Florida News: Blake Barnett

USF coach Charlie Strong opened the quarterback competition heading into Saturday's game against South Carolina State.

Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor totaled four touchdowns against USF. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) TAMPA -- Lightning delayed USF’s...

South Florida's Blake Barnett makes a pass against Illinois during the first half of the Bulls' 25-19 win last season. (AP...

The Bulls opened spring practice Tuesday and coach Charlie Strong wants to see a different approach to how his team operates.

A sloppy first quarter in which the Bulls fell behind 21-7 set the stage for a Gasparilla Bowl defeat.

It has been far from pretty at times, so the undefeated Bulls know that some areas need to be cleaned up if they are to keep winning.

The USF Bulls open conference play Saturday night against an ECU team that was displaced by Hurricane Florence and has been staying in Orlando.

Following home victories over Elon and Georgia Tech, USF takes to the road for the first time this season when they play Illinois at Soldier Field on Saturday.

If Saturday night is a sign of things to come for the USF passing game, then things are going to be pretty exciting this season.

Based on postings that appeared on USF’s athletics web site following last Saturday’s and Wednesday’s closed scrimmages, it would seem as though Blake Barnett would have the upper hand in the three-way battle that includes redshirt junior Brett Kean and redshirt sophomore Chris Oladokun.