Athlon is out . . .

[lotsofbull99]

I will be happy with 4-7 and signs of improvement on offense and defense

[Velcro]

Is this Velcro posting ???

i am all for being optimistic prior to the season but shock the world....unless that means 6 at most 7 wins I'm not sure what you are thinking.

I'm gone for a weekend and there is a conversation about me... I feel flattered ;D ;D

That is defintely a joke rating...  I don't know how we will finish, but I don't think 2-8 is right... there is only 1 game on the schedule that is far fetched to think we can win (but of course, We Will Win!! )  

We go 12-0 in my Green and Gold Goggles world... but I'd say 8-3 is realistically acheivable with any type of good qb play whatsoever.  

[bullzpen4636]

How can anyone predict how good or ba this team is going to be?  We don't know who our Qb is, nobody has really seen Denson play, we will have a new OC and a new QB coach.  This team was horrible when we knew who the players were (i.e. idiotic penalties, dropped passes, horrible tackling, etc.).  Now we have a few question marks and are playing the toughest schedule we've ever played yet we're going to win 7 games?

not so, the few who've watched practice have seen denson play, and it's pretty apparent that pj won't see the field next year. you'll all be pleasantly surprised with denson he's an exciting player to watch and is a reason for a lot of the optimism. btw, most of the players who committed those idiotic penalties, horrible tackling, and dropped passes graduated or have been deemphasized this spring (i.e. camon, garris, gipson, battles, bain, verpaele... errr wait scratch that last one)

[Bullpride08]

Who do you suppose USF would lose to if you have 8 wins?

This is more of a hope than a prediction.

If I was int he guessing mood I would be more inclined to go with six wins.   And thus USF's losses would be to WVU, Miami, PSU, Syracuse, and Pitt.

On the eight wins thread, that's based off the premise that only three teams on our schedule have truly superior talent- PSU, Miami, and WVU.

[Papa_Bull]

In fact, I would be willing to bet that USF has as many if not more four star recruits as anyone in the Big East sans Louisville- Denson, Hill, Hall, Ramon McCollough, Antonio Searcy, Johnny Peyton, and possibly another guy transfering in; is more than WVU, Rutgers, Syracuse, Uconn, Cinncinati, and Pittsburgh all possess.  And we also have quite a number of three star recruits playing for this team, some of which were a whisker away from being four star players like Jarrette Buie, DeArmas, Pat Carter, and Balloon.

You could have very well added Mompremier (Rivals #13 Outside LB), Jake Griffin (Rivals #19 OL), Mike Jenkins (Super Prep All-American) and Ronnie McCullough (Rivals #27 Inside LB).

Last year Athlon had USF with 7 of the top 20 HS recruits in C-USA. The problem was that many of them never got to play for one reason or another.

Flashback:

 C-USA Recruiting Rankings

The jewel of the Conference USA recruiting signings in February was Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, who decided to stay home and play for the Cardinals rather than go to Notre Dame, Tennessee or other schools that were after him. The school that grabbed the No. 1 class, however, was South Florida, which is on its way to the Big East soon and this batch of talent will help the transition.

Numerous big-time football prospects opted for Conference USA in the most recent recruiting haul, as collectively it was a good year for the league. Several schools enjoyed solid years, but South Florida had the best class, signing several blue chippers.

And with their impending move to the Big East, South Florida picked a great year to load up on talent. Leading the way for the Bulls are defensive stars Brouce Mompremier, an impact linebacker, and defensive linemen Jariette Buie and Richard Clebert. All have the talent and physical ability to play as freshmen. Offensively, names to look out for are lineman Jacob Griffin and receiver John Peyton.

TCU coach Gary Patterson is known for his defenses, but the stars in this class are on the offensive side of the ball, most notably receivers Otis McDaniel and Donald Massey. Athlete Shae Reagan can help at several positions for the Horned Frogs, including quarterback. Defensively, linebacker Robert Henson will fit nicely with the perennially stout TCU defense.

Louisville, Memphis, Tulane and Houston all caught big fish in the recruiting wars. The Cardinals held off many a powerhouse to keep hometown quarterback Brian Brohm from getting away. Tennessee, Notre Dame and many others tried, to no avail, to convince Brohm to commit.

Memphis signed linebacker Greg Hinds, who may have been the best player in Mississippi. Tiger coach Tommy West is a master recruiter and is the first Memphis head coach in a long time to convince local talent that staying home is a viable option. Local product Joseph Doss is an athlete who could have easily signed with an SEC school, but opted to sign with Memphis. Doss can play tailback, receiver or defensive back.

Tulane landed quarterback Scott Elliott and tight end Gabe Ratcliff, who both arrive in New Orleans with tremendous high school résumés. Defensive lineman Ryan Johnson is another name to remember for the Green Wave in the future. Houston signed a difference maker in Ivory Williams out of Beaumont, Texas. A member of the USA 400 meter relay squad that set the national junior record last summer, Williams could play defensive back or receiver for Art Briles’ club.

Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower does a solid job every year of signing players who may not project as high as others but seem to perform as well as the blue chippers in college. Bower dipped into Georgia to land a nice-looking signal-caller in Travis Clark. Running back Cole Mason, from Parrish, Ala., is a big back who looks the part of a Southern Mississippi bruiser.

New Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio grabbed talented tailback Delbert Ferguson and highly regarded defensive back Tyjuan Jones. Ferguson rushed for close to 5,000 yards at Harding High School in Youngstown, Ohio.

How They Stack Up

The 2004 C-USA Incoming Freshman Classes

1. South Florida

2. TCU

3. Memphis

4. Tulane

5. Houston

6. Louisville

7. Southern Miss

8. East Carolina

9. Cincinnati

10. UAB

11. Army

The Top 20 C-USA Incoming Freshmen

1. Brian Brohm QB 6'4" 205 Louisville, KY Louisville

2. Greg Hinds DB 6'2" 205 Southaven, MS Memphis

3. Ivory Williams WR 5'9" 165 Beaumont, TX Houston

4. Joseph Doss RB 5'10" 170 Memphis, TN Memphis

5. Brouce Mompremier LB 6'0" 210 Dade City, FL South Florida

6. Travis Clark QB 6'2" 220 Lincolnton, GA Southern Miss

7. Jacob Griffin OL 6'4" 285 Seffner, FL South Florida

8. Jariette Buie DL 6'3" 230 Seffner, FL South Florida

9. Scott Elliott QB 6'1" 175 Bay City, TX Tulane

10. C.J. Barrows RB 6'3" 205 Powder Springs, GA Southern Miss

11. Gabe Ratcliff TE 6'3" 230 Houston, TX Tulane

12. Shae Reagan QB 6'3" 230 Idalou, TX TCU

13. Andre Copeland RB 5'9" 190 Lake City, FL South Florida

14. Otis McDaniel WR 6'1" 175 San Antonio, TX TCU

15. Frank Morton DL 6'3" 285 Decatur, GA Tulane

16. Richard Clebert DL 6'1" 275 Miami, FL South Florida

17. Ryan Johnson DL 6'5" 240 Dallas, TX Tulane

18. Tyjuan Jones DB 6'1" 205 Trotwood, OH Cincinnati

19. Terrance Jones RB 5'10" 175 Sarasota, FL South Florida

20. John Peyton WR 6'5" 195 Dade City, FL South Florida

http://www.athlonsports.com/article.php3?story_id=3063  

[Sitting_BULL]

Miami, UL, and either Pitt or WVU most likely.  In every other game there is nobody we absolutely couldnt beat.

You don't seriously think we are going to beat Penn St @ Penn St?

S Bien, good points but, have we not also lost some of our good recruits as well?  That can probably be said of all schools.  The point though, is they've been recruiting for years at the  level we just started to.  Thus, their core of players is most likely a bit deeper than ours.

[Jim Johnson]

You don't seriously think we are going to beat Penn St @ Penn St?

It's within the realm of possiblity.  To be sure, they have a solid defense... but their offense couldn't beat pee wee teams.

Which means, even our young, inexperienced defense should be able to stop their offense.  The only question will be whether our offense can move the ball on their defense.

Keys to the game:

1) Field position... In this game more than ever, there may be a record number of punts... if we can pin them back in their end of the field more often then we have a chance for ...

2) Turnovers... If we can eliminate turnovers, or maybe get lucky and take away the ball in the Penn State red zone, it will be easier to score... of course the game may come down to ...

3) Field Goals... This will be the first time in a long time that we have not had a Grammatica kicking the ball.  During the Spring Game broadcast, the play-by-play guy was saying that we have a true-freshman that can really boot them ... made several 50+ yd field goals in high school.  Could be the difference in this game... if we can also minimize the ...

4) Penalties... Like Field Position, penalties can be a tremendous burden.  If we manage to get a drive going, only to have a false start or holding penalty kill it... we could have problems... the same could be said for stopping their offense, but giving them a first down for some stupid defensive penalty... The Over/Under for penalties for this game may need to be around 6 or 7.

JMHO.

[Cubanbull]

Im not sold that our defense can stop them they ended the season by scoring 37 on Michigan St.. The key in my book is our DEFENSE, if we cant stop them then we stand ZERO chance vs their defense. After the way our defense ended vs Pitt and Memphis they got to show that they can prevent long drives. This game in my book will show early on if we are headed for another losing season or we are going to have a shot at a winning one.

[Bullpride08]

You don't seriously think we are going to beat Penn St @ Penn St?

S Bien, good points but, have we not also lost some of our good recruits as well?  That can probably be said of all schools.  The point though, is they've been recruiting for years at the  level we just started to.  Thus, their core of players is most likely a bit deeper than ours.

It is true we've lost a few as well so it does even out- Terrence Jones, and Copeland, but surprisingly we've been able to keep many of our higher rated recruits in the fold.  Particularly if Buie joins the team this fall, and we've also added some highly touted transfers in Courtney Denson, Haliburton, and Tim Carter.  

However, many of those bigger schools have been recruiting at this high level for more years so they've got highly rated recruits that are RS-SR's, and JR's, whereas most of our highly rated players are sophomores or younger.  That makes a difference.

[Sitting_BULL]

It's within the realm of possiblity. .

Penn St has a solid core of 4 star recruits as well as a number of 5 star.  Their roster is comparable to the likes of most top teams in the country.  I know they went 4-7 last year but, it was against a tougher schedule than our 4-7 team played BY FAR!