Bullpride08

**** Dad, you sound a bit bitter. These WR's have blocked better, and ran better routes than they ever did under Pajic. The receivers are actually getting YAK, and making plays. HOWEVER, we have had a few players that have consistently been inconsistent catching the ball- in particular Joe Bain, and Allyson Sheffield have been deplorable as receivers. JB Garris has dropped a few too, but JB's a freshman convert from QB, and I know JB from his HS days, he will improve, it's in his blood. Look at the youth, and they look **** good in a short period of time. It hasn't taken much time for Garris, Chambers, and Peyton to not only become good players but intricate parts of this offense. Dawsey's just getting started, and if he lands the WR's I am expecting him to in this next class that mans going to help set USF on fire- OF COURSE LETS JUST HOPE A QB STEPS UP TO DELIVER THEM THE **** BALL!

Well he has moments, but the problem is consistency. You can't take away that beautiful bomb to Peyton against ECU, or his touch pass to Chambers against TCU. He can scramble, and the way he bowled over Chris Moore belongs in USF folklore. You can't say PJ's just a pitch and catch guy because he has done some good things, but sometimes when he does a good thing he has long stretches of bad things. I have seen a lot of good in PJ's ability. The problems he has are all coachable. He's got some noticable hitches in his throwing- a tendency to throw off the back foot, doesn't follow through, bounces, sometimes leans back when throwing. All that is coachable, a good QB coach can get those kinks right out. Also, his confidence and esteem are bad. It seems when he has a bad pass they come in bunches, and when he throws a good pass they come in bunches. His body language suggests that he loses focus or confidence at times. Again, PJ's not horrific, and he is capable of improving. I just don't think Rod Smith is the coach that can get that improvement out of him.

Don't they only get like 40-50k for the Florida Classic when the teams aren't playing well? That's a huge match-up, FAU is grasping at straws.

It does, and hopefully that's not something we must look forward to.

Probably the only way to do it anyway. It will take months to clear up his eligibility with the NCAA, and why waste an early scholarship on him if he turns out to be ineligible. This way they can see if he's worthy of a scholarship in the spring. If he's wallowing on the bench, and our present company outshines Fisher, then the coach can decide in August if giving him a scholarship is warranted.

So Julmiste wasn't a QB. He was an athlete, but he also threw for like 200 yards in the Broward v. Dade All-Star game and was MVP. Banks threw for over 2000 yards his senior year, and had a 55% completion percentage. Both players have tools to compete. Maybe dabull could never be a QB, but we've all see PJ do enough to agree he warrants some consideration as a QB. The question still remains that PJ has been with this program for three full years, and Banks for five. In that time it appears Banks has actually gotten significantly worse, and PJ seems to be stagnating, not making that next step. Where does fault lie for that? Smith might be good at developing plays, but I don't think QB coaching is his forte. I've seen some awful QB's turn into masterful passers in 2 years with good QB coaches. MB was a prime example, and by the time Smith got his mitts in him MB had already spent three years learning under Canales. I don't know about firing OC, but we probably need a new QB coach. Everywhere from recruiting the position, to retention at that position (quite a few departures- Kraky, Wolfenberger), to teaching the players has fallen woefully short over the past four years.

One can only hope but Memphis and Pitt are surging, and USF's defense can't stop a knat right now. Hall's a phenom, but until we get some semblence of a passing game, and our defense starts slowing teams down in the passing game, we are toast. I expect Saturday will put an end to all this bowl talk.

I am not against second chances. I am against a team that has some holes to fill, and needs to develop young talent for a very major jump in competition next year, taking a one year schollie player. If Fisher can practice during the spring then maybe, but I would hate to pass-up a sound HS talent to try and give Fisher another try. By the way Mike, Leavitt gave Fisher ample time to get his situation cleared up. All spring and summer Leavitt tried to work with it, and was subjected to torment, and scrutiny over it. This isn't like we turned our back on him, its more like time to move on. This program isn't sititing in nuetral waiting for Brian Fisher to get aboard. I would love to take Fisher as a preferred walk-on in the spring and if he makes the team, and a schollie opens up then maybe Leavitt adds him to a scholarship in the fall (which is what's likely to happen), but to summarily give him a scholarship in hopes everything is completely cleared up in his past is foolish... particularly since it could take as long as six months to clear-up his eligibility issue. As you stated Leavitt's the best judge of this, and what he does then I stand by it. I just wouldn't do it if I was in Leavitt's shoes.

I don't think anyone is laying the blame on this season with one player, however PJ surely could shoulder some. In fact, with the departure of Fisher many worried that we would be void of a playmaker, and instead something special emerged. We found out that Andre Hall isn't just a good running back, he could possibly be one of the best in the nation. Johnny Peyton is emerging as a big time threat, so is Jackie Chambers, and JB Garris. Also, Billy Henderson looked great coming back. We've got weapons, and when we really were unsure about what we had, and the reason for the uncertainty was Fisher's departure. He made some bad mistakes and jeopardized this team. If he had 2 or 3 years of eligibility left I could see bringing him back, but we still have a lot of holes to fill, and our jump in competition level is going to be massive next year. We need to build for the future and not bring in a gimmick player for a little help in the off-season. A win, win would be for Leavitt to discuss this with Fisher then go about helping him get into a 1-AA program. He would do well at FAMU, or BCC. He could still play immediately, and would likely make more of an immediate impact, and would be closer to home. Brining him in for one year, even if he came in the spring, I would be shocked if Fisher would see more than 10 plays a game. It would be a sad turn for a player that will always be remembered for his OT heroics in 2003.

...that plus some decent shooting, and particularly free throw shooting. It makes all the difference in the world.

Actually, I was speaking of the defense because frankly dabull it won't be enough just to ball control either.  No one has really stopped Cinci's offense all year except Cinci.  As you mentioned your best bet is limit their touches, and also force them to be one dimensional on offense. And we do need to disrupt the passing game. Guiduli has always been a bit of a gambler, if we force them to throw, the next thing is to rattle Guiduli. Their defense is difficult to run the ball on.  They've got good speed on the perimeter especially with their DE's, and LB's.  The most effective running game against them is when teams are running up the gut.  Thankfully Hall, and Crossley are those type of runners.  Another thing is our offense cannot get frustrated because Cinci's team doesn't give up many big plays.  It's going to be solid ball control offense that wins just like ECU, and the second half of UAB.

NOOOOO, Gerrick MOrris was 6-10 185....A BIGGGGG DIFFERREENNNCEEE, enormous difference. We don't want a bunch of bulky wing players. We might want them to one day beat someone off the dribble. The presumption is Cann might be moved to 4, he's a full 6-6 (and still growing some say), and once he gets to playing everyday again he'll probably drop down to the 220lbs range.

Upon further review there are no inaccurate facts in this short bit. 1. The game still could be the coldest. 2. Undoubtedly it could be the biggest game in our three-year history. 3. And we've never played this far North this late in the season. The only semantical issue is the reference to our 3 year history. One must presume he meant our 3 year 1-A history, which is the only relevant fact missing in the small snipet, which would have tied the piece together better. In the article Auman is 4 out of 5, so he's getting better.

I agree Bullmania. We were still a bit inconsistent in the defensive backfield. The DL is starting to really come on (they still need a bit more stepping up), and so are the LB's, but I saw about 2 or 3 times were DB's could have stopped a play for a minimal gain and it turns around. Sidney Simpson had a whale of a game, but he should have wrapped up that tackler. Verpaele still stops or slows down severely before contact. Camon still hits too **** high on occasion (although he's getting better), and doesn't wrap up. The LB's still need to shed blockers better, and initiate contact. On a positive, 1. Our coverage is better. Our DB's are hanging on the intermediate routes, and keeping the receivers in front of them preventing anything deep. 2. Camon is not over-pursuing as much. He's still missing tackles too much, mainly because of improper technique not because he's not there. Right now the way Camon is playing if he tackles low, and uses good technique he would be pretty solid (it only took 6 games). 3. The LB's are shedding blockers the last three games. Even in the UL game our LB's did a much better job of disengaging blocks, or avoiding them all together. The negative (well I wouldn't call it a negative), is we're still small relatively speaking at this position. For example I watched the ECU game again last night, and there was three times where St. Louis had the RB dead to rights at the LOS, or maybe behind the line of scrimmage. However, he waited for the RB to initiate the contact instead of initiating it himself. The results were a 3-4 yard gain versus a no gain or loss. St. Louis at about 220lbs or less is still small. In a year he'll add on about 10lbs or more muscle, and he'll attack the ball carry crushing him at the point of attack- it just takes time. 4. Leaders are starting to emerge on defense. Nicholas is a verbal guy that's high energy but the defense is looking for a guy when adversity strikes they can look up to to make plays or calm them down. Suddenly, of all places, it seems to be coming from Terrence Royal. The guy is grabbing people, pumping them up, he's motivated, he's pointing fingers. That's the kid of stuff they needed, an elder statesmen to take charge. Conversely, they could use one more guy, a DB to help in that category. That's why if Johnny Jones could have played this season would have gone differently. Verpaele is too young, and now that Camon's cut down on his mistakes we are seeing him become a bit more vocal. Also, Searcy seems to be a high energy guy as well that's suddenly getting things going. He made some big plays in the ECU game. The goal line stance he was the guy that plugged the middle on 2nd and goal from the half yard line, that set-up the big third down stop. The OL had the ball on the half yardline, and had some success moving our DL around early on. Searcy absolutely blew up the ECU center, and guard. The result was Art Brown couldn't take off to go over the top because Seary pushed the guard and center too far into the backfield. Brown's half ass attempted hurdle was then stuffed behind the line by Devon Davis, and Camon. The positive is these guys seem to be improving by game. The negative is Cinci runs a very precise passing game, and we must make some big plays in that area to stop them. It won't be enough just to stop them from running, other teams have done that, because they are so proficient at passing. We must have big plays in the passing game- INT's, sacks, TFL's. Set up lots of third and longs that force Guiduli to use his gambling mentality. That's how we shutdown Cinci.

Howie you ole dog.... It wouldn't surprise me if Miami Norland is our Miami Edison this year. If we can land Richard Gordon and that plethora of big LB's that would be fine by me!

I saw the game.  Beck, when he had more than 1 second to pass the ball never challenged Anderson.  That instance was a blind throw away that got away from Beck.  Anderson had eight INT's this season, three returned for TD's, and two kick returns for TD.  Not the guy to challenge. I think Beck was glad Buie wasn't playing for Armwood this year because instead of only having 1/2 second to throw the ball he had about a secon this year.  Armwood blitzed relentlessly and their front DL could be more balanced than last year.  Buie, in two playoff games against Countryside has had 5 sacks, and 7 TFL.  He mad a living victimizing Beck.  Bailey was amazing in that game, I think he rushed for like 280yards himself.  McCray looked good, but he's just a fast kid that plays in a mis-direction offense.  I see the speed, but not much wiggle, runs to upright, and his vision is average.  Good balance. Basically my opinion fo McCray hasn't changed, he's a good athlete but he's not a D1-A tailback. If Terrence Jones makes it in he's got more speed, and explosiveness, and he's shifty.

Are you? Since his departure our OL hasn't surrendered a sack.

Hall's a unique back.  He's not the kind that's so easy to stop because he possesses some very unique traits.  Some backs are quick, or have speed, or shifty, but Hall has this amazing balance, quickness, and shiftiness that makes breaking tackles routine for him.  Most guys slow down, or attempt to absorb contact when they experience their first hit, Hall's the type of back that seemingly explodes after the first hit, and almost bounces one or two or three times.  The guy looks like he's going to be dropped for no gain, and suddenly he squirts for 4 yards.  He's not one of those backs that you try to run a toss sweep, or option pitch to hopefully catch him streaking down the end for a 30 yard gain.  He can do that, but Hall's real ability, and which makes him so tough for defenses to stop, is his ability to run between the tackles.  This is what's going to cause Cincinnati fits all day long.  The thing that reporter failed to realize is that DeAngelo Williams, and Lonta Hobbs are outside backs, speed backs that you use to exploit outside.  Neither are really great between the tackles runners.  HOWEVER, Walter Reyes, Carlton Jones, and Lydell Ross are between the tackle backs, and they had tons of success against Cincinnati. That's the uniqueness of the offense, and probably something the coaches didn't even realize they had until about the Army game.  Hall is special, and therefore we can use him almost exclusively to set-up our offense.  He's the type of back that demoralizes defenses.  They think they have him stopped, and suddenly he breaks three tackles and it's 2nd and 3.  That's what has changed.  PJ's now staring at 2 downs where he typically only has to pick-up 5-3 yards.  Suddenly he isn't forced to go long, or in fact, it gives him the ability to go deep without worrying about picking up yards.  It also makes it easy for PJ to scramble for yardage.  This is the way the offense can work with PJ.  The key to this game is simple.  It's patience.  We can't try to go for the knock out blow early because Cinci has proven all year that their defense doesn't give up easy, and they don't give up easy points.  Simply put, to win this game we must be patient.  We might see a bunch of series that go like; 1st down- 3 yard run by Hall;2nd down-2 yard run by Hall; 3rd down QB draw by PJ for 5. That's how it will probably be, but we need to keep using Hall all first half to soften the middle.  Even if the score is 10-0 UC, and it seems like we're going nowhere, and we are forced to punt every series.  UC doesn't get beat outside on sweeps, or options.  Stay between the tackles, wear their asses out, then in the second half start hitting the homers once we suck in their DE's, and OLB's.

It's sort of a loaded statement. The Memphis game was a real anomoly, of course DeAngelo Williams only had 14 touches and ran for 58 yards. I think alot of it had to do with the fact Danny Wimperine was 8-22 passing (like the UL game, when you can't get enough possessions and touches to your star RB he won't get his stats). Again, the key is to get both PJ, and Hall on track. The TCU game is smoke and mirrors, sure Hobbs only had 49 yards on 12 carries, but Draper, and Merrill ran 110 yards combined, and TCU ran for 168 against Cinci. I also like how they forget to mention that Lydell Ross, Carlton Jones, and Walter Reyes all rushed for well over 100 yards. No doubt Cinci's got a strong rush defense. To beat them we need to rely on our offense to be balanced. This isn't a game where Hall will go off and get 200 yards- although you never know. I could see 26 carry's for 124 yards, and another 35 by Crossley. If PJ can get a solid passing game going, and we don't turn the ball over we should win. Balance beats Cinci.

I think the sneaking up statement is a little old. We weren't sneaking up on anyone this year. We didn't sneak up on UAB, maybe they were in a funk, but we didn't sneak up on them. Everyone knew who we were, and how last year we were only 6pts away from being a 9-2 ball club. When we beat TCU, we didn't sneak up on them. USM didn't sneak up on us. I don't think you can ever say a conference foe 'snuck up' on you. It's no suprise that around the UAB game our team was starting to get healthier, and that was when we turned things around. Also, you could see the defense slowly responding to coaching. I don't think it was until the Army game that Hall really got on track. You saw glimpses of greatness before that, but he was still learning the offense. Also, Hall's infectious energy and confidence is definitely starting to rub off on the other offensive players. Oh, and its also nice to have the TE's starting to play, and get healthy. All in all Leavitt teams have been notoriously slow starters. This Cinci games going to come down to getting pressure and throwing off Guiduli. Their running game is solid but nothing to scheme about, we must slow down their passing game, and protect our QB while giving Hall a running lane. Whoever wins the LOS.

Five problems with hiring Spurrier. First, he wouldn't be here for a significant amount of time. Loyalty would last less than five years. Second, as Gary pointed out, even the greatest college or pro coaches rarely make it a major success at non-BCS programs, or second tier programs (and yes we're second tier). Third, Spurrier looked good at FL because he had to best. Its not nearly as easy executing a Spurrier offense with below average QB's, a decent OL, and some pretty good WR's. That might get you 7-4, in a good year. Furthermore, I would fear that Spurrier would act just like GOL, and ignoring conventional wisdom when things aren't going his way and stick with the offense he has- saying something like it's worked before in college it will work again. Fourth, give it up that kids will come far and wide to play for Spurrier. That's purely ignorant. We'll get a few choice players but by and large the bigger BCS programs are big for a reason. It takes a rare kid to choose USF over Auburn (30k in attendance versus 87k). It also takes an equally unique recruiter. Steve was never much on recruiting. Fifth, Spurrier's in the twilight of his career, and seems content with finding a job that allows him some leisure time. I would have rather been Spurriers first stop, not his last stop. I am don't want my program living off Spurrier's glory, I want my program creating its OWN glory. The only benefit Spurrier would bring is if USF grabbed him the ticket sales would probably immediately jump by about 5k just because of his area popularity alone. However, much like the luster of GOL in Orlando, it would rub off quickly as soon as some of those individuals would realize that it's Spurrier on the sidelines but those athletes are still USF athletes not UF athletes. Truth hurts at times.

Cinci's tough at home, and this will be the second time our team plays on turf- first was UL. Cinci's real simple they've got two great DE's, a decent LB, and some average DB's. Their OL has been awesome protecting Guiduli. Their running game is average, but passing game has been impressive. Cinci did lose to UAB, and Army- and both scored a lot of points against them. The keys are real simple: 1. block those DE's. Cinci has 17 sacks this season (not that impressive) but those two DE's are always causing havoc in the backfield. Nuetralize them, and Cinci's defense is hurting. 2. Get pressure on Guiduli. He's having an amazing year, so would you if you were only sacked 7 times in 9 games! Their OL has been stout, they're not great run blockers but pass blocking has been solid. 3. Lock onto their big receivers. Hannibal Thomas isn't as talented as Roddy White, contain Hannibal like we contained Roddy and Guiduli's options begin to dwindle (HThomas has something like 48 catches for nearly 900 yards). Two important stats- against UAB, and ECU we surrendered ZERO Sacks, and had 11 sacks of our own. Maybe our lines are coming into their own. If we expect to beat Cinci both the DL and OL must have similar performances.

No doubt. How do you have that much talent, and become mid-season ranked as high as #8, and not make the tourney. Our coach should be almost embarrassed.

If we beat Cinci, AND Memphis USF will be about a 90% shoe-in for a bowl. Ironically we need help from our boys in Red- UL, and possibly USM. Today, three teams, outside of USF, have a shot at contending for a bowl game: TCU- if you can believe it is hanging on a thread at 4-5, but they conclude the season with home games against Tulane, and USM. You must expect they'll beat Tulane, but USM is fighting for dignity, and frankly we need USM to beat TCU. This would completely knock TCU out of bowl contention. Tulane- again if you can believe it are 4-5, however they've got two final games at TCU, and Louisville. I don't see them beating either, much less both. USM- as odd as this sounds USM is not playing good football right now. They stand at 5-3 however they finish the season at TCU, UAB, and California. They could lose those three, but to me the winner of the TCU v. USM game is pivotal. If USM wins it automatically knocks out TCU (my preference), but if TCU wins then USM is going to have a tough time beating UAB, or Cali. Cinci- 5-4 but their last two games are USF, and UL. No one's beating UL this year, they're too powerful for the non-BCS ranks, too many weapons, stout defense. That makes the Cinci game pivotal for USF, and Cinci. Those are the teams on the bubble. Considering the bubble USF's access to a bowl game is simple. There are two paths to a bowl game for USF, the fast, and slow approach. First, the fast approach, USF must beat both Cinci, and Memphis. USM must beat TCU this weekend, effectively eliminating them, then TCU beat Tulane the following week (very probable when you consider Tulanes four victories are against Army, Navy, FAMU, and the odd UAB win). Then UL has to beat Cinci on the day of our Memphis game. That happens, and on Sunday the 28th of November USF should be accepting either a New Orleans, or Hawaii bowl bid as the 3rd team in C-USA behind UAB, and UL. The only way to do it because if all of the above occur C-USA will only have five eligible teams- UL, UAB, USF, Memphis, and USM. Five bids for five slots- UL to Liberty (maybe BCS), UAB to Mobile and my guess is we'd get Hawaii- New Orleans wouldn't want the risk of us playing on Dec. 4th and coming to play 10 days later. The conference already splits travel costs and ticket sales for the Hawaii Bowl. The long version could be very convoluted. USM gets beat by TCU, Tulane beats TCU. Could drag this out until December 5th before a decision would be made. Thus almost certainly rendering us to Hawaii. The key in this all is USF must beat Cinci and Memphis. Beat them both, and we're about 90% certain to go bowling.

Uhhh, UAB has beaten Cinci, AND MEMPHIS. UAB is in second place in C-USA. IF they win out, and they probably will, they'll be 9-3, and to me, hanging 45pts on UAB was impressive. Memphis got it going on? They can score, no doubt, but their defense is equally as porous. Outside of Carlton Baker they've got no playmakers on defense. If UAB can beat both Cinci, and Memphis we are just as capable.