Bull Dozer

Our D Vs Their O The defense has been pretty vanilla thus far so im hoping we have some good blitz packages cooked up to put Moffitt on the ground.  Pretty confident our DB's can do a good job on their recievers.  D line needs to get some penetration or at the very least hold the LOS so our LB's are free to make plays. Our O Vs Their D The o-line really needs to step up and open up some holes for our running game.  I want to see more shots down the field especially off of play action on 1st down (seeing as we run the ball quite a bit on first down).  Really hard to get a read on their D when they were matched up with a team like UF, but they did give up alot of yards to Nova.  Amari Jackson really needs to step up and do something.  He has all the potential in the world but doesnt seem to do anything with it.  Grothe just needs to take care of the pall and be efficient, no turnovers and a good completion % and we should be in a very good position to win.  One of our RB's needs to step up and have a big game.  Running back my committee doesnt work unless you're auburn from a couple years back. Special Teams Our return game is pretty ridiculous at the moment and is prolly our biggest threat for big plays on any side of the ball.  A couple big returns can really break a teams back and change the tide of a game, hopefully Randolph can deliver again.  Our kicker situation is pretty freaking scary, you know your in a bad spot when you get nervous about extra points.  The Punting situation has gotten a little better but still needs a lot of improvement.  Coaching I saw a pretty vanilla defense and a really conservative offense so far from our bulls.  We need to open up the playbook starting this week.  O'Leary will have his team prepared and a pretty good gameplan.  He will have his team pumped as a W for them is way more important to their program than ours.  They need this to show they are on the same level as us after last years game, if we lose its step back for us, if we win its no big deal its what we should be doing (deating non BCS teams).  They players will be amped for this as alot of them were recruited by both schools and have played against and with each other before going to their respective schools.  We need to make sure our boys dont let the emotion get the best of them, discipline and keeping penalties down are a must and big key to getting a W here.  Just because it needs to be said one more time ROD SMITH OPEN UP THE PLAY BOOK TAKE SOME SHOTS DOWN THE FIELD! Prediction USF 28 UCF 10 UCF jumps out early behind the support of a loud and nasty crowd.  USF starts bringing the heat and putting moffitt on his back and forces a couple turnovers that swing the momentum.  USF gets a big return that breaks UCF's will, but they still add a FG in garbage time. ÂÂ

Good article. Props to Jen.

Nicely put joe  Steve, I personally can care less, but are you really complaining about people haggling you about being an adult male cheerleader?  Kind of comes with the position, doesnt it? not complaining about the heckling just more so that they UCF fans were alot more rude and agressive about it than anyother schools fans. ÂÂ

Nicely put joe  Steve, I personally can care less, but are you really complaining about people haggling you about being an adult male cheerleader?  Kind of comes with the position, doesnt it? not complaining about the heckling just more so that they UCF fans were alot more rude and agressice about it than anyother schools fans.

Not really, Just as there are stupid bulls fans there are stupid Knights and not all fans are arrogant. There are those Knight fans who thought we had a chance to go to the swamp and beat UF. Come on, you dont go 15 games removed from an 0-17 team and beat a team that is #7 and peaking. I for one, never thought we had a chance. So just a generalization. Anyhow, no panties in a bunch, I was just stating the facts in a reply. Your fan brought up if all our fans are rude.  I am not preaching to anyone. You asked and I answered. Again, good luck and good game saturday You really dont want to compare rudeness when it comes to our two programs. Coming from a former USF cheerleader for the past 2 years your fans have been the worst out of any fans i have ever encoutnered (this includes away games at South Carolina, Penn State, and Miami, yes the miami fans that are known nationally for being some of the worst). When we walked around the tailgates last year as we do before every game i really dont think that i have ever been verbally abused like i have been then. I heard every four letter word and insult about my sexuality you can imagine, and prolly even a few new ones that have never been used before. Not to mention our mascot was assulted by some of your fans in our own parking lot!!!!! Seriously you dont want to get in a pissing contest about rude fans when it comes to both of our schools because from what ive seen from your fans you guys seem to take more pride in heckling and abusing the oppostion than actually trying to win on the field.

Thread should have been locked after this post.

Great story! Player leadership is one of the many things i feel we are lacking.

Ill take Sterger writing an article about them in SI over not having anything in SI at all.  At the point in this programs life ill take any good pub i can get especially in a magazine like SI. ÂÂ

Ok i havent seen this explanation yet.... Ok i know alot of people here say the USF athletic department and coaches dont view UCF as a rivalry, BUT did any of you ever stop to think that the players do? It has all the makings of a rivalry from a players perspective 1. Most playeres were prolly recruited by both schools 2. Most of the players have been playing against or with each other prolly close to their whole lives 3. The two colleges are vying for the same attention nationally as programs 4. The students see this as a rivalry will prolly talk to the players just as much about this game as UL or WV I havent got a change to watch the replay as i wasnt there today because i was in jacksonville getting ready to move some stuff back down there. But this has all the symptoms from what ive heard from people who were there and saw it and on here or a week before a rivalry let down. I wouldnt be surprised if most of the players were looking forward to this weeks game rather then a game against a FIU. Yes we do have problems that need to be fixed no doubt but alot of people here are really running around like we lost of FIU by 3 touchdowns. If anything im glad yesterday happend because maybe it will be a wake up call to the players and coaches that hey we really need to buckle down a bit more or else we will embarass ourselves this year.

Atleat our coach didnt lie on his application to coach somewhere ,oops, That was UCF's game set match bulls.

All the media love UCF gets makes me wanna projectile vomit. I guess thats what happens when you get a former Notre Dame coach seeing as the media has a huge hard on for all things out of south bend. All this love will make it that much more satisfying when we go to their house and put a thorough butt whoopin on them.

1. If you were made Athletic Director for the day, what is the FIRST thing you would do? Get the ball rolling on an OCS 2. Which sport, if any, should USF add: hockey, lacrosse, swimming, gymnastics, men's volleyball, another sport? I really dont think we need to add any sports at the moment. We need to focus on ungrading facilities for the sports we already have. Once we get EVERY sport up to part with other d-1 teams we can then discuss adding more sports. 3. Do you think the Women's Basketball Team make the NCAA's this season? Yes i can see them winninga couple games as well 4. Have you made accomodations in your holiday plans for attending a possible bowl game? Being a student i have no real responsibilites over the break so im already free. If its the gator bowl i already have lodging since in from jacksonville 5. "Tastes Great" or "Less Filling"? Tastes Great DUH!

No one said "WIN". we dont have to wish for our wins

1. Less mental mistakes/Penalties 2. A RB step up seperate himself from the pack. This is a must,RB by comitee only works if you have Ronnie Brown and Cadillac 3. More aggressive play calling on offense and defense. Maybe the staff is keeping it pretty vanilla since these are opponents we should beat without showing too much to our conference rivals and tougher OOC games, but i would like to see us get after their QB and take a few more shots down field.

Thank you, ApplePJ.  BTW, when's the next time that you guys are going to hang out at the Bull Ring? From a former cheerleader and someone who really repsects what the HOT does help these guys & gals out! They are huge and key part of the game experience!!!! HOT YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

Be fair... CBS Sportline 119 rated them at 115 out of 119....  hey FIUer... hows Temple and FAU doing down there?  I can't say I agree with us being #52... but as long as we arn't over 100.... http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/polls/119/index2 I disagree because were below UCF >

Pretty soon -- like, by Saturday evening -- people are going to be talking about West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton as a serious Heisman Trophy candidate, if they're not already. The Mountaineers aren't into printing T-shirts or putting faces on billboards in an effort to promote players for awards. Coach Rich Rodriguez wouldn't allow it. But Slaton's numbers are going to be impossible to ignore. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound sophomore rushed for a national-best 203 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries Saturday in a 42-10 romp over Marshall -- and he figures to run wild again this weekend against Division I-AA Eastern Washington. For the record, Slaton has 407 yards rushing in his past two games, including 204 in the Sugar Bowl. Rodriguez has expressed concern about overusing Slaton. Slaton has no such concern. "I think I can sustain that for 12 games," he said. • Quarterback Pat White aggravated a muscle strain in his side against Marshall. It could have an effect on his ability to throw out routes and deep patterns, but he probably won't need to throw much on Saturday. The Mountaineers' first big test will come the following Thursday, when they host Maryland. • Rodriguez warned his team about a letdown, showing them clips from Division I-AA Montana's stunning 19-10 victory over Colorado last weekend. • Rodriguez said the new rules designed to speed up games will cut down a team's possessions. "Normally, we have 12 or 13 possessions in a game," he said. "In [saturday's] game, we only had 10." • Left tackle Damien Crissey suffered a severe foot sprain against Marshall and is out for several weeks. Sophomore Ryan Stanchek moves from guard to tackle to replace him, and redshirt freshman Greg Isdaner replaces Stanchek. Cincinnati • Often, a two-quarterback system only means there isn't one good enough to carry the load, and it can disrupt the offense every bit as much as the defense. But there's no room for criticism of Bearcats coach Mark Dantonio. Not yet, anyway. His two-QB approach -- sophomore right-hander Dustin Grutza and senior lefty Nick Davila -- combined to go 19-for-34 for 283 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 31-0 victory over Division I-AA Eastern Kentucky. Grutza played the first and third quarters and will make his second straight start Friday in a much tougher test against visiting Pitt. Dantonio spoke the truth when he said of his system, "When you see positives like that, I don't think anybody cares who quarterbacks." • Attracting decent crowds continues to be a concern for the Bearcats, who finished last in the Big East in attendance last season (22,423 per game) and drew only 18,792 to Nippert Stadium for the opener. Dantonio issued a public plea for fans to cheer his team against Pitt in the second annual "River City Rivalry," which doubles as both teams' Big East opener. Pitt won last year's meeting, 38-20. "I have never in three years asked people to come support the Bearcats; I am asking now," he said. "We try to do our work the right way, but we need to be supported. We need to make this a great atmosphere." Two barriers: It's a high school football Friday night in the Cincinnati area, and the game is on ESPN2. • Even though it was a Division I-AA opponent, Dantonio took special pride in the shutout, Cincinnati's first since 1995. "I remember during the national championship season at Ohio State [in 2002], we never shut anyone out," said Dantonio, who was Ohio State's defensive coordinator that year. • Senior defensive tackle Tony Carvitti had two sacks in his first career start. He had one sack last season. • Dantonio has an 8-3 record at Nippert Stadium. Connecticut • Mighty Mouse is back -- and that's bad news for Huskies opponents. Junior Larry Taylor, a 5-foot-6, 167-pound do-everything speedster, missed the final five games last season with a torn ACL but showed no rust in compiling 153 all-purpose yards in a 52-7 walloping of Division I-AA Rhode Island. Taylor carried twice for 62 yards, caught three passes for 42 yards and returned two punts for 49 yards. His 27-yard TD catch was the first scoring reception of his career. The Huskies are simply a much better team with Taylor. They own a 12-3 record when he's been on the field but are 1-7 without him. "I feel I haven't lost anything from the ACL injury," Taylor said. "In fact, I feel I have gotten better." • Senior tailback Terry Caulley, who returned from his own severe knee injury last season, rushed for 95 yards and is just 17 shy of becoming UConn's all-time leading rusher. Wilbur Gilliard (1992-95) holds the mark with 2,624 yards. • Senior kicker Matt Nuzie was named the Big East Special Teams Player of the Week. He was 7-for-7 on extra points and made his only field-goal attempt, from 41 yards. • UConn is 5-0 against Division I-AA opponents since it moved up to Division I-A in 2002. • The Huskies are off this weekend before hosting Wake Forest Sept. 16. Louisville • Feel sorry for Michael Bush, who is out for the season because of a broken leg sustained in the season opener against Kentucky. Do not feel sorry for the Cardinals, however. As UConn coach Randy Edsall said, "It's not like Louisville is a one-dimensional team." In fact, Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino is a proven recruiter of dynamic offensive talent and he had to figure he might have to replace Bush this year, anyway, in case Bush declared for the NFL draft. Reserve running backs Kolby Smith and George Stripling could start for a lot of teams. They combined for 1,140 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. As Petrino said of Stripling, "He can hit the home run; he's very fast." Smith isn't slow, and 230-pound freshman Anthony Allen will punish people. The Cardinals' passing game speaks for itself. • Bush might have the option to take a medical redshirt and return to Louisville next season. If not, he would still be coveted by NFL teams if he makes a complete recovery. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Bush's family had already purchased a $2 million Lloyd's of London insurance policy covering career-ending injuries. • The good news on the injury front is that quarterback Brian Brohm, coming off a major knee injury, completed 19 of 31 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown. "I didn't even think about it," he said. "It really helped that I had a lot of protection and didn't get hit very much." Expect Brohm to put up more gaudy numbers against sad-sack Temple on Saturday. • Junior kicker Art Carmody saw his streak of 14 consecutive field goals snapped when he missed a 32-yarder in the fourth quarter. He holds the school record for career accuracy, converting 27 of 33 attempts (81.8 percent). Pittsburgh • Opposing teams will quickly realize that Pitt is much quicker on defense this season. Outside linebacker Tommie Campbell, perhaps the fastest player on the team, is barely 200 pounds, but he made a few plays in a season-opening 38-13 victory over Virginia that wouldn't have been made last season. A couple of new starters on the defensive line -- sophomore Gus Mustakas and redshirt freshman Doug Fulmer -- add another dose of athleticism. Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads freely admits that his crew isn't big enough to line up toe-to-toe with power rushing teams, but, as Rhoads put it, "If they can't catch you, they can't block you." • After three mostly disappointing seasons, senior outside linebacker Clint Session finally seems ready to fulfill his immense promise. Session was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week after posting nine tackles (two for loss), a bone-rattling special teams hit and a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown against Virginia. Coach Dave Wannstedt says Session could have played on the dynamic Wannstedt-coached defenses at the University of Miami. • The kicking game was a major concern going into the season, because expected starter David Abdul was lost for the year with a heart problem. But sophomore Conor Lee made all five of his extra-point attempts and his only field-goal attempt, from 38 yards. • Starting sophomore tailback LaRod Stephens-Howling missed the second half of the Virginia game because of an ankle injury but is expected to play Friday against Cincinnati. • The Panthers were 0-5 on the road last season, including a loss at Ohio and are 0-6 in their past six games away from Heinz Field. Rutgers • Progress continues in Piscataway, N.J., where the Scarlet Knights are coming off a 21-16 victory at North Carolina. It was a victory that easily could have turned into the kind of loss Rutgers experienced in its opener last season, when it blew a 27-7 lead at Illinois. This time, the Scarlet Knights showed a finishing kick, as senior cornerback Manny Collins thwarted a late Tar Heels drive with an interception. As fate would have it, Illinois visits Rutgers Stadium on Saturday (ESPN2, noon ET). Coach Greg Schiano says his team learned a lesson in last year's opener. "We learned how difficult it is to win at this level." • It's a well-kept secret that Rutgers is loaded on offense. Two players likely to wind up in the NFL -- tight end Clark Harris and fullback Brian Leonard -- only touched the ball a combined 11 times against North Carolina, but that hardly mattered. Sophomore tailback Ray Rice piled up 201 yards rushing, new starting quarterback Mike Teel completed 14 of 20 attempts and receivers Shawn Tucker and Dennis Campbell combined for six catches for 84 yards. • Rutgers launched a Heisman Trophy campaign for Leonard, but Rice might be the more legitimate candidate. His 201-yard game was the seventh-best in Rutgers history. Coming off a 1,120-yard season as a freshman, Rice is no fluke. He's the first Rutgers player since Jacki Crooks in 1998-99 to rush for 100 yards or more in three straight games. • Leonard has caught a pass in 35 straight games, tops among active Big East players and third in Big East history. West Virginia's Khori Ivy had a 40-game streak from 1997-2000. • Illinois is coming off a 42-17 win over Eastern Illinois. "They're better than [when] we played last year," Schiano said. "And they beat us last year." South Florida • Credit coach Jim Leavitt for making the correct and obvious choice -- hey, some coaches don't -- in naming redshirt freshman Matt Grothe his new starting quarterback. Now, Leavitt needs to stick with Grothe through thick and thin, instead of flip-flopping with senior Pat Julmiste. Grothe is a much better passer and simply gives his team a better chance to win. He replaced an injured Julmiste in a season-opening 41-10 victory over McNeese State and completed 9 of 13 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, rallying the sluggish Bulls from a 10-7 third-quarter deficit. "He handled everything really well," Leavitt said. • Redshirt freshman running back Moise Plancher, slated to replace Andre Hall as the team's main ball carrier, was lost for the season with a torn ACL. He's likely to be replaced by a committee, starting with senior Walt Smith, who gained 70 yards on seven carries in the opener, and sophomore Benjamin Williams (nine carries, 54 yards). • According to the Tampa Tribune, starting tight end Will Bleakley was arrested early Tuesday morning and charged with driving under the influence. As of Wednesday morning, Bleakley remained eligible to play Saturday against Florida International. "He's got a lot of work to do to get in my good graces," Leavitt told the newspaper. • Leavitt needs to do a better job on the PR front. With reporters on hand from several major news outlets -- some had traveled a significant distance -- for the Bulls' season-opening news conference, Leavitt took all of 1 minute, 59 seconds to answer seven questions, according to the Tampa Tribune. He did not make quarterbacks available to the media, either. None of that is good for a program that needs all the positive publicity it can get. Syracuse • Despite a change in coordinators and the apparently stellar offseason of quarterback Perry Patterson, the Orange offense was every bit as unproductive in its season opener against Wake Forest as it was last season. Here are the ugly numbers (feel free to hide your eyes): 136 total yards, 45 passing yards, three sacks, 1 of 11 third-down conversions. Coach Greg Robinson plans no lineup changes this week against No. 14 Iowa, promising that "we will be productive offensively." The Orange have lost 10 consecutive games. • Don't expect a quarterback change anytime soon. Well, not this week, anyway. Robinson raved about Patterson's performance, even though the senior was just 5-for-18 for 45 yards, including 1-for-5 for zero yards in the second half. Robinson said Patterson was the victim of drops and other circumstances. "You need to watch the film," Robinson said. "I think when all is said and done, Perry Patterson is going to be a nice-looking quarterback here." Highly touted freshman Andrew Robinson is waiting in the wings. When asked if the rookie might get into a game, Greg Robinson told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "that isn't the plan right now." • Bright note: Senior linebacker Kelvin Smith had a career-high 16 tackles, including a career-best 13 solo tackles. He also recovered a fumble. • Greg Robinson sees more than just the first name as a link between Iowa quarterback Drew Tate and New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees. "[Tate's] maybe not as tall, but he's put together, he can maneuver and get around. He throws with a strong arm, pinpoint, [and] he's an accurate passer." Joe Starkey covers the Big East for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

You're welcome  South Florida • Credit coach Jim Leavitt for making the correct and obvious choice -- hey, some coaches don't -- in naming redshirt freshman Matt Grothe his new starting quarterback. Now, Leavitt needs to stick with Grothe through thick and thin, instead of flip-flopping with senior Pat Julmiste. Grothe is a much better passer and simply gives his team a better chance to win. He replaced an injured Julmiste in a season-opening 41-10 victory over McNeese State and completed 9 of 13 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, rallying the sluggish Bulls from a 10-7 third-quarter deficit. "He handled everything really well," Leavitt said. • Redshirt freshman running back Moise Plancher, slated to replace Andre Hall as the team's main ball carrier, was lost for the season with a torn ACL. He's likely to be replaced by a committee, starting with senior Walt Smith, who gained 70 yards on seven carries in the opener, and sophomore Benjamin Williams (nine carries, 54 yards). • According to the Tampa Tribune, starting tight end Will Bleakley was arrested early Tuesday morning and charged with driving under the influence. As of Wednesday morning, Bleakley remained eligible to play Saturday against Florida International. "He's got a lot of work to do to get in my good graces," Leavitt told the newspaper. • Leavitt needs to do a better job on the PR front. With reporters on hand from several major news outlets -- some had traveled a significant distance -- for the Bulls' season-opening news conference, Leavitt took all of 1 minute, 59 seconds to answer seven questions, according to the Tampa Tribune. He did not make quarterbacks available to the media, either. None of that is good for a program that needs all the positive publicity it can get.

http://broadband.espn.go.com/ivp/splash try to view 360 content and when it denies you it lets you fill out a form to petition your local provider.

1) USF 2) 59-10 3) 476 4) A. Jackson

I would like to commend all the Kanigits, who I'm sure have been silently salivating over this thread, for having the willpower to let this slide by.   [smiley=thumbsup.gif] They really cant say anything they had 2 players get into a fight IN A CLASS a couple years back.....

[smiley=snore.gif] Well, what more can I say?  Something about casting pearls before swine maybe, but nah.  It's been nice talking with you, Triple_B.  And thanks for reassuring me of what great shape our nation's moral compass is in these days!! [smiley=dankk2.gif] College kids drinking and smoking weed has now affected our nation's moral compass ...... Maybe I AM the one out of touch and we're being taken over by Church Ladies. yeah because none of that stuff happened in the 60's or 70's.........

:-/ Why is it so hard for our program to release actual injury status there is no maybe if its a torn ACL. They need to stop with the double talk already.

he made a stupid decision and got caught. Most people who drink socially have made the same mistake just havent been caught. For most people 2-4 beers will put you over the legal limit so all i takes at that point is "just cause" to pull you over. With it being the first couple weeks of classes HPD and TPD and USFPD are all out for blood to basically scare students away from drinking and driving, add that in with labor day weekend and it not hard to get pulled over on "suspicion of DUI". Now with all of that said there is still no excuse for this that can justify what he did, good kid or not. He should have to serve a 1 maybe 2 game suspension at the most and attend drug and alcohol courses. And SERIOUSLY stop with the we're becoming The U, FSU, etc, until our kids are drving around campus in brand new SUV's sitting on 20's (per my friend who just graduated from FSU and almost got ran over by Ernie Sims in a vehicle of the like), beating up everyone in sight students, girlfriends, or each other in class (UCF a couple years back) etc, and all the other great things that go on at most major d-1 programs. Does it make it right no? But does it come with the territory yes? I could go on a tangent as to why this stuff is pretty much normal for a D-1 program but thats a whole nother thread.