South Florida Bulls vs Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/02/2023

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 2, 2023

Venue:  Houchens Industries L. T. Smith Stadium, Bowling Green, KY

Where to Watch:  CBS Sports

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  USF +11.5, WKU -11.5; Over/Under:  70 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  USF +11.5, WKU -11.5; Over/Under:  70 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  USF +11.5, WKU -11.5; Over/Under:  70.5 points

South Florida Bulls:  0-0 (AAC)

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers:  0-0 (C-USA)

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South Florida Bulls:  N/A

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers:  N/A

South Florida finished last season with a 1-11 record overall and they had a 0-8 record in their conference games too.  They were 1-4 in their home games, 0-6 in their road games, and they were also 0-1 in their neutral site games last season, but they will be on the road for this season opener. Last season, their offense was averaging 28 points scored per game while their defense was allowing an average of 41.2 points per game. Their offense also averaged 390.8 yards per game while their defense was allowing an average of 516.6 yards per game. Gerry Bohanon led the team in passing yards with 1070, Brian Battie led the team in rushing yards with 1185, and Xavier Weaver led the team in receiving yards with 718.

 

 

 

Western Kentucky finished last season with a 9-5 record overall and they had a 6-2 record in their conference games too.  They were 4-2 in their home games, 4-3 in their road games, and they were also 1-0 in their neutral site games last season, but they will be at home for this season opener. Last season, their offense was averaging 36.4 points scored per game while their defense was allowing an average of 23.4 points per game. Their offense also averaged 497.3 yards per game while their defense was allowing an average of 383.7 yards per game. Austin Reed led the team in passing yards with 4746, Davion Ervin-Poindexter led the team in rushing yards with 525, and Malachi Corley led the team in receiving yards with 1295.

The current betting odds have Western Kentucky listed as an 11.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Western Kentucky finished last season with a 9-5 record overall and they were also 6-2 in their conference games. Western Kentucky is always a threat in their conference with that high flying air raid and their head coach has a solid system in place that has allowed many different QB's to succeed passing the ball and putting up points over the years. South Florida was terrible last season with their 0-8 conference record and their 1-11 record overall. They struggled to put points up in their games at times but their biggest issue was on defense as they were giving up a ton of points. They have hired a new head coach for this season and the team should be better since there is nowhere to go but up this season, but their coach isn't going to have this team ready to go in their very 1st game and they are getting a really difficult opponent that can put up a lot of points on that defense in a hurry. Western Kentucky didn't have a bad defense last season either so this South Florida offense will still struggle to move the ball and they won't be able to catch up once this high flying WKU offense starts rolling. The best way to place a bet here is on Western Kentucky to cover the spread in this game. 

South Florida Western Kentucky Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 2, 2023 (3:30 pm ET start time) is WKU 56 USF 28.

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South Florida Bulls: 3-5 ATS in non-conference games. 5-8 ATS in the first half of the season. 15-9 OVER in all games. 6-2 OVER in non-conference games. 9-4 OVER in the first half of the season.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: 19-9 ATS in all games. 8-1 ATS as a favorite of 10.5 to 21 points. 8-4 ATS in home games. 24-15 OVER when the total is between 63.5 and 70. 34-21 OVER as a home favorite. 9-2 OVER in non-conference games.

South Florida Bulls:  None.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers:  None.

"My approach is simply that I'm more accepting of what my young guys are. I was different growing up. Some of my guys are different, too, maybe even more than I was. If they have nothing (materially), I know that feeling. If they've had to work for everything they've ever gotten, I know that feeling, too. But here's the deal. It's OK to be different. It's OK to come from a different background. I tell them, 'Man, just be you. I don't care if you're different. I just want you to be the best version of you. And no matter what, if you have the desire to make it, you're going to make it. I can promise you that.'' - Alex Golesh on his approach to coaching USF football this season.

"You take the information that you have and what they've done in the past. Offensively you assume that they'll continue to do what they do offensively – you know it as the No. 1 offense in the country, you don't change it. But every coach is different. He'll have his own wrinkle and things that he wants to do. I'm sure they'll be some new things in the first game that you'll see that we haven't seen.” - Tyson Helton on his team’s 1st game of the season against USF.

WR Terry, Yusuf 

WR Brown-Stephens, Michael 

WR Atkins, Sean 

TE Wolff, Weston 

QB Brown, Byrum 

RB Wright, Nay'Quan 

WR Smith, Blue 

WR Mathison, Michael 

WR Corley, Malachi 

TE Helms, River 

QB Reed, Austin 

RB Ervin-Poindexter, Davion 

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

Coaches:

South Florida Bulls: Alex Golesh (1st season)

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: Tyson Helton (5th season)