bullsbucsfan426

On 9/28/2018 at 10:39 PM, crambone said:

Awesome. 

Hey, there's a way to fund the new OCS. Build a hotel into it. Have high end high price game view rooms for game day with Bulls themed room service. 

ECU has a better defense then we give them credit for-they are ranked high nationally and that DL of theirs is going to give a number of teams fits in conference play. If they can get their offense sorted out they may well compete for the division. 

ECU defense: 

#17 in total defense

#68 in scoring defense

#2 in TFLs 

#2 in sacks

#9 in run defense

#56 in pass defense

They're not perfect, but there's definitely something there to look at. 

Look even if UCF gets to 12-0 (and keep in mind that in order to do so, they have to beat us, which I'm not going to rule out with how well our defense has played), they will be artificially capped at #5. They simply won't move past that point no matter how many games they win. Boise had the same problem in the late 2000s. The only time where they could have moved into the top 2 was that game in 2009 where they played a ranked Nevada and lost (while Auburn I think it was came back to beat Alabama). That was a blow for non-power football. 

I'm not worried about UCF right now. Right now it's about beating Umass and getting better as a team each week. We should be 7-0 again heading into Houston. That final five game stretch (Houston, Tulane, Cincy, Temple, and UCF) is going to be brutal. I wouldn't be shocked if we face at least two ranked teams in that period and there's a good chance Houston will at least be receiving votes at that point. 

ECU looks a lot better after UNC beat Pitt. All the competition will be in the east this year. I think we get to 7-0 but that closing stretch is tough. Cold weather games against the power run attacks of UC and Temple will be challenging. 

5 minutes ago, Corey lea said:

14-2 with this play calling with a bad OL...don't forget all the costly penalties and turnovers...We also don't have depth on D so Strong had to protect the D...

The D had no protection last night and still held ECU to 13 points. A competent offense would have eliminated the field goals thanks to rest for the D. 

Just go out and win. UNC is a dumpster fire this year, but end of day ECU trashed them and that's something to be respected. Two weeks to prepare does bother me. Sure, they've been worried about their family. But they got rested and they have confidence from their last game. 

I will point out what happened the last time CCS got upset at the team. They took the Tulane game and waxed them for three quarters. Hoping for a bit more of a complete effort here though. 

17 hours ago, Ricky the Bull said:

And don't forget the credit card points/cash back!

Maybe USF should create an athletics loyalty program with a credit card. It works so well with the airlines and hotels, it would do wonders here. The points could be used for game day suites access, redeemed for free tickets, one on one meet and greet experiences with USF coaches in off season, etc. 

Initially you'd think it's hard to assess this but after looking the game as a whole, it really isn't. 

1. We have struggled to stop the run all season. We got progressively better as the game went on by keying on Epstein. At this point you assume we are who we are. I expected more from BJM and CCS. They turned around a veteran defense last year-maybe this defense needs more time to gel? It's hard to say. They just give up so much size. This is what worries me for when we play UCF, Houston (and to some extent) Cincinnatti. The Bearcats will be happy to pound it all day and they have the ability to succeed. 

2. I think the team was overconfident after the way we won against GT last week. Penalties have always been a problem since Strong took over, and this week wasn't any different. The turnovers were just killers. The play calling wasn't great at times, but Barnett just seemed rattled a great deal of the time. There were a lot of open throws he missed. The defense is young and they will learn, but I wonder where things will go down the stretch. 

3. Big 10 teams tend to be built very similarly-they're big on the lines, have enough speed to take advantage of you, and want to drive the ball downfield. It's like us facing Rutgers or UConn in the mid-2000s. They were just so big and power-based that they would run all day against USF, and this isn't the first time we've had a grossly undersized defense. I'd say "recruit better" but at some point you wonder how much we can get in terms of talent in the trenches. I was heartened to see the late plays by Barber and Pinckney, yet you have to think that if we score early and go into the second quarter with 14 points on the board, UI would have gotten away from the run. 

4. The Tampa 2 defense Smith ran caused problems. Most spread offenses in college are used to scoring in bunches, on 3-4 play drives, and generally not facing a ton of opposition. That's how our team seemed to be operating for most of the day-and that helped the Illini get interceptions. I give them credit for hunkering down, realizing they needed to do some work, and eventually were patient enough to drive the ball down the field and score TDs. If they keep that driven mindset for the rest of the season, they will get much, much better. 

5. It wasn't a good win, even though UI is a Big 10 team. They are no better than they were last season, they struggled to beat Kent State and Western Illinois. They gave us enough of a scare that they will be taken seriously now. That said, there are wins on their schedule. Rutgers looked awful today against Kansas...let that sink in. Purdue is still winless and looks like a winnable game. I don't fancy their chances against PSU or Wisconsin at all. If they want to go to a bowl game they will have to get much, much better. Maybe Nebraska will end up sucking and then they only need one more win against the rest of their schedule. 

1 minute ago, footnfan1 said:

Not to be critical, while I have watched him, does it seem to you like he is a one read QB? If the WR or RB is open, he throws it, if he is not, he runs? Am I off base. Nice come back win today.

It certainly feels like it. I've noticed him staring down receivers at times. UI just wasn't good enough to take advantage of it. The Illini were getting a lot of early pressure and unfortunately it took him three quarters to settle down. The penalties didn't help. 

I'm watching it on Fox Sports Go. I was surprised they didn't ask for a cable login. 

That's more like it! 

All those years of challenge recruiting on the line are costing us. Insane we can't come up with some good DTs. 

16 hours ago, BrassBulls12 said:

Houston QB had 6 total TD's (4 passing, 2 rushing). He will probably get offense 

And against a P5 opponent like that. Barnett was fantastic but King earned the award this week. 

1 minute ago, SpeedyBull said:

problem is QF followed by BB, Who's next? coach has a high bar to live up to. And I hope we do. 

Jordan McCloud apparently showed some good things in camp and he has two years to develop behind Barnett. We should be fine. 

1. The first time I ever went to a home game, it was oddly enough against Elon in 2007. Watching Selvie destroy them was entertaining. 

2. A 3 TD lead and defensive domination. No early flop-ups. 

3. Green/gold

4. 30k, 20k in bad weather

5. I'm not tailgating tomorrow. I have a tax client flying in to see me and our appointment is at 2:15. Pray we get done by 4:30 please. 

I've gotten twitter thank yous in the past, but it was awesome to get this in the mail today. Michael Kelly knows how to reach people. 

https://twitter.com/ZainNensey/status/1031603228402704389

They ripped us off. They copied a high school design. Seriously? 

Not sure who is in the right here, and I guess we'll see. 

But if the suspension reports end up being true, can we flip the credentials from JK to Nathan Bond? JK would have gotten the story wrong then-which means it would be nice to see him get replaced. 

But is your level over 9000?

11 hours ago, chapelbull said:

Is it a good idea for Genord to be playing in Amsterdam?

It's Amsterdam, New York. If it had been the Netherlands I would have  made a joke that the Netherlands cricket team was planning to pick him up for their Tri-Series vs. Scotland and Ireland. They need the batting firepower. 

Don't just lurk around now, my friend: post! 

2 hours ago, Brad said:

This concept is difficult for me.  I tend to support just about every school team I am connected to.  I support USF because I went there.  I support three highs schools and two middle schools because my kids went there.  I support two other high schools because I coached at them.  

That support ranges from buying tickets to games and attending (even though my kids are gone) to donating for equipment and uniforms.

What is it that one's alma mater must do to earn the purchase of a ticket?  Win?

That makes it sound as if USF is failing at a deeper level.  It's not Athletics, it's the school.  People go and have no attachment?  Sports is the easiest way to stay attached.  

I'm not criticizing you or your point, just trying to figure it out.  When my phone rang 20-21 years ago asking if I wanted to donate to a non-existent football program, the answer was an enthusiastic YES!  Just as I had  been donating to Athletics and was a season ticket holder to basketball.  Went to games in the dome as a student, and wanted to continue that post-graduation.  Had I waited around for USF to earn my support, I might have been lost.  ****, I could be running something called the GatorSwamp.com had I been that remiss.

This is more an observation I have based on what I've seen when trying to get people to buy tickets. I personally believe USF deserves support because they are my alma mater, because they are doing yeoman's work in helping students from underprivileged backgrounds get a chance to move ahead in life, and because if I don't support them with donations and season ticket purchases, then my credibility is damaged when trying to get any one else to support the team, whether they're 0-12 or 13-0. I sat through the abyss in 2012, 2013, and 2014 and honestly while I won't call it a religious or spiritual experience, pushing myself through that made the joys in 2015-2017 truly enjoyable, and prepared me to know how to handle defeat. Walking out of Raymond James in 2014 to loud UCF chants was a frankly painful experience-and watching us embarrass Temple, Cincy, and UCF the next year felt like my patience had been worth it. 

Yet there seem to be many from my graduating class (and before and after classes) who don't share the same views. When the Big 12 was knocking on the door of the AAC to potentially raid us, I remember talking to my next door neighbor. I urged and urged him to buy season tickets to show his support for the program-and all he could talk about was how getting into the Big 12 would take us to another level. He didn't want to invest in the program to make it worthy of a spot in the Big 12-he wanted USF to be in the big 12 before it was worthy of his attention. I have had others who have made similar comments when I suggest just going to a game, let alone buying season tickets. I will give full credit to one of my fellow alumni, who shares seats with me-last year he drove from work in ORLANDO to attend weeknight games. That is a mark of true dedication. He is actually running for State Representative this year, and once his campaign kicks off next week I will be happy to share more information about him, but the man bleeds green and gold and this is the type of alumni we need to reach out to. 

It is my belief, that given this apathy among alumni, that USF needs to cast a wider net. Most of the small towns around Tampa LOVE football. They go and watch it regularly. But who are they watching? The Bucs? The Gators, Seminoles, Canes, or Knights? Why?! We are not making our case to these potential fans. I get that USF has limited resources, yet we do have one resource that we leave untapped-alumni like me, who take our time, buy tickets, donate, try to persuade our friends to attend games on our dime. Does USF Athletics have an alumni ambassador program? Does USF Athletics make its presence known at community events all around the Tampa Bay area? USF has a very large alumni base-that doesn't hear from them when it comes to USF athletics. Reaching out is the first step. If we reach out to 100 people, maybe we get 10 people agreeing to come to a USF athletics event (note that this doesn't have to be a game, could be as little as a mixer event with food and drinks and CCS and one or two other coaches). There's over 300,000 alumni-even one percent of them is 3000 ticket buyers-and even at the lowest price that's an extra 300k a year in ticket revenue. And all of this could be helped by an ambassador program of committed USF alumni. 

50 minutes ago, E.T. said:

College Football and minor league baseball are two different fans bases and the cost is much different.

I don't see marketing to students a high priority, it's free and if they are not aware - they're not coming.

 

Except those students are your future season ticket holders and you want them invested. I bought tickets the first year after I finished. I suspect most of the 2006-2010 generation aren't coming because they remember the heights and the upsets. They're waiting for that to happen again. They can't fathom the downgrade in conferences and seem to believe USF hasn't earned their support. The current generation can be built a little more organically. 

Hold more promotional events around Tampa and the surrounding districts (Zephyrhills, Plant City, Lakeland, Bradenton/Sarasota, as well as Tampa). The media is not going to tell our story so it's up to USF to get the story out there. Get us in front of people and sell, sell, sell, always have ticket reps present. 

Need to also devote more resources to Bulls club and develop an alumni athletics ambassador network. It's beyond me why we aren't tapping into guys like Grothe and Lindsey Lamar who grew up in this area and don't get featured with the program. 

22 hours ago, thatBULL said:

I want an OCS as much as anyone, but I always find it interesting when someone says “The fee would go away, but the stadium would stay.”  

Does anyone believe we would give up revenue that is basically accepted once the bonds are paid?  

We need to have a true fundraising effort for a stadium.  If that’s successful and students feel they want to pitch in (more than then large % they already do today) then maybe that’s ok.

Yes, yes we would, just as the Marshall Center fee eventually went away. I paid that fee. I saw it on my tuition statements for a few years-then not long after it got built, by the time I graduated, it had stopped. 

If this fee is per semester, you're talking at the low end $6M per year, to possibly as much as $14M-$15M per year (could be over $20M if USF charges for summer semester too). That's not chump change, and assuming we build the $200M stadium that Harlan put out in his proposals, the interest cost (just estimating at 4% per year), would be $8M. You better have some extra funding in place. USF is struggling to raise funds here. The CITF could pay out $15M when the time comes, but it can only be used once (can't be used for debt service, just for initial construction). USF needs to find $50M in donations, then you add the $15M in CITF money, then perhaps the other $135M can be debt serviced. 

Here is why it's possible it won't go through-the only way that fee is getting approved is through a ballot measure in the student body elections. The soonest SG can do that is the midterm elections in the fall, and it STILL has to pass. Even if you only have 5-8k students voting, it's going to take a lot work-and for whatever reason, USF hasn't gotten enough Greek buyin on football if they're still doing rush in the fall on home game-days.