BowlBoundBulls

Ask Matt Grothe.  He's a Math major and I'm sure he could find time

South Florida (3-0) at Kansas (2-1) 7 pm EST Saturday, Sept. 23

Why to watch: For the first time this year, South Florida ventures outside the Sunshine State with a chance to make a statement against a Big 12 team.  The Bulls’ 3-0 record has been deceptive and as much a product of a weak schedule as anything else.  Last week’s emotional 24-17 win at budding rival UCF did seem to light a fire under a team that trudged through its first two victories.  Kansas looks to rebound from a draining, 37-31 double-overtime loss at Toledo on Friday night.  The Jayhawks have issues of their own, headed by an inability to protect the football in the first three games.  They weren’t five-star prospects coming out of high school, but USF’s Matt Grothe and Kansas’ Kerry Meier are two of the more exciting redshirt freshmen quarterbacks in the country.

Why South Florida might win: The Bull defense has been true to form so far holding opponents to 261 yards and just under 16 points a game.  It’s allowing only 82 yards a game on the ground, which should neutralize Kansas RB Jon Cornish and leave a banged-up Meier to have to win the game for the Jayhawks. The young quarterback hasn’t been consistent enough to prove he can win games against good teams when it’s all on his shoulders.

Why Kansas might win: South Florida’s been good against the run, but Kansas has been even better allowing 71 yards a game.  The Jayhawks will turn the Bulls into a one-dimensional offense, forcing Grothe to shoulder the load against an improved secondary.  In an evenly-matched game, USF’s nation’s-worst punting unit gives Kansas a major advantage in the battle for field position.

Who to watch: Kansas CB Aqib Talib returned from suspension last week to give the Jayhawk secondary an immediate boost.  He had six tackles and three pass breakups, helping hold the usually efficient Toledo aerial attack to 15-of-47 passing for 136 yards and a touchdown.  Talib will be matched up with Ean Randolph, who leads the Bulls with 10 catches and a pair of touchdown receptions.

What will happen:  Don’t be fooled by the recordsâ€â€Kansas is the slightly better team.  The Jayhawks will make stopping Grothe a mission to pick up a critical and hard fought home win.

CFN Prediction: Kansas 24 ... South Florida 19 ... Line: Kansas -5.5

Must See Rating: (5 skip the birth of your first born - 1 The Janice Dickenson

Yes they are worth being concerned about.  They went 6-0 at home last year and haven't lost at home since losing to Texas and Vince Young 27-23 in 2004.   Also,  this is a sandwich game for us because it is between the UCF game and the opening of the Big East schedule.

I still have to put UCF ahead of FIU.  I was a both games and USF played much better against UCF than it did against FIU.

Grothe will do well in this offense.  He ran the same type of offense in HS.  Although he doesn't have quite the speed as Hill, he has a better overall command of the offense and isn't a slouch running either.  He'll do just fine.

THIS ISNT LAKE FORREST HIGH SCHOOL BALL

GROTHE IS NOT QUICK ENOUGH,BIG ENOUGH, FAST ENOUGH OR ELUSIVE TO RUN 9 TIEMS A GAME WITHOUT GETTING SERIOUSLY HURT AT THIS LEVEL

How many times have you seen him play at RJS?  Zero you say.  The kid is a freshman so give him some time before putting your constant negativity on him.  Carson Palmer wasn't the great early and look how he turned out.

My wife can't go to the game Saturday so I have 1 extra ticket.  I paid $30 but I'll take any decent offer.  Ticket is in section 207 row G.  Please message me if interested.

I am very confused related to KnightsNo1.  Under his moniker he has UCF Knight, a starfish and then Go Bulls.   Are you a UCF fan, Bulls fan or fan of whoever wins?

I surely want the win but one would have to assume of the 4 years we play them, this may UCF's best chance to win. We have a freshman QB and RB by "walk on" committee. In the grand scheme of things the BiG East games are still bigger. Will a recruit care more about us beating UCF verses did we go to a bowl?

Also, if this series does die after 4 years who will really care 10 years from now. I know the UCF fans will probably never let us forget the rivalry but I know we have had heated rivalries with Southen Miss, Troy, Georgia Southern, Hofstra and Western Kentucky in the past....do I still care about them?  

I agree that this will be UCF's best chance.  There is no way they beat us here next season and they will not be able to beat us by the time Grothe is a Junior.  When UCF loses this game,  they better call FAMU, BCC, FAU and FIU in a hurry if they want a game against a Florida team that they have a chance against.

Yes, they didn't score a point in the 2nd half, but they were moving the ball too much more my liking. Especially with the offense they had.  Mike Walker is a better receiver than we've seen all season. Our LBs played great, but they can't do it alone!

I think the Oline improvement will improve the whole offense, but you cannot expect much in the running game outside without Ponton, just give us 25 carries and 100 yards.

I have to disagree with Joe on the Mike Walker to a point.  Just like Greg Lee for Pitt a couple years ago in Ray Jay,  Chandler Williams for FIU was catching everything and he played a terrific game.  Mike Walker is coming off a knee injury and I don't think he is the  same receiver yet that he was in the past.  The thing that worries me about this game are turnovers, mistakes and penalties which plagued us the first 2 games.

...

C Ryan Schmidt, a transfer from Kansas State, won his appeal with the NCAA and was ruled immediately eligible.

Suprised this is how I discover it ... unless this was already posted and I missed it.

It was in the St. Pete Times on Saturday.  He was in uniform against FIU.

One of the big problems is that we could not cover #1(Chandler Williams) from FIU.   That guy made some of the best catches I have seen.

Just speculation on my part but I think he is pissed at the media for breaking the Ponton, Chambers and Josh Julmiste story when he was trying to deal with it in house

He played(spot duty) at least in the 2nd half last Saturday.  He never got a chance at Florida so it may be a bit premature to call him overrated just yet.

I hate Notre Dame.  That said it does really matter to me because I'll be at the game and not watching TV at that time.

I am trying to order tickets for the USF-UCF game but I don't want to sit with the Knights.  Since 800-gobulls will not call me back,  can anyone tell me what the USF sections are for that game.  Thanks.

Here is a highly talented QB out of Clearwater Countryside HS that is now looking for a home.  Nebraska made such a huge deal about signing him and he is gone after 1 season.  It seems like the perfect fit if Harrison is interested in USF.

I am wanting to get tickets for the USF-UCF game but I don't want to sit with a bunch of Golden Knights.  Does anyone have the ticket info for that game?

This topic has been moved to [link=http://www.thebullspen.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=04022005;action=display;num=1148388479;start=0]State of Florida College Athletics Board[/link] by SCBullsfan.

Last pick on the third round should really motivate him.    With his size and speed,  he should do better than that.

if usf can beat ftu/ou/oc i would hope fire leavitt campaign would get some legs

Why would you want to campaign to fire Leavitt if he BEATS UCF?   Sometimes you make no sense.

Everyone knows Hill is having academic struggles...even those that just read the USF releases and blogs...he's been missing a lot of practice for that very reason... there is no story.

And please don't start that plugging for pay sites stuff here.   No one will sign up to chase down a message board rumor.  

Then you should either rename the thread or pull it because the speculation is unfair to Carlton and unfair to the fans.    

If you guys would pay Scout.Com for the info you would realize that Carlton's grades are not good and that they are talking that as a possibility that he would go to JC.  The other options are for him to get his act together or the most likely one which is for him to redshirt.   Please don't write him off by being lead down the path by some poster who is too cheap to get the story correct on a premium board.  Also,  sign up for scout.com because Josh is doing a great job.

Let's not be hypocritical.  Da kid bust his hump for USF man, hows bout given him some props too.

He needs to work on his literacy skills but lord knows that if the world judged smazza exclusively by what he posts on the internet we'd guess him to be an illiterate 7 year old too (don't judge a book by its cover).  Sometimes people just type stuff on blogs and websites for fun and giggles and isn't intended to be taken seriously.  It isn't like this type of stuff is exclusive to USF, if every 1-A college football player had a blog like this I think we would all be horrified by the results.  I've read way worse, Willie Williams stuff comes to mind.

I thought Smazza was an illiterate 7 year old.  I stand corrected.

I was at the spring game and even though I thought PJ played a good game,  if he had to undergo the constant pass rush that Grothe/Hill had to deal with,  I think that this thread would be totally different today.  Taking into account how MG had to run for his life most of the night,  I thought Matt had a better game.  Of the two interceptions,  the first one was probably nerves  and the 2nd one was trying to make a play on 4th down.  I would feel much more comfortable having Grothe at QB come fall.