# 2016 South Florida Bulls football team

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 StadiumTampa, FL | ASN | W 56–20 | 35,976 |
| September 10 | 7:00 p.m. | Northern Illinois* | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | CBSSN | W 48–17 | 36,557 |
| September 17 | 3:30 p.m. | at Syracuse* | | Carrier DomeSyracuse, NY | ACCN+ | W 45–20 | 32,288 |
| September 24 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 13 Florida State* | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ABC | L 35–55 | 61,665 |
| October 1 | 7:00 p.m. | at Cincinnati | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | ESPNU | W 45–20 | 35,108 |
| October 8 | 12:00 p.m. | East Carolina | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ESPNews | W 38–22 | 30,397 |
| October 15 | 7:00 p.m. | UConn | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | CBSSN | W 42–27 | 30,297 |
| October 21 | 7:00 p.m. | at Temple | | Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA | ESPN | L 30–46 | 25,950 |
| October 28 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 22 Navy | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL | ESPN2 | W 52–45 | 31,824 |
| November 12 | 7:00 p.m. | at Memphis | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | CBSSN | W 49–42 | 37,218 |
| November 19 | 7:00 p.m. | at SMU | | Gerald J. Ford StadiumDallas, TX | CBSSN | W 35–27 | 18,417 |
| November 26 | 12:00 p.m. | UCF | | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL (War on I–4) | CBSSN | W 48–31 | 36,056 |
| December 29 | 2:00 p.m. | vs. South Carolina* | No. 25 | Legion FieldBirmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl) | ESPN | W 46–39 $^{OT}$ | 31,229 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll 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

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |