USF not in it for the long haul.

[MikeG]

We also didn't have a very coherent OOC scheduling policy before Woolard came along, or it might look a little different this year. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have gone into the calendar year still needing to fill two games.

Thats very unfair to say though. We were still UNKNOWN and weren't in the Big East and didn't have the BCS title to our advantage when we made the Auburn and UF deals. So of course there was some skewed scheduling.

and another way to look at it that with the schedule not really fully set for all these middle years, we were able to take advantage of the 12th game addition, and flexible enough to grab some home and home deals with other BCS teams also seeking to fill suddenly open schedule dates. Sometimes a perceived screw up is a more of a fortunate turn of events than we realize.

I think Woolard has done nothing but a stellar job in providing us a schedule that makes sense for the long run, even with the pay day games we have lined up. WHo knows-- those games against Auburn or Miami and even Penn State might lead to future home and home deals done the line (probably not though-- the stadium is too small to accomodate those schools ticket demand).

[OhioBull]

Guys, don't forget the weak or strong a W is a W.  We may not have won big, but we have won.  I live in Ohio and a few years back the Buckeyes won the National Championship one game at a time.  Everyone in Ohio had rode them off because they couldn't blow out the easy teams.  All year long they barely won against seemingly much weaker opponents.  As the year went on they just kept finding ways to win against everyone.  Don't ride this team off.  We have some PTP'ers on offense and defense and when push comes to shove they are making plays.  I look for this team to make a real statement this year.

[Apis Bull]

One other fallacy i see is the fact that we have had close games indicates we have played poor.  Special teams has been poor, but the O and D have both been good.

1) Blocked punt against MSU.  If we had a punter that could hang on to ball, we nearly shut them out.

2) Penalties on punt returns.  If we hadn't committed the penalties on Ean's returns against FIU, we would have won by 3 tds and you guys would have said how good we played.  Plus we gave them a td on the end of first have by committing 30 yards of penalties after stopping them.  Score never should have happened.  Fix these little miscues and we win by 3-4 tds.

3) See item # 1 against CFU.  Could have been a 14 pt win easily.

If we had fixed the special teams from get go we could have won all 3 games handily, and you guys wouldn't be complaining that we had barely beaten inferior competition.

These special teams miscues have made is seem as we can barely compete with poor teams when if fact we are playing better overall and improving each week.

You always cite how if things went one way we would have won the game by X amount of points. TX I'm sorry but in most cases you just cannot do that. If it's a totally outrageous call, I might give it to you, but that's what separates the good teams from the great teams.

Special teams are probably the most important aspect of the game because they are only out there for a number of plays a game and if something does go wrong it's extremely hard to fix because you don't get them back on the field til the next punt, or XP, or kick off, etc.

We won the 1st 3 games in a manner that we should have because that's how we played. Our special teams are not very good right now, however whether a team scores on a 50 yard bomb or a blocked punt it's still worth 7.

I think the advantage with our schedule is we can have those errors, still win, and hopefully work them out as we go.

[Supersurch]

gorthe is the qb no matter what

about the schedule,i dont see the point having such a weak schedule other thAN GETTING EASY WINS

it doesnt prepare team to play good teams

playing good teams helps prepare usf to play good teams

I disagree with that, because a young team could suffer tremendously with moral and confidence if they were to lose to tougher programs early on in the season.  It would be counterproductive in preparation for conference play.  Especially with a RS freshman running the offense.

If we had an experienced team with mostly Seniors and Juniors with the maturity to deal with adversity early in the season and being able to adjust going into conference play, then I would say play tougher teams.  But we don't have the maturity right now.  Look at the penalties.  Look at how petrified the punters get when they have to punt.  Mike Benzer looks as if he is going to throw up every time he gets an opportunity to kick an extra point and/or a field goal.  These guys are young.

[mutt]

Not in it for the long haul??? we're ten friggin years old...   Wait till we go 13-0,           ...we still will get overlooked.

[Joe]

Mutt he means for the season in this article. He doesn't buy us as a legit contender for the BE just yet because our opponents haven't really been teams you would consider measuring sticks for Rutgers, Louisville, Pitt, and WVU

[TyBull]

Who has the mighty Rutgers defeated?  At UNC & Illini and Ohio Bobcats at home and they are not Natl Championship teams....

Check back after the Rutgers game. My bet is USF will still be standing.

[BiggTipp]

Who has the mighty Rutgers defeated?  At UNC & Illini and Ohio Bobcats at home and they are not Natl Championship teams....

Check back after the Rutgers game. My bet is USF will still be standing.

i agree..though Rutgers looked good in those games, they havent really played tough competition either...we shall see 8-)

[BullsFanInTX]

Why does it bother me that a team we beat by 14 points last year, has the same record we do, both teams went to bowl games last year.  But according to the press, RU is light years ahead of us???  Plus the game is to be played in Tampa, and they are supposed to blow us out or something.  It could happen, but I see a close game, it's not like one program is so far ahead of the other.

[Joe]

Rutgers is a MUCH better team than last year and we don't have Andre Hall to rescue us this year that's why.