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Notre Dame Football: Irish to bring USF to South Bend

By Daniel Morrison

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 3: Cierre Wood #20 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tries to outrun the pursuit by Julius Forte #54 of the South Florida Bulls at Notre Dame Stadium on September 3, 2011 in South Bend, Indiana. South Florida won 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 3: Cierre Wood #20 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tries to outrun the pursuit by Julius Forte #54 of the South Florida Bulls at Notre Dame Stadium on September 3, 2011 in South Bend, Indiana. South Florida won 23-20. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Amid all the uncertainty of the college football season, Notre Dame football has added a non-conference game against the University of South Florida.

Reports have begun to come out that Notre Dame has added the University of South Florida Bulls to their schedule. They will act as the single out of conference game for Notre Dame, which the ACC is allowing in 2020. Initially, this spot was expected to be filled by Navy, but had to be scrapped due to issues regarding the game’s location. Then, Western Michigan became the out of conference opponent, mostly out of contractual obligations. When the MAC cancelled their season, it left a gap in Notre Dame’s schedule.

So, after a bit of mystery concerning the game, Jack Swarbrick was able to add USF to the schedule.

USF is an American Conference team, but they don’t hold the rising star status of their in-state rival, UCF or Brian Kelly’s old stomping ground, Cincinnati. For a while, under coach Willie Taggart, it seemed like USF was going to become a premier AAC program. Then, Taggart left for Oregon. The Bulls hired Charlie Strong, and he rode the talent on Taggart’s roster to 10 wins. Then, after a successful start to 2018, the troubles started. The Bulls lost their final 6 games in 2018, and the stumble carried into 2019.

CINCINNATI, OH – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Charlie Strong of the South Florida Bulls is seen before the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Nippert Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Charlie Strong of the South Florida Bulls is seen before the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Nippert Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Last year, USF was lost on offense. The team’s only saving grace was a turnover hungry defense, but that wasn’t enough to cover up injuries and inexperience on offense. Worse than that, there was no energy in the program. It was clear that Charlie Strong’s time was done.

Strong’s replacement is Jeff Scott, the former Clemson offensive coordinator. Now, the energy and excitement are back, but the actual talent is still a couple years away from being ready to compete within their own conference.

Of course, the one time USF and Notre Dame met, USF pulled off one of the major upsets in the Brian Kelly era. It was a shock then for the Irish, just like it would be a shock for Notre Dame to lose to the Bulls now.

Next. Previewing a Week 2 matchup with Wake Forest. dark

The game will take place on September 19th, if everything goes as scheduled. It’s just hard to say with certainty that anything will go as scheduled, especially considering that there are rumors that the ACC may scrap the one out of conference game entirely, as they were only kept to maintain out of conference rivalry games.

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