RobdF

E.T., sorry we couldn't meet up. Was a fun few days in Charlotte.

I asked Leavitt about changes to his staff, and he's very loyal about his assistants. He pointed out that Rod Smith is the same coach who coached Marquel Blackwell, and nobody was complaining about QB play then. I'd be surprised if he makes a move, but Leavitt's a tough one to anticipate.

greg

Well if you accept that Rod Smith coached Blackwell, he is also responsible for the development of Ronnie Banks and Pat Julmiste.  So that makes him one out of three.

You can argue all day whether it's coaching or execution.  The bottom line is the offense didn't produce in key situations.  

If the offense was up to the standard of the defense, what do you think USF's record would have been?

JEWBULL I don't know about flights into Lawrence, but I have flown to Kansas City and driven to Lawrence (it's about 1 hour).

Lawrence is a pretty cool town.  KU's campus is nice.  

OT - Lawrence is famous as the sight of a massacre by William Quantrill and his raiders during the Civil War.

No Excuses CoolBull, We'll be there.  

I have all my senses TripleB.  Why don't you tell me what, other than it being the seniors' final regular season game, the WVU game means.

If Louisville wins, we are all but locked into the Meineke Bowl.  If UCONN wins, we may be out completely.  So what does this game affect?

UCONN outplayed us??

No way.  Check the box score.  In the second half, the average starting position for USF was its own 49!!  That's on 8 possessions!  UCONN's average starting position?  Its own 19!

That means you need what, about 25 yards to get in field goal range?  USF's average gain in those 8 drives?  7 yards!

So don't even try to tell me UCONN outplayed us.  This is absolutely on the offense and offensive coaching staff.

Sheriff, I'm with you.  An absolutely inexcusable loss.  And since the WVU game is meaningless, they may as well start C. Hill.

And get Smith out of there.  Let Coach Gregory, Franks or even Barnhardt call the game.  

I completely agree.

We're sitting at Selmon's watching this disaster unfold.  Right before the 4th down play, my wife says "here comes the reverse."  

"Even that idiot won't call the reverse here," I reply.  Sure enough there it was.

So if my wife knows what's coming...

Then we throw long with plenty of time and timeouts?

Rod Smith should have been fired in the locker room.

2 For us.  We'll be driving down tomorrow.

E.T.,  I believe you are correct.  Wouldn't you love to see USF in the Sugar and FSU somewhere as the 4 loss ACC champs?  What would the media say then?

Bull_94 - I'd rather play the schedule we played as it helps to develop our young program.

The lack of TV coverage this year has really made my investment in Gameplan a poor one.  2 games so far and it looks like that will be all.

Beastie, that's typical of drivers in Atlanta - completely unaware of anything going on outside their own cars.

Was she fixing her make-up also?

Shoop, I looked at the game stats and 10 wideouts played (not counting RBs and TEs).  Only 5 wideouts had catches.  Hall with 7 catches (out of 18 completions) was the leading receiver.  Seems to me that you are on to something.

Surely out of 10 guys, someone can catch consistently.  I think the wideouts need enough game reps to be comfortable and "in rhythm" with the QB.  If we are constantly rotating, how comfortable can they be?

Maybe we should play fewer wideouts.  Then perhaps some will become "wide receivers."

Look they turned the ball over 3 times in USF territory.  The result was 21 points for Pitt.  

This has happened in each of our 3 losses.

Yeah the offense was terrible once Pitt took away the run, but stop giving the opponent short fields and the result today could be much different.

That's 5 reverses for maybe 2 total yards.  Brilliant!

Guess they spent the off week recruiting.  They sure didn't do an effective job of game planning.

So do you all think the endzones would say "Buccaneers" for a Notre Dame game?  How about the white flag at the 50?

TSA should get "very interested" in improving their hosting of our games.  

Ok shirts aren't that important in the overall scheme of things but...

Why is it that our Athletic Department appears to not be terribly resourceful?  Seems to me that there are a few   corporations in the Tampa area.  Why not explore a having them sponsor shirts for away games?  The corporation funds the shirts and gets its name on them.  Simple, right?

For the Louisville game there were those "Sack Attack" cards with Outback Steakhouse on them.  Wouldn't this be similar?

Is there some NCAA regulation on this?

If so, then let's do it through the private booster organizations.

Absolutely right!

Saturday's game served only as a gauge.  We now know the Bulls are a notch or two below the top teams.  

Before the season, most on this board expected a 4-5 win season at best, with high expectations for 2006.  The team's development so far is ahead of schedule.

It's way too early to really know who will come out of the Big East (there's only been 3 conference games).

So let's enjoy the off week and get focused on Pitt.  One game at a time for the next 6 and the season will be a success.

It's going to take a while NAM.

Also it still surprises me that most of the folks who "cover" USF ignore the fact that had our defense been anywhere near its 2002-03 level, we could have been at least 6-5 last year.  

Yes send the E-mails, but please have them reflect the fact that we fans and alumni have class.

Remember we all play a part in developing this program and its reputation.  Don't just berate the guy.  

By the way, does anyone else think the Big East is being vastly under rated this year?

We're looking at it also, ChiTown.

I also seem to recall that they add games as the year goes on.  I would also think our schedule is pretty attractive, especially if we play decently.  

Looking at our schedule, obviously FAMU and UCF are not attractive to ESPN.  But everything else looks pretty good, except maybe Rutgers and UCONN.

So if you can get at least 4-5 games, it's probably worth buying.

TNBull,

Unless ESPN changes things, you can also order individual games (at least with Dish Network or DirecTv) for around $25 each.  

If you have cable, you may want to check whether that's an option.

Obviously with the pre-season price at $99, it may be better to pick up the entire package if you'll watch more than 4 games.

We don't have one particular item.

My wife is an avid  scrap book maker.  She keeps every USF item she can get each football season.  She is in the process of making an album for each year of football.

She has media guides, ticket stubs, photos, newspaper clippings, programs, recruiting stuff, more stuff than I know.

Collectively, these albums are our prized possessions.

Funny thing is she wasn't a big football fan until 1997.

OK knowledgeable football people, a question.  

The Trib article states Smith will remain QB coach also.  Will he have enough time to spend with the QB's, especially given our relative youth at the position?

Understood, Omni, but if you were the AD, responsible for the overall success of the department, don't you think you would make sure CJL is fully committed to this hire?

When all is said and done, it is Woolard's watch.

In the end, the AD's involvement or lack of has little to do with this being very poor hire (if it turns out to be true).  

Smith???!  He's the one who should have been fired this off-season!

He hasn't  done the job he has!  Regardless of what talent level the QBs arrive with, it is Smith's job to develop that talent!  He has clearly not done this.

Not only that, but his interaction with the QBs on the sideline has been terrible.

What the hell are our head coach and AD thinking?

The only potential positive I can see to this is a path for Chad Barnhardt to become our QB coach.  For those who know, could this happen now?