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USF Football Tuesday Post Irma/Press Conference Tweetcap

The Bulls will play Illinois as scheduled on Friday night.

Stony Brook v South Florida Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr. /Getty Images

After the Bay Area escaped major damage from Hurricane Irma over the weekend, the University of South Florida football team will still play the University of Illinois Friday night at Raymond James Stadium.

The USF campus officially opens tomorrow to faculty and staff. Classes won’t resume until Thursday, and professors have been directed to not give quizzes or exams until next week.

Today, the Bulls held their normal Tuesday press conference as head Coach Charlie Strong addressed the media to talk all things Irma and the short week of preparations.

Who’s calling the game?

With the way things are going in Austin, maybe this time next year Tom Herman and Mack Brown will call a USF game together and things can get really weird.

The Bulls have been outscored 130-63 in those five games versus Maryland (2014-15), Penn State (2005), Michigan State (2013), and Wisconsin (2014). USF is 2-12 if you include the games they played against Rutgers before the Scarlet Knights joined the league. But I’m pretty sure the Big Ten doesn’t even include them, so why should we?

Strong on Hurricane Irma:

Things could’ve been much, much worse in Tampa, and the force field that surrounds the city held up again. If it hadn’t, we know the city and area was up to the challenge of taking care of the residents.

Pack Ray Jay:

Strong also invited all of the first responders and their families to the game Friday night.

UConn game:

#USFTwitter had a field day on Thursday night when it was announced that the game was canceled, but it was absolutely the right call. Hopefully USF can get another game on the schedule.

Real short week of preparations:

The Bulls will practice tonight, Wednesday night and Thursday morning before facing the Illini Friday. USF will also have a short week next week when they host Temple on Thursday night. Strong mentioned the possibility of playing someone during the November 11 bye week, but that would give them a short week to prepare for Tulsa (scheduled for Thursday, November 16) and he didn’t seem enthused about that.

Players affected?

Illinois is coming off a 20-7 victory over former USF quarterback Mike White and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, so that’s impressive. But they also needed a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown to beat Ball State in their opener. Who knows what to expect from them on Friday. They’re coached by Lovie Smith, so that probably mitigates the short week form the Bulls.