MikeG

The way things are going this game is going to end up 65-64 or something.

It's a freaking track meet. It would be easy to predict that when we play Memphis this year-- "no way we can hang with this team" or "it will be a miracle if we win"-- since they are hanging tough with a team that beat the snot out of USF.

Then again-- this same team LOST to UAB? So I guess it depends on what Memphis team travels to RJS that day. CUSA-- still confusing prognosticators every day.

I look forward to the days when we get Jill Arrington and High-Def TV ..........

Not sure-- by the time that happens, Jill may be kind of OLD.

After seeing that Tulane beat UAB, I can see that UAB is very beatable... of course, I don't know that we can score 59 points.

I am with you T-man.  USF can win all five games.  For me UAB is the only questionable game.  Pittsburgh is not that good, and neither is Memphis... and we play them both at RayJay.  Cincinnati will be a challenege because it is our only "day" game of the season.

Win four and we are bowl eligible - win five and we are going for certain.

Jim-- I realize this post is somewhat dated BUT I have to disagree that any of the teams remaining on our schedule (and including UAB)  were going to be easy. Then again, nothing doing in life is ever very easy or simple. If we happen to run the table-- I will be AMAZED to say the least. Any of those teams-- even ECU-- can bring it when you least want to have it brought.

But we can do it-- one game at a time guys (to the team). FOCUS!

uab will be(at)  us soundly

if we win one more game it will be a miracle

our team is bad fellas

Ya see-- MIRACLES really do HAPPEN!

Let's win the rest of 'em and make everyone do a double take as we head into the BE.

ODDS AND ENDS: Wednesday's game was only the second time in USF's history the Bulls played in rain. The first was a 17-10 victory against Southwest Missouri State in 1999. ...

Brett McMurphy

One other error-- it was Southwest TEXAS State in the rain game he is referring to here. That game will be etched in my brain forever-- and makes you understand why 9000 some odd people chose to watch from under cover during a monsoon. Sure didn't help them look any better as far as a crowd. Must have been a miserable game to watch if you were a UAB fan.

EDIT:

Good points below about the number of rain games we've actually played. FAU, Bowling Green (still have some of their ponchos), USM, and for some reason I recall one of the early away games was pretty wet as well (The Citadel or was it Elon?-- Brad would remember). There were some others that had drizzle at points-- nothing like that monsoon last night-- maybe he meant our records in monsoons where we kept playing on the field.

Brett gets a pass on this type of stuff though-- not just because he's a good writer-- but also because the media guide ONLY lists the Southwest Texas State game as "USF IN RAIN (1-0)". There is also the possibility that he didn't write that portion-- it is the "odds and ends" section.

So far this game is a real shootout.

17-14 Memphis as the first quarter is about to end.

Makes you wonder what team lost to UAB, what team beat UAB, and what team got throttled by UL.

CUSA football-- it's a crapshoot.

Last nights game will be rebroadcast Tuesday at 9pm on Brighthouse Channel 47 for the Time Warner cable folks.

I plan to try-- sometimes you just can't get down there. My seats are pretty close to the opposing teams entrance-- with any luck he'll recognize me somehow.

Got to remember to wear a Bulls cap this game.

Having a 1-AA home game per year is not exactly unheard of, even for the biggest of programs. So I expect that we will continue to see that happen for quite some time. That doesn't make it right for the fans-- but it seems to be the hand we are dealt.

So assuming we get at least one 1-AA team for a home agame next year-- that makes the real decision whether we take a pay day game, try to get a home and home going, give a payday game, or grab yet another 1-AA.

At this point, I don't know which is the best idea. The away games-- even when we get a healthy check for 1/2 a miilion or so-- still end up costing us some cash to travel to. The ooponent might be worth seeing but at some point we are going to need to get some sort of home and home thing going with someone. Who that might be is debatable. I know that we are not even a consideration for these teams listed like Michigan -- all thsoe schools have immense home stadiums and giant crowds that generate almost our entire season gate in a single game. So the payout would be insane and we couldn't possibly make money on those deals-- even with RJS busting at the seams. More likely, we might be able to persuade some of our old CUSA buddies to keep some of these ties together. Of the ones not heading to the BE, the best of the group might be Army in terms of travelers (and now, unfortunately, revenge factor). Or perhaps Southern Miss. One team we never got to play -- Tulane-- might be a GREAT home and home situation to be in for both sets of fans.

One thing is certain-- I woudln't want to have to face this as an AD. We really need to whip that schedule into shape pronto but it seems to me that our conference shakeup situation is leaving some unanswered thoughts. Who do we play etc as far as CUSA is concerned-- is the UCF game the only one we get or is it possible that we can drag Tulane in as a home opponent next year with return trip to them in 2007.  The whole situation seems very muddled and I don't necessarily blame it completely on the AD office-- these conference changes along with moves to 1-A and our insistence on the 6 home games is limiting our options. Perhaps in 2005 we need to bite the bullet-- pay FAMU to come here for one of those home games and enter a home and home with someone else where we are on the road initially (make sure the buyout is HUGE! this time). That will help our 2006 situation as well.

As for the Bowling Green situation-- that is one thing I find regretable. That wouold have been a nice home and home to keep on our radar. But I think we took the payday route and cancelled it to go get our butts beat by South Carolina instead. I don't think that was a particularly wise manuever.

and beastie-- that was being written while you were posting your response-- it was not directed at you (god I wish I didn't have to bother writing this crap).

I would like to believe that we don't know the whole story on this one. I want to believe that CJL handled the situation correctly. It sure looked bad and I was not sure what the hell was going on. When Royal was allowed to play again after cooling off, I was thinking either he and Leavitt got it figured out (if it was between him and coach) OR he just needed to cool his jets after blowing up on the PF call. What I did notice is that when TR came back in, he was helping out quite a bit on defense. Maybe the situation got him fired up when he came back in that he played better-- not sure.

I'll trust that CJL knew what he was doing and knows far better than we do what was being said. I don't think Terrence was yelling at coach after reading these posts-- after looking at the tape, it seemed like Royals was yelling at the refs (still not a great idea or even how we want to act) and CJL happened to be in the line of fire. ESPN probably didn't bother to find out what was really going on since their sideline reporter was more concerned about how bad the rain was messing up her hair and makeup.

Generic or not-- spence is the one who accused me of giving him a hard time. You told him not to let it get under his skin and seeing as he thought I was the one he claimed had got his proverbial goat-- yes-- I RESPONDED to you. I didn't JUMP on you. I am trying to understand how anything I write is immediately taken as some giantly annoying statement.

As for ridiculing him-- if that is how you see it then you are doing the same thing he did-- assuming facts not in evidence. I have no intention of ridiculing anyone but if they want to take it that way-- I really have no recourse now do I? It seems anytime I try to explain or respond someone takes it the wrong way.

Perhaps it would be best if I kept my thoughts to myself since no one really seems all that interested in reading anything I have to say or those that do, misconstrue the content of my posts.

Woah, man suspence, don't let anyone get your goat to this extent.  They can complain all they want about my complaining, but I'm not gonna let anybody stop me from voicing my opinions, and I've taken a bunch of heat on here, trust me.  

This win was a good one.  but we are really bad at certain things and we do not play disciplined football. Let's not forget UAB lost to Tulane last time they played.  Their defense has been exploited and we continued the exploitation.  Hackney missed a lot of wide open receivers and our secondary was absolutely smoked several times, luckily UAB didn't capitalize.

Beastie--

This post has nothing to do with Bulls football-- just spence.

I just want something to be very clear.

If you read my comments above-- AT NO TIME-- (that is until THEY accused me of saying this about them) did I ever mention him. They ASSUMED the post was some sort of personal matter and that is entirely in their head. I think if you actually read what I post, you will see that it has very little to do with anyone in particular. In fact-- I would like to see how anyone can derive that I am talking to a specific person in my original post of this thread.

All I said was simply this-- CRITICS (and I am using this term in general-- it includes media, disgruntled fans, opponents fans, UCF fans, trolls-- whoever) have a tough time spouting off about the problems of your team as long as you can WIN games.

At no point did I infer that NO ONE should be critical. I even admitted that the game was very sloppy but that in the end, the Bulls took advantage of opportune turnovers. WHAT is so WRONG about saying this?

If this guy has a beef with what I write, they can ignore it like I do with 95% of the ones that I find contrary to my thinking. The entire matter is in their head-- a fabrication that I am somehow directing some sort of negative opinion directly at them personally. Half the time, I agree with many of the points about what is going wrong with this team. But I have no need to reply to someone who conveniently takes excerpts from my posts and does some sort of mental projection that the comments are to them. Believe me-- if I want to talk to someone directly or speak about someones post directly- I will quote it.

So if you want to join spence on the "we hate MikeG" committee-- be my guest. As I recall, you are a charter member of that group along with wildrover (holier than thou) and some others who frankly read into whatever I say as if I am talking down to them. My OPINION is just as valid as anyone elses on this board. If you want to chastise me like several others because you think my writing style is elitist-- that is your option.

All I know is that USF won (and won big) again after a series of bad games. They have every chance in the world to run the table like they have in the past-- as crazy as that thought may be. All I know is that I will be there cheering for them to do so and that is all I expect from Bull fans. You can complain about the problems all you want for all I care-- and believe me--- I will be complaining about the problems as well when I feel the need.

Bottom line-- I just want the team to win, whatever that takes and if they happen to lose-- well-- they still have my full support. That is MY opinion-- my stance. However you choose to handle it is up to you.

Screw you Mike, why do you always feel like you have to get the last word, did you not get enough attention as a kid or something?  I wasnt wrong for being critical of CJL, the problems I pointed out were legitimate problems.

And tonight I saw that there were improvements in some areas I have been critical of and I admitted this much.  If I see a problem I point it out, if I see positives or improvement I acknowledge that also.  So get off my back.  You are not the authority on football despite what you might think @55hole.

And you are f'ing paranoid. Anytime I post you assume it is immediately directed at you personally. Don't bother to actually read the comments-- just jump to your own ASSumptions.

I believe you owe me an apology for telling me to "screw" myself and also calling me an "@sshole".

I never said I know everything about football. That doesn't excuse you from acting like a jackass whenever I post anything. Yes-- it came after you posted something. What on this board doesn't lately with your blanket coverage of every GD topic.

As for your

"why do you always feel like you have to get the last word, did you not get enough attention as a kid or something?"

--- umm-- this is the first time I've posted on this thread while you have posted on it something at least 4 times. But apparently you must be the only person in this whole world I am talking to. Do you actually believe I care what you think? I don't at all. I wrote what I wrote simply to add my thoughts on a subject after perusing the thoughts of others (inlcuding yours-- sure). Are you trying to tell me that you DISAGREE that the easiest way to silence critics is to WIN? Maybe I am a football whatever it is you called me afterall. I doubt it-- I'm just a fan who doesn't pretend to know everything about a team or think that I have all the answers. Oh no-- I probably pissed you off yet again. Tell ya what-- like I have said REPEATEDLY-- ignore my posts if you don't like them. This is the LAST time I will ever respond to ANYTHING you have to say.

Have a nice life, Beavis.

All it takes to shut most of the critics up is winning. Yeah-- some will still point out anything they had a problem with but the bottom line is winning by 25 feels good-- and that alone makes it easier to stomach the bellyaching about the penalty yards. Both team hada buttload of penalties-- it was a sloppy game. I'll take 12 penalties anda win any day versus 6 penalties and a loss.

The difference tonight for me was simple-- we got the opportune turnovers and we went after the receivers trying to cath passes over the middle. We had a different kind of pressure on defense that I haven't seen before. I think we got to Hackney at some point-- he appeared to be favoring one leg.

Now we just need to keep working towards that goal. Pat really aired it out tonight. The first one to Johnny may have made him catch the next two simply to avoid embarassment. He seemed to have much better concentration after letting the 3rd down pass drop right through his hands.

Pet Peeve-- ESPN should at least ACT like these games are watching instead of starting their little BS back and forth about how to rate a team while the half is being played out. Or the announcers talking about anything the mood strikes them as they are too bored to watch the play on the field. They must have  had to scramble to find the positive stuff out of the media notes about the Bulls as the game went on and we took the lead. They changed their tune from the "the explosive UAB offense and horrible/young USF defense" to "the tragedy of Bruce Gipson" et al.

Anyway-- it sures feels good getting another win. Let's win out and see if we can get some excitement back into this program that the three losses eroded.

SS will be the Gator coach. It is a done deal. All other actions are window dressing at this point. With all the cries of racism about not hiring a black coach, UF has to take this one step at a time to avoid looking like they aren't wiling to interview the slim pickings of black coaches who would even be able to handle the situation (hell-- there are few great coaches out there that can handle the situation, regardless of the color of their skin). Bama might have dropped the ball by not getting Croom (an alumni and talented coach nonetheless).

He will not take Franks away from USF, although it was considered. Franks may become USF's OC next season though.

As we have seen, even the legendary Gibbs is struggling with Washington. SS might have been able to turn them around in the long run but the NFL is a grind far worse than any college job. I don't consider his time in Washington a total waste-- he got his cash and tried his system there. His system fits college ball, not the pros. So trying again in Miami would be kind of redundant. Wannstedt wasn't a complete failure with the Bears. He did manage to get them into the playoffs. But overall-- all these organizations we are talking about have had some rough water the past 5 years.

This has more to do with his knees than anything IMO. He suffered an injury and teams are wary of that, regardless of the salary requirements.

Let's just hope our day wasn't the TCU 2OT win.

Beat UAB!

This post is laughable on many fronts.

I don't recall anyone here trying to say USF had come close to what UF has done to date-- we haven't. What we have done is pretty **** good-- regardless of the troubles this and last season.

Any fan worth a **** understands that you are not always going to be successful on the field every year. As long as we keep our core values intact, continue to recruit the best we can, and hope for better results on the field-- not much more can be expected from a program seriously lacking the coin the larger schools already have and continue to add to.

To me-- the problem is our guys just aren't getting it done on the field. You can be an offensive genius but if a player can't catch a pass or a QB can't throw to an open receiver or your defense has lapses in coverage/tackling-- well-- you are going to lose. The fact is that despite having some fairly bad performances this season, we have been in all games except for two. Those two were against highly rated teams IMO. The difference between now and three years ago is WHO we are playing on a consistent basis along with the talent level/experience of the players we are putting on the field. We can bash the lack of QB recruiting until we are blue in the face. It won't help matters much to revisit that situation and if you believe we haven't taken care of that by attracting some nice recruits in Carlton Hill, Matt Grothe and even transfer Denson-- well-- have fun with that.

I would much rather focus on what lies ahead of us-- a tough schedule all things considered. Our team needs to get itself back on track and just go out there and get the job done. No excuses-- we either perform or we will lose more games this year. I'm certain the palyers and coaches understand this.

For the person who started this post-- I can only guess you are a troll for two reasons. Most Gator fans could care less what is going on at USF and those that do care probably would not use UF's past success as some indicator that are head coach is not getting his job done as best as he can. Leavitt would be the first to admit that he is not happy with the results this year-- as he should be. But as long as we are keeping it real here-- how many of us really htought this team was going to dominate a bunch of games based on last years offensive output and the many leaders we lost on defense?

Anyway-- someone will no doubt make some bold statement about how I'm telling people they can't ***** about the team. My point is that some folks just have a skewed vision of what is going on with the program. They are not looking ahead to how this experience only helps us going forward in terms of the young talent getting on the field and gaining necessary experience.

The reference to criminal behavior is flat out ridiculous. We are by no means very bad in that respect compared to other schools IMO.

ok-- slam away MikeG haters.

That is a good point about rebuilding and I have a theory if you want to hear it.

The guys like JR Reed, Kawika etc-- the ones we got when we were finding some gems and stealing away 1-A transfers while we could as a 1-AA-- they have moved on. So the two years that our last two senior classes come from are more or less our in between years. In between 1-A and 1-AA (few 1-A studs dropping in), In between our Indy and CUSA start. Those recruiting years weren't all horrible but they weren't like the last two classes we have gathered-- especially last years class.

That and the inability to land the big QB recruit all these years. We got kind of lucky with Barnhardt. We got very lucky with MB. But no one else has been a standout at what is clearly a important position. With any luck, that will work itself out in the short run.

Add to that the start of conference play which is clearly more grueling than we imagined along with less and less 1-AA opponents on our schedule--- which I would call growing pains. We had one hell of a team in 2002 thanks to some fortunate transfers and a real team chemistry. But that team is gone and for the most part-- so are the guys who were left over from that era. The new breed is coming but they are very raw and lack leadership IMO.

We can blame the coaches for not getting the job done teaching guys like the QBs mechanics. But I am starting to wonder if it is not so much about that and more about the fact that some key player just don't have it when the whistle blows where the guys before them DID.

One positive about starting all these young guns is that they are getting some serious experience very early. We are playing so many freshmen out there right now-- and withtime, they should develop and learn and get bigger-- and get smarter. I have the patience to wait this one out and take some lumps if the end result gets us where we need to be. But it sure is going to hurt for a while.

Obviously someone is paranoid or confused. I posted my thoughts on the tpic here and made no mention of anything that you "quoted" me as saying.

Why don't you do us both a favor and stop worrying about what I write? If you weren't calling me out anytime I wanted to state my opinion, I surely would be responding to you at all.

If you find what I write distasteful-- ignore it. You clearly did not read my entire post-- I was actually agreeing with smazza. My opening questions were valid and were restatements of others sentiments (for example in case this isn't obvious to you-- someone said we aren't good enough to act like Miami-- had we beaten UL, technically we would be that good). Anyway-- It is responses like yours that make me want to stop posting or just start deleting my posts. I don't need to judged by you or others for everything I write or feel any need to defend my "blind loyalty". I would would be loyal to this team if they never won another game. I am not saying I like what is going on during the games but some people take things a bit farther than I feel is warranted. Losing to Southern Miss the way we did-- that wasn't a complete drubbing-- we still had a shot or two at the end. And I have done my share of second guessing many things with this program. But I believe that if someone has an opinion you need to either respect it or ignore it. I can't stand it when someone write "Fire Hobbie" and nothing else-- where is the thought behind that other than "he sucks". I would prefer reading someone who says why they think he sucks, why he should be fired, and who we should get to replace them. That is not a waste of my time because it allows me to see how the person thinks and see their perspective.

So like I said-- continue to hound me if you want to but I'm pretty much tired of having to defend my posts just because you read into them something they do not say or try to link various other pasts as you remember them to try to make it out to be some jackass. You're not alone-- I have many critics and for whatever reason, no one seems to want to hear that a fan here stiull believes in his team. I can't explain why that is other than I feel some compassion for the kids who are out there trying to win these games. They are trying to win so the fans can be proud  of their school and not have to suffer through goofy friends taunts during the UL game.

If you think it was tough to watch that game on TV-- let me tell you something, it was nothing as bad as actually being AT the game itself. That was about as close to Arkansas as I can remember (and unfortunately I went to that stinker as well).

But embarassed? Nope. I wear my school colors proudly and I will walk into any enemy camp with them on regardless of the outcome. It is after all is said and done, just a game. It is supposed to be fun and for me it is-- even when we lose-- to go to other schools and have new experiences. It's even better when we win those types of games though (like Pitt in 2001 or even TCU this year).

That's my approach-- and I'm sticking to it. You do whatever makes you feel good (or bad) about it-- that's your life.

I saw plenty of drops against the Ville and those passes were in guys hands if not hitting them in the facemask. The early interception was thrown behind Lipp and tipped to the LB behind him. Anyway-- that was clearly a poor performance.

What I would really like to see is PJ have a game like he did versus TCU. His last three games were pretty bad overall-- agreed. But if he can put together that type of performance along with Andre Hall running the ball-- we can start putting up some points on the board.

The one thing I've noticed this year is we do one thing consistently on offense. WE'll run the ball two maybe three times and get that first down at the start of a drive. After the first down-- our first play is almost always a pass from the shotgun spread. Maybe I'm seeing things but our play calling is fairly simple to figure out and I don't even study game tape. Any defense with good corners can shut us down by stacking the box.

Anyway-- I think we have to stick it out with PJ this year. I'd like to see what Gachette can do but there must be a good reason they are holding back on using that redshirt. He dresses for all the home games so I know he is our third option-- for what that is worth.

As for Denson-- he can't help us at this point. We'll see if he gets a shot in the spring game. He sounds like the type of QB that could run the spread if we are deadset on staying with it. Whether that is the right move or not is hard to say at this point though.

I wonder if we will ever stop pondering the Kraky question. He can't help us either anymore and I'm starting to wonder if he ever really could have in the first place.

Last year, we could have just as easily finished 4-7 instead of 7-4. Three double OT wins should point that out to anyone.

So when our team struggles this year to win the tight games (and yes even the so-called cupcake of Army)-- what did you really expect to see?

Here's the thing-- few of us thought we could hang with South Carolina. Some thought we would lose badly to Southern Miss. Others thought/knew (especially after Army) we would lose to UL. So the only serious surprise so far is the Army game.

But it doesn't get any easier. Every team we play has the ability to beat us-- as do the Bulls them. I get a kick out of someone saying UAB is an easy game but Memphis is the tough one when UAB has beaten Memphis badly. The league has a lot of parity in it right now in terms of overall ability. We have our share of problems just like any other program and a few plays here or there can make a huge difference in these tight games.

So what I'm saying is stop worrying about the UL and Army games-- that crap is old news. WE CAN GET THIS DONE-- but the fans have got to back the program -- through thick and THIN. I'm sure the players haven't given up-- I know I haven't given up. Now we need the rest of the fans to start believing in this team and try ot look at the positives whenever possible. Otherwise, I think you may be adding to the problem instead of doing your job-- which is to root for your team. That isn't an attempt to stop the "we suck" posts-- just an attempt to get people to get their game faces on and back our squad. They can use all the help we can give-- and I think the players, coaches, and all others associated with the team deserve at least that much from the fans.

If it's any consolation-- I'll be at the watch party.

You know me-- life of the party and all.

Thanks for the heads up Brad.

If USF had won the game, would this post be made? Or if we had we played a close game? Maybe so--

Every week we have a new angle on what is wrong with the team-- a new theory. While I agree that "thuggery" (hate this term-- seems racist for some reason) is an issue we should nip in the bud if possible-- is this just another attempt to find some excuse for our poor play? Poor play really boils down to playing 17 freshmen and not performing or being able to perform versus superior competition. We were 30 point dogs for a reason--- and I hardly put any of that on "thuggery". No one really expected us to beat UL this time yet we are unhappy.

CJL often speaks about getting our fundamentals right (tackling, lanes, etc) and I think the attitude aspect also falls under this umbrella. So I agree with Mr. Mazza that we need to address this issue-- but I will extend it further that we should focus on getting our fundamentals in general back on track.

I don't ever want to see the USF at midfield jumping up and down on someone's logo OR taking some turf from midfield after a win for some opponent graveyard back in Tampa. You will notice that since we did that, we have not won again.

Let me apologize in advance to anyone who found that post disatisfying. God forbid that I feel free to post whatever I want to.