cophbulls

holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. UCLA = USF

Team MVP: Matt, anybody I can name by first name and everyone knows who I am talking about deserves MVP Heart of the defense: Obviously the Linebackers, but that secondary did much better than expected this year. Heart of the offense: Matt, see above Your letter grade for the season and why: A, I did not see a 8-4 or a bowl game coming. Much better than my personal expectations 3 Best plays from the season: a) A play against UCF, Matt showed maturity waving a long reciever downfield to pull off the defender on the short reciever for an easy and crucial first down. Grothe incredible twisting, turning 20 yard rush against Pitt c) Ean Randolph's TD against WV Honorable mention Two fake punts against Pitt Taurus Johnson incredible contortionist act against FIU, Leavitt still shakes his head about that one, " He should've gone down." I loved the three penalties on a punt return against FIU, returning the ball to FIU and giving them an additional 15 yards. How about the drop pass for the go ahead touch Grothe - Johnson against FIU -Fun! Your best fan experience or your point of pride as a fan: Win over UCF, hands down. Games that you attended: McNeese, FIU, UCF, Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse Your take on next year: 10-2 #15 Second Place - Gator Bowl

1) South Florida 2) 11 3) Buckley - 23 4) Mattis - 8 5) 74.2%

Unless LSU drops below Louisville in the standings, not gonna happen, it doesn't matter what LSU does in respect to BE chance at two teams in the BCS. What matters is, will a BCS bowl take a number #4/5/6 Louisville team over a #8/9/10 Notre Dame team. No way. Even if that does happen, and by some miracle there are two BE teams in the BCS, that means that Notre Dame will be left out and will be grabbed so fast by the Gator Bowl everyone involved will have whiplash. So we are all basically saying the same thing, Bulls to B-ham. Chicky, Although the Big East does have a tie in with the BCS, there is not a set bowl they would go to(ACC=Orange, Big Ten=Rose, Big12 = Fiesta, Pac-10=Rose, SEC=Sugar). If Louisville wins and Rutgers loses, then most likely, Lousiville would go to the Orange Bowl although it is possible that they could go to another one of the open BCS bowl slots. If Louisivlle loses and Rutgers wins or Louisville loses and Rutgers loses then Lousiville would go to either the Gator bowl or the Sun bowl. Since Louisville went to the Gator last year there is a slightly greater chance that they would go to the Sun. If Louisville wins and Rutgers wins then you have the scenerio above where a BCS bowl might select Louisville over a Notre Dame but unlikely and then Louisville would end up in the Gator/Sun scenerio. Hope this helped!

According to the BCS, Notre Dame is #10 http://msn.foxsports.com/id/6209880_37_1.pdf

That's if USC loses, if USC wins, only one of those teams, theoretically will drop below Notre Dame, leaving them in 9th. The losing team will be out of the BCS and Notre Dame would be selected over Louisville. Right? I defer to you, you are the master. I bow to your knowledge. I am but a little grasshopper.

Just my two cents, doesn't mean a thing. The way I see it for BE to get two invites to the BCS party four things have to happen, Rutgers win, Florida lose, USC lose and Louisville wins. Rutgers will go as champion and theoretically Louisville will move to #4 in the BCS. In theory then you would have Ohio st v Michigan in the championship and auto bids going to Wake/GT, Arkansas, Rutgers, Oklahoma/Neb, USC and Boise St. LSU would move to #3 giving them an auto bid leaving one open slot which would automatically go to Louisville due to the following. If any of the 10 slots remain open after application of provisions 1 through 5, and if no team qualifies under paragraph No. 5 and an at-large team from a conference with an annual automatic berth for its champion is ranked No. 4 in the final BCS Standings, that team will become an automatic qualifier provided that no at-large team from the same conference qualifies for the national championship game This would put WV in the Gator or Sun, USF in Texas, Cincy at Bham and Pitt in Intnl Bowl. In theory Louisville could still go if Rutgers wins and USC and/or Florida wins but that would mean one of the bowls would have to take Louisville over Notre Dame, and we all know that aint gonna happen. Another reason for me to dispise the green irish homos

Wow the Bulls got a duffle bag last year?? Sweet.

Yeah, Brad you should put one out, I'll buy it. Maybe you could add the capability to personalize it with your bullspen name. God I'm a nerd. Also there should be one for southfloridabulls.com especially the Matt Richardson part of the site. I heard he's real dreamy. :

How about the Embassy Suites? We have reservations there (also) where is that in comparison with five points, stadium etc? Thanks so much for assistance.

+2 121

Yep, me too

From Yahoo.com ;D 3rd-10, WVU35 2:02 K. Dorsey intercepted P. White for 9 yards

Hilarious. Our Cheerleaders definately rock. Purple and pale doesn't work for me. ;D

Absolutely wonderful writer, one of the world's best.

Me and the eight year old are planning on heading to Birmingham via car. We got reservations at the Sheraton, I hope it is not as bad as I am feeling people are saying.

1) South Florida 2) 19 3) Buckley - 21 4) Mattis - 9 5) 71.9%

good job guys, thanks

beat me to it Brad! ;D

1) South Florida 2) 12 3) Buckley - 29 4) Richardson - 8 5) 66.7%

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt06.htm 55 South Florida A = 72.25 6 3 64.85( 103) 56 Purdue A = 72.10 6 4 68.65( 64) 57 Miami-Florida A = 71.73 5 4 66.45( 82)

New rule in the NCAA bowl regulations. If you have a twelve game season, you can count one DIV1-aa win towards your 6. Seems a bit backasswards but I'll take it

I'll say, the difference in this line working as a unit and not is when he is in there. I know he missed at least one game at the start of the season, perhaps two, I'm not sure if he was in there against UCF but I do know once he cam eback that line started to meld. Another thing,bash Rod Smith all you like, But the play call today was sparkling. I realize that just a few weeks ago we were all scratching our heads as the play call was reallys truggling. But if I'm gonna get down on him when he struggles, I've gotta be the first to give praise when things go right. And, i all honesty that's two games in a row. Now granted the defenses UNC/UConn defenses are not powerhouses by any stretch but just the fact that the right plays were called at the right time. And I am sure there will be those who point out that it is very easy for an OC to look good with the likes of Grothe. Well that's right it is easy, which means it also is easy to look bad when you have no talent on offense. The OC calls the plays, the players make them work. BUt if you bash smioth when Julmiste was in you've got to give him an 'atta boy while Grothe is in. Just my opinion.

One vote behind being no1

Looking for No. 3 by Matthew Richardson southfloridabulls.com USF came into RayJay still licking their wounds after last weeks stinging shot to their bowl hopes in the form of a 22-20 loss to Rutgers. UCONN, beginning their Big East play, was still reeling from a devastating loss to Navy the previous week. USF came into the game a 6 ½ point favorite and looking to right their Big East ship. On the first drive of the game the Bulls came up big and lucky. After a 55 yard rush was negated by an illegal block in the back penalty, a big USF rush knocked down a pass on 3rd and 7. The very next play resulted in another big rush which lead to a blocked punt and a USF recovery at the UConn 16. With Matt Grothe at the helm, the offense trotted onto the field to try and take advantage of the UConn miscue. On the very first play of the drive, Golden Boy takes the snap and 16 yards later is in the end zone for his 5th career touchdown. At 12:16 of the 1st qtr Bulls lead 7-0. UConn comes out for their second offensive series and promptly goes three and out. Bulls ball again. After a Ben Williams seven yard scamper, Grothe hooked up with SJ Green for a 31 yard pass completion. The ensuing play had Williams hammering 13 yards for his first TD of his career. At 9:13 of the first quarter Bulls extend their lead 14-0 At this point the Bulls are rolling and all looks well, until………….. Yeah you knew it was coming, Grothe rush for 2, Grothe rush for 7, Grothe rush for a first down, Grothe on the ground, helmet off, rolling around in pain. Tornadoes were spawned in the Tampa Bay area as the mighty Bull nation sucked in their collective breaths. OK so it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, high ankle sprained, he was taped and sent back in, but the damage was already done. Momentum shifted strongly in the favor of the Huskies as the Huskies immediately scored on their very next possession but missed the XP. 9:39 of the second quarter USF 14-6 Penalties are still a major problem for the Bulls as a personal foul on a third and fifteen kept the UConn drive alive for the above mentioned TD and a pass interference kept another drive alive late in the half and resulted in a UConn FG. At the half USF leads 14-6 At the half the undisciplined injured penalty prone Bulls went into the locker room and changed uniforms with their alter-ego, the disciplined injury free Bull team we have waited all year to see. And the result was devastating, well, if you are a Husky 2:28, six plays, one beautiful spin and eight yards later mister injured golden boy scores his second rushing touchdown of the game and 6th rushing TD of the season. And that my friends, was the end of that. The very next possession was a thing of beauty and it went a little like this THIRD QTR 10:23 S1-10 US08 RUSH GROTHE +8 S2-2 US16 RUSH WILLIAMS +2 S1-10 US18 RUSH WILLIAMS +11 S1-10 US29 RUSH WILLIAMS +4 S2-6 US33 RUSH GROTHE +10 S1-10 US43 COMPLETE WILLIAMS +6 S2-4 US49 RUSH GROTHE +12 S1-10 UC39 RUSH GROTHE -1 S2-11 UC40 COMPLETE AMARRI JACKSON +34 S1-10 UC06 GROTHE +6 TD 5:46 THIRD QTR 28-9 And yes you saw that right, Grothe goes in again for his third rushing td on the night and 7th of the season. And just to put icing on the cake, Grothe tosses a five yard td pass to Amarri Jackson on the next drive to put the Bulls up 35-9. Mike Benzer capped off the scoring on the next possession with a 26 yd FG 38-9. UCONN had a late TD and finished the scoring to finalize the score 38-16. That’s right count it, four straight possessions with a score. By the by, USF did not punt in the second half until 4:38 of the fourth quarter Post game comments - Jim Leavitt • On the game, “That’s a big win for us, happy for our offense proud of the way our offense played†• On Grothe, “Yeah he did a great job, thought his leg was broken that what they told me originally. Originally told (offensive coordinator) Rod Smith that we probably wouldn’t see Matt for awhile. Thought he was going to be out awhile but came back in the second half, great medical staff we have got.†• On returning suspended players, “Haven’t played in six weeks might be a little rusty.†• On Ben Williams, “(Laughing) Guess I should probably put him on scholarship now.†Grades QB 12 of 15 for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. 80 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns. One injured ankle. I would give golden boy an A+ due to the lack of interceptions but that rolling around on the ground screaming in pain performance that scared the *%&@ out of me drags him down. Additionally, PJ, you remember Pat right? Well he came in in Grothe’s stead and looked, well rusty to be kind. Even our third QB got a chance to snap the ball G. Gregory, he ran the ball once with not quite the success that Matt has losing a yard. Grade A- RB Well lookie here, we have a running back, just in time for the return of RP. Ben Williams rushed 22 times for 108 yards and a touchdown including a couple of pass receptions for another 12, not bad for a walk on. He had shown this spark early in the season but tonight was the first night he made it happen. No fumbles, no dropped passes, congratulations Mr. Williams keep up the good work.. Grade A WR Played well even without Ean Randolph out with his injured neck/hip pointer, whatever JL wants to call it. In Ean’s absence SJ Green had a nice game catching 3 passes for 72 yards. Only one dropped passes I can remember. On the three incompletions, one was where Matt was about to be leveled in his own endzone and threw the ball awry, the second was dropped by SJ Green, hot pass, but could have been caught in the end zone, and the third was a deep pass that was broken up by the defender. So all in all a good game for the receiving corp. Grade B+ OLine I've heard and read all sorts of things about this Oline in response to the praise given to the unit in previous writings by yours truly, especially on certain message boards. Don’t think we’ll hear anything about this group after today’s game. One sack for five yards and that was right after Grothe came back on the field hobbling around on his ankle. Enormous holes were being opened all night for not only the mad-scrambling QB but also for a previously unheralded running back. A team does not rack up 203 yards rushing with a poor offensive line. Grade A- (Only because they did give up that sack) Defense This defense is going to give me fits. They can be blasted (see Rutgers) they make stupid penalty after stupid penalty, they give up big plays but yet they always manage to be the ones who carry the load. They stopped a UCONN drive after the big momentum shift/injury to keep the Huskies to a FG attempt. They held the Huskies to 5 – 14 on third down completion, they kept the running game to a season low for the Huskies 2.3 yards per rush and most importantly they only allowed 9 points (OK they allowed 16 but does that last TD really matter?) This is definitely a pro defense, Stephen Nicolas is the real deal and we’ll see him next year in the no fun league (that’s NFL to you) but the discipline has to improve, has to, if we are going to compete with the like of Pitt, Louisville and West Virginia. Grade B- Special Teams A big WOOOHOOO here. No turnovers, on our side, a field goal attempt was good, all five XP’s were good, this Rugby style punter is a kick to watch, and almost caused UCONN to give up the ball once, several, if not all, the kickoffs were kicked into or out of the end zone, AND on top of  all that a blocked punt. It was wonderful to have the portion of the  game that should be the most automatic, be the most automatic Grade A+++ This is great momentum for a young team heading back out on the road. If this team can continue to improve like it has, do we dare to think 6-2 going into homecoming against Pittsburgh??????