SoFlo All Day

4 minutes ago, Bulls Are We said:

I know Scott was popular when he was here, but his offense at Tennesse has been garbage.  

Yeah... his stock has probably fallen a bit because of Tennessee's crap performance. Fit and recruiting wise he would be great would just have to get a solid staff around him. I would not be opposed to rehiring David Reeves as OC. He does have the DUI thing going against him, but he probably knew the offense last year better than Taggart did. 

3 hours ago, Wildrover said:

 your system?  I'm not saying this out of harsh condescension but as a serious question.  I remember the Dolphins a few years back were having a tough time with everybody.  They took a hard look at themselves and said we need to get the ball in the hands of our best players.  this led to the development of the wildcat IIRC.   And didn't this come to jesus moment happen after the season started?  Anyway,  you have to give Taggert some credit here as well.  He tried to put his system in place and it almost cost him his job.  It wasn't until he changed it to fit the strengths of his players did it not only save his job,  it got him a better paying, higher profile one.  It did take a couple of seasons though didn't it?  Why would a head coach be so stubborn when it comes to 'systems' and their attachment to them? 

I guess the immediate answer would be that changing schemes every year is too much work and arguably too much work to be done successfully every year but I'm not sure I buy that.  Teams change schemes all the time when a new coach comes in.  If the group of players can a learn a whole new scheme in the off season why can't the coaching staff?   

Change was hard even for Taggart because of ego. It was only until Harlan stepped in and he was a loss away from losing his job that he changed. And Taggart was a coach that didn't have nearly as "credentialed" of a career as Strong. If you think drastic and sweeping changes will be made, it will take a serious beat down on the field before that happens. For instance if we end up losing to a team like...oh I don't know.... UCF by 30 plus then we would probably see change. But by then it would be too late. That's how coach and athletic management works unfortunately. 

Charlie and his staff look bored and uninspired and alas that has cost us a game we should have won. I will happily take the $2.5 million buyout to hire an and coming coach with more energy who actually wants to be here and doesn't look down on what we have. A guy like Larry Scott or Frank Wilson would be fine by me.   

7 hours ago, Mama_Bull said:

Flowers will be profiled during a segment on ESPN's wildly successful College GameDay pregame show Saturday morning. An ESPN crew spent most of the week on campus interviewing Flowers, Coach Charlie Strong and CB Deatrick Nichols (one of Flowers' best friends), among others.

Read more at:

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/quinton-flowers-to-be-profiled-on-college-gameday/2342422

The guy deserves it. Been an inspiration since Day 1. You could say that about most of the 2014 class. They came here on Taggart's word and a belief that they could turn it around. All of our seniors this year came to USF when it was in the gutter and never stopped fighting to get it better. I dont know about everyone else, but they certainly made me believe in this team again. Looking back from a future time, this class may not end up being the best class talent-wise, but it will be one of the most memorable and inspirational. It'll be hard not to catch the feels come Senior night, which sadly is right around the corner....

#BULLSUNITE

#BEATHOUSTON

#CanWePleaseStopComplainingAndEnjoyThisTeam???

Talk about no emotion or urgency 

30 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Kinda like how our defense looked the final quarter and a half against Tulane? This game against Houston is far from a sure thing. Don't care how they have looked up to this point. If we sleep on this game we end up losing. They have talent and if comes out to play we're gonna be in trouble if we're not ready mentally. 

Coming around to the offense, once we figure out red zone execution then I think we'll be fine. Most G5 defenses don't have depth so churning clock and playing the ground and pound game works effectively, especially when you get good play from the O-line and have effective running backs. Also, it gives the upper hand to our defense because it can stay fresh for longer portions of the game. 

I'm starting to realize that TOP and defensive stamina ends up winning games over flashy play (see last year's game against Temple) more often than not.

4 hours ago, TromBull12 said:

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/duel-of-the-decades-who-wins-between-07-and-17-bulls/2341422

I believe the 2017 Bulls have the edge. What do you all think? This article is fun and engaging. One of Joey Knight's better outings. 

I see the novelties of an article like this and why it would get clicks....BUT at the end of the day we are comparing a team with an incomplete track record (2017) with a team that had a few good games but some very serious flaws that prevented it from being truly special (2007).

As much as the 2007 team showed how far we had come at that time, the fact that we keep harping on a team that finished 9-4 ten years ago and claim that to be our best team ever, not only shows how far we have to go but also shows how our athletics program squandered the 2008-2014 period. 

Dont mean to be a Debbie downer here, but if you look back too often, you'll end up running into a pole and busting your face if you're not careful!

Tom Brady. 

2 hours ago, Flowers4Heisman said:

Let's see...

(1) AAC Championship: Do we make the championship game? If, yes, against who? And do we take it this year?

(2) Are we going to be undefeated through the regular season games?

(3) Making the money bowl and playing against a P5 team, does it happen? ---By the way, the bowl payout is going to be split with the rest of the lifeboat conference members, if we make it there.

 

I'm very optimistic; I think all three will happen. I'm not sure who will play play for the AAC Championship, though. For the bowl, I think it will be OU or maybe Ohio State.

 

I predict that we will beat Cincy this upcoming weekend in front of 32,000 ACTUAL because that is all that matters at this point in the season. 🤘🏽

As long as our O-line keeps playing the way they are I think our run game will be fine against them. Tice and DJ will be able to wear them down even if it is a stacked box because C.'s defense has to account for Q's running ability to the outside and  general shiftiness....and don't forget the  JET SWEEPS... 

I would dare them to play man coverage on us. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of play action to the slot and the TE (those they run up the seam and go untouched for a TD are my absolute favorite) as well as the screen passes - with man coverage you could seem some results there. Also, unless their safety is Derwin James good, a single high safety against 4 wide won't do much since MVS is a threat on deep routes but then McCants, Antoine, and DJ are great within 15 yds. 

8 hours ago, Flowers4Heisman said:

No, I'm not doing one of those threads; I'm serious.

Okay, we went from no football to a BCS team and then #2 in the land in no time at all. I mean teams like Troy who beat LSU last week, that was their glory ---for how many years of football?

We've taken out FSU @ FSU and Notre Dame @ Notre Dame, to name a few.

We started football in 1997!

Speaking for myself, I'm always wanting MORE. I mean I want us to get into the top 10 this season! That's crazy, when compared to schools that have been playing football for eons and they never even crack the polls.

I guess it's hard not to be spoiled when we are surrounded by the successes of UM, uf, and FSU. And I'm sure many of us migrated over from one of those teams when we got USF football.

But my goodness, sometimes we have it so good that we still want it all. #OCS#

Step back for a sec. We are ranked. We have most of the staff from last season's Texas. We are on national TV quite a bit. Most teams would love to play on ESPN! Georgia Southern, how often are they on national TV?

Remember Hofstra back in the day? They closed down their football program...

 

No USF football this weekend. But I'm going to make it a point to stop and appreciate what we have.

 

 

I agree. I would say our fan base was lulled into a false sense of entitlement due to the early years where we were relatively spoiled with good teams and winning marquee matchups. Then our fan base subsequently reacted kinda like how a spoiled teenager would react when nice things get taken away and you have to dig deep - it threw a tantrum and gave up.

The college football world owes us nothing and doesn't care if we whine about our attendance, or not being P5, or having our coaches poached by bigger teams. For everyone out there that thinks that it does, you sound like a 20 something who grew up privaleged in the suburbs and are harping about how your parents cut you off because you screwed up and stopped trying....and this is coming from a millennial. 

3 hours ago, cdub3511 said:

No love for Baker here but I can't completely disagree with some of his points.  While I don't think there's any doubt USF is a better team (yes, I have my green goggles on today), UCF is certainly better than I thought they would be this year and their schedule has afforded them the opportunity to prove themselves against better competition.  The good news is that we will get the chance to prove that we are indeed better than this UCF team that he thinks so highly of.  In the meantime we just need to keep winning.   

Think he has a point here as well. UCF may be the better team at this point in the season, but will they be at the end of the season when they play us? Think that's the more important question than any ranking after Week 5 of the season. Do people remember who was in the Top 10 or even Top 5 (minus Alabama and Clemson) at this point last season?? Probably not because at the end of the season nobody really cares. 

Their conference schedule here on out is pretty tough - away at Navy (who everyone is sleeping on), at SMU (who scores at will), and at Temple (who I think will be a better team at the end of the season than the one we played). 

As long as we play one game at a time and play our best ball week in and week out - WE WILL BE FINE! Regardless of what UCF does. Don't let the haters distract us from enjoying what is turning into a great season. 

4 minutes ago, Apis Bull said:

Again, it's no big deal.  We still have to beat them either way.

Very true. That game will be good on Black Friday but just to reiterate - playing @Navy, @SMU, and @ Temple will be more telling of how good they are than the first three on the schedule. 

On another note, I'm excited to see how USF plays the back half of it's schedule as the first five games haven't really told us anything about this team either

Trying not to look ahead to Houston, but I think that game will be a litmus test for us across all phases. 

8 minutes ago, Bulls On Parade said:

The blocks have stopped the last few games so that is good...dumb penalties are really annoying though.  We gotta play smarter football.

 

 

A couple of penalties and 4th down plays and the game would have been 61-17. Gotta cut those down.

1 hour ago, Bulls On Parade said:

Yeah Flowers had a good rebound game..he looked good today.

Not sure it wasn't a huge run but he just did a little juke to spring to the outside that was just so Flowers...he will be really missed when gone.  He is a one man wrecking ball that doesn't come around that often.  

Great game by QF - enjoy this season. There's a lot of football left. 

1 hour ago, PingBull said:

I would argue it's much more difficult for an NFL team.

Eh I'd say it's a wash. You have higher class athletes so you would assume that they won't get hurt as much, but they are getting the snot kicked out of them by other elite athletes soooo....that said, NFL teams probably provide better treatment to players since they have more money to throw around. 

8 hours ago, ambienknights said:

even if UCF beats Memphis I still don't see the team running the table till Thanksgiving weekend(would love to be wrong). The team is filled with Freshman and Sophomores for the most part, there will be a wtf performance on the road.

 

Not having that bye week is going to make a difference. 8-9 in row is tough even for an NFL team. Also, playing at Navy is never easy - they never start off the year with much hype but usually emerge towards the middle of the year with a signature win and 5-1 record.

SMU game will be a track meet. Tie your laces up good for that one. 

16 hours ago, footnfan1 said:

Stats don't tell everything, but if Memphis could run back kicks every play, it might be close. UCF will hang  40 on them IMO.

 

 

 

As seen on another board:

 

Total Offense 
Memphis 32nd
UCF 13th

Total Defense
Memphis 116th
UCF 15th

Passing offense
Memphis 51st
UCF 19th

Rushing Offense
Memphis 31st
UCF 45th

Passing Defense
Memphis 127th
UCF 31st

Rushing Defense
Memphis 62nd
UCF 8th

Red Zone Offense
Memphis 29th
UCF 58th

Red Zone Defense
Memphis 48th
UCF 15th

Net Punting
Memphis 29th
UCF 112th

Punt Returns
Memphis 88th
UCF 13th

Punt Return Defense
Memphis 43rd
UCF 123rd

Blocked Punts
Memphis n/a
UCF n/a

Blocked Punts Allowed
Memphis 1st 
UCF 1st

Kick Off Returns 
Memphis 2nd
UCF 97th

Kick Off Return Defense
Memphis 40th
UCF 104th

Turnover margin
Memphis 21st
UCF 3rd

Fumbles
Memphis 35th
UCF 17th

Fumbles Recovered
Memphis 15th
UCF 35th

Passes Had Intercepted
Memphis 61st
UCF 7th

Passes Intercepted
Memphis 35th
UCF 59th

Sacks
Memphis 112th
UCF 18th

Sacks allowed
Memphis 16th
UCF 1st

ToP
Memphis 123rd
UCF 21st

Scoring Offense
Memphis 14th
UCF 2nd

Scoring Defense
Memphis 108th
UCF 12th

Will probably be a closer game than these rankings suggest. Head to head like this doesn't really paint a good picture. Sure, Memphis' defense doesn't look that good, but they also played a UCLA team that will have a 1st round QB in the draft and probably a couple of other early round picks on offense..while UCF played FIU and a Maryland team that probably won't impress as much as that Texas win suggested the first week of the season.

2 minutes ago, Roaming Bull said:

Apparel was involved, ADs, coaches, so I think there is more to it. I'm just not sure if they can fit all the pieces together and make a water tight case out of it. 

Also, even if they could I don't believe the case would go any further. If it gets too much bigger the ranking and TV sponsors could be called into question, and I don't think they want that

I think having the FBI will change all of that...if you guys remember the FBI and justice department had a hand in dismantling the FIFA corruption ring. They will def go after the NCAA and private businesses if there's a reason to. Would love to see NCAA get a dose of their own medicine here. 

As for UL, think this puts them back a while for basketball - they had two top 100 recruits decommit literally an hour after Pitino was placed on leave. Other programs are smelling blood in the water. Maybe us? Not saying we'll see direct benefits in recruiting, but the ripple effect might be good for us. 

2 hours ago, raptorcj said:

Was thinking the same. Haven't heard anything about football...yet.

Unless it was a systemic thing at UL with the entire athletic department involved, I don't see sanctions for the football program. Regardless, I think this changes how much access college athletics programs give to apparel providers in the future. Feel like we may just be scratching the surface here...

On 9/24/2017 at 10:49 AM, python815 said:

I just checked after the games yesterday ESPN now only gives us a 28% chance to win. That's nuts.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=400941849

Don't see why everybody on here is freaking out about the percentages. ESPN tends to overhype certain teams (even in the G5) and conferences after what seem to be "signature" wins especially at the beginning of the season. I remember specifically when an ESPN analyst claimed that "Texas is back!" last year  after beating an ND team that ended up going 4-8... Outside of their normal realm of focus, which really consists of the top half of the P5 and a handful of G5, many of these guys have no idea what's going on and are too biased towards the usual suspects to appropriately project an outcome....same for their computers. Without unreasonable hype, college football probably wouldn't be as watchable and people like Paul Finebaum and Kirk Herbstreit would be out of jobs because they wouldn't have nearly as much to talk about anymore. 

C'mon, you really think people would tune into Miss. St getting crushed by Georgia by 30 if Miss. St didn't have an over inflated 17 ranking coming off beating an over ranked #12 LSU??? ESPN plays into that and benefits from it. Hype trains = $$$ so why not play it up if I'm ESPN? A college football game on Black Friday has a lot more eyes on it if both teams are ranked - doesn't matter the disparity between skill level...ranking is perception. Perception is all that matters to them. 

13 hours ago, Bausfkid said:

Try to close your eyes for a minute and envision two ranked, undefeated AAC  teams playing for all the marbles on Thanksgiving weekend to an overflow house under beautiful sunny 82 degree skies. 

What a great day that would be for both schools, the AAC and the future of both schools. 

Someone posed the "if I had a magic wand what would you wish for"?  I think I know what I would wish for.

Go Bulls!

All for it as long as we win. 

1 hour ago, Apis Bull said:

God, I hope the players aren't as obsessed with this as we are.

Think they're more obsessed on winning a conference title that they feel they should have won last year....

6 minutes ago, Rex Havoc said:

Just like last year they will only beat the teams without a pulse. Any halfway decent team should beat them easily. 

They look better than last year, but still not worth the hype that they will give themselves for beating a P5 team. Queue the C. hype train and undefeated season talk

Maryland probably won't win much this year at this rate...