; Aside from the generic AAC slate, the Bulls do get to host the Tinmen from down the road in Mousetown.&nbsp;&nbsp;A win in this game could be the difference between&nbsp;a mediocre season and a bad one.&nbsp;</p> <p>Either way, I'll be seeing all of the action live from Section 127 starting a little over a week from now versus Western Carolina.&nbsp; Hopefully they can start with a win and go from there.&nbsp; If not it could be 2013 all over again.&nbsp;</p> <p>Cue the music....Bulls on Parade!</p>