twillybull

He had a hell of an arm in High School and he won the starting job over the summer. Aside from the deer-in-the-headlights moment against Penn State (lets see any sophmore do better in their first start in front of 100,000) and the horrible position he was put in against Miami and Pitt (inside his own 8 yard line and they call 2 read / passes)? We have not seen what the kid can do. It really must be a team leadership issue because the kid definitely has the talent.

I remember Houston's FR QB a couple years back ... did fine. I'm sure he had at least one upper-classmen reciever to throw to. You're not talking about the same level of competetion either. The Big East is a lot stronger than given credit for this year. As for Grothe, I hope he does compete. I just don't see him getting into the mix. Hill, Denson and a Senior Julmiste will be hard to knock off. Allthough it looks like the coaches are allready (prematurely) dumping Denson. He's still a sophomore. That leaves one open spot next season, and I think Gregory has the edge. Am I completely off base here?

Grothe isn't that good, barring injury, he probably won't make it off the practice team. As for Hill you CANNOT start a freshman QB in a spread offense, and expect it to work. Sure he'd probably do some good things, but would be a definite lock to lose 2-3 games just because of rookie mistakes. Grant Gregory is probably going to surpass everyone next season. Which could be good or bad. Julmiste could do a decent job for this team if given the chance with proper play calling, but he cannot win it on his own. Why doesn't anyone clamor for Denson? He's got a better arm, he's quick, and if the coaches would spend some time building his confidence he'd probably surprise everyone.

Hopefully Rod Smith will keep with a game strategy, not just panic gun-slingin'. We all know how that will go... I WANT TO SEE THE POWER-I! You gotta play to your strengths! S Bien, what do you think, is Lawrence Dawsey overrated? Out of his league in the coaching position? Or is it just inexperience at the WR position? (I sure hope that's what it is).

USF 35-21 420 J. Chambers

- He actually threw the ball in high school more that 15 times. - His throwing ability looked good in the summer. - He won the starting job to begin the season, (and was summarily benched after his first mistake). I'm not saying Denson is the answer, but I'd like to see him given an honest shot to succeed. Not much to ask from the play calling department. It's a pretty sure thing Pat doesn't have the consistent D1-A arm. Even if he did, benching him and then re-inserting him at the most stressfull part of the ball game 2 weeks in a row, sure ain't gonna help his confidence. Are Rod Smith and Jim Leavitt that incompitent in play calling / game strategy? I've been watching them for 6 years now and I have a lot more faith in them than that. Carlton Hill "Isn't ready yet". So what the heck is going on? It almost looks like we are sabotaging the QB spot to set up someone (GG?) for next year. Isn't he related to one of the coaches? I'm not making the accusation, and I don't believe the coaches would actually do something like that. What I am saying is that it looks pretty crappy no mater how you percieve it.

Why not try Denson for more than 1 series? He's got the arm and he's got the mobility. He should have most of the playbook down by now. Aside from the first game jitters (let's see anybody do better their first college start in front of 100,000). The first mistake and he's benched. Then we got to see him in some mop-up duty against FAMU and UCF, where he was pretty much handcuffed. Then we see him put in under the gun against Miami and Pitt. Each time he's given two to three very hard passes / reads. He came in against Miami inside his own 8, and has two passes called back-to-back? The first screw-up and he's benched again and PJ is brought back in off the bench. What in the hell are the coaches thinking? Not only does this not inspire confidence in Denson, but it pretty much kills any confidence Julmiste had. I think there are many coachable errors on our offense, but how about some decent play-calling to help out the offense. Succes breeds success, and until one of the QB's gets into a rhythm, the offense will appear to be stagnant.

Anyone got a list of the away games left this season that will make TV? Any help is appreciated ;D

S. Bien, Good analysis. I think Pat could become a consistent QB, if we play a little more to his talents. Which leads me to say... I'd just be happy to see a power-I; tee-off-slober-knocker type of offense for a while. Why abandon the run when Pitt had consistently been weak down the stretch against the run (esp on the interior)? The spread offense is a great switch-up and sets up some good opportunities, but I just cringe every time I see Pat line up alone in the backfield with 5 -wide. He has yet to consistently hit the home run and until he does, it really makes this formation useless... The secondary jumps on the short routes knowing that Pat isn't gonna chuck it. That leaves at least one LB to cover the middle and the d-line just focuses on outside containment. What is the result? Pat scrambles inside for 4-5 where the LB's are licking their chops, he dumps off to Hall on a pitch or short pass (don't tell me the WVU LB's won't be waiting for this one) or we reverse... On second and long, none of these options seem very appealing. We're fast, but not that fast. What happens if they have a spy on the QB (who is allready asked to be a one-man show in this setup). If we even had the occasional home-run capability this would be great, and we could keep defenses honest. Otherwise, what the heck are the coaches seeing that I'm not? Maybe seeting up a screen? Help me out here... I remember Bobby Bowden (back in the day before he passed on and the animatronic robot took over for him) and Steve Spurrier made sparkling gem like QB's out of some real turds. They did this by using the I more-often, trying to establish a rhythm with a good rotation of backs and optioning to the wonderful play-action pass. Nothing does more for a QB's confidence. Unfortunately for the Bulls, inspiring confidence in our QB's does not seem to be a priority for our coaching staff. I really hope this trend turns around in a hurry.

So I guess all we need is a near NFL quality QB and then we can have a successful team? No, absolutely not, and the coaches are culpable for not making the right adjustments, and panicing with their play-calling when behind. But... What doesn't help is that Pat has not consistently proven that he can throw a cathable pass. He rarely / never threw the ball in high school and doesn't look like his passing technique is very well coached. We need someone that doesn't leave recievers jumping for balls over the middle against a vicous Miami Secondary or throwing passes at people's feet all day in Pittsburgh. I haven't been all that impressed with our wide recievers ball-catching ability, but you have to get them the ball with a reasonable chance of catching it.

Maybe it's the gold teeth...

I can't believe that everyone (including the coaches) are all turned off to Denson. He DID earn the starting job in spring. One bad "deer-in-the-headlights" series against Penn State and he's out? We haven't seen what Denson can do yet. Every other time he comes in to the game he's in a come-from behind situation, or in mop-up duty. When he makes a miskate, they pull him. If they are going to put him in the ballgame, let him play for more that 1 series. I think if he had some time and took a significant number of snaps and still stinks, then put Julmiste back in. We've been seeing Pat for 2+ years now, we know what he can do, and what he can't. Denson, who knows?

USF 35-13 420 Jackson

USF 34-13 358 Jackson

Well, I did graduate in the last millennium / century!

There's still the old fashioned way of tuning in the ol' AM radio to 970, closing your eyes and using your imagination... God how did our parents and grandparents survive?

USF BULLS!! 24-14 290 Chambers

I have it on very good authority that Pitt's #1 wide reciever is leaving early for the draft after this season. Just because he's so frustrated with the job the new coach is doing. If he feels this bad this early into the season, just wail till his hometown team beats them at Pitt this year...

USF 31-24 374 Jackie Chambers I think Mike Jenkins gets a last-minute pick at the end to seal this one. GO BULLS!!!

Sorry, my bad, last in scoring and pass defense... just quoting local news sources. Source http://www.wftv.com/sports/5001801/detail.html By Frank Haynes, College Football Senior Editor Good thing Louisville is the top offensive team in the Big East, because the defense ranks dead last in more than one statistical category -- scoring defense (25.5 ppg) and pass defense (327.5 ypg).

Thanks ET, I don't get much time here at the office to Bull S... around. I think we'll have to open the playbook up a little more this weekend. I think the defensive line has really stepped up from pre-season expectations, but the pass-rush is going to be pivotal this weekend. On offense, we really need one more go-to reciever to step it up this week. My guess is to keep an eye on Amari Jackson. I guarantee he'll have a breakout game very soon this season. GO BULLS!

Yes, it's called blitzing, Brohm is still young, pressure him and our secondary has a chance to keep this interesting. Remember, Louisville is ranked dead last in defense overall rating and scoring...