Moving on tough for UC

[ChiTownBull]

Moving on tough for UC

Bearcats must focus on USF

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061021/SPT0201/610210388/1035/SPT

By C. Trent Rosecrans

Post staff reporter

ANDY LYONS/Getty Images

Close wasn't good enough for Greg Moore (front) and his UC teammates vs. Louisville.

During his Tuesday press conference, University of Cincinnati football coach Mark Dantonio was asked how difficult it was to put last week's 23-17 loss at No. 7 Louisville behind him.

"Is it hard to get over?" Dantonio asked. "I just talked about it again, so there. The natural thing is to ask all the 'what ifs' but if we do that against (South Florida), we won't win."

Getting over the near-upset has been tough for his team as well.

"It definitely still hurts," UC senior safety Dominic Ross said. "You want to move on, but you don't want to forget. When you go out on that field, you want to remember what it feels like so it doesn't happen again."

At the same time, though, the time for second-guessing is over, "It's done and over with," Ross said. "We can't go back and erase this play or that play."

Instead there are new plays to make, as Sunday the Bearcats host USF at 8 p.m.

Moving on after a near-win is nothing new to the Bearcats (3-4 overall, 0-2 Big East). After playing No. 1 Ohio State close for parts of three quarters on Sept. 16, UC then played Virginia Tech tight, leading after three quarters before falling 29-13. The Bearcats rallied to beat rival Miami University the next week and then Akron the next week.

"We definitely know how to put it behind us and move forward," Ross said. "The goal is to get to a bowl game, we can't think back."

At 3-4, there's little room for error if the Bearcats want to reach their second bowl in Dantonio's third season. UC needs to win at least three of its final five games to become bowl eligible. The Bearcats have shown the ability to compete with top teams, but with games against No. 4 West Virginia and No. 19 Rutgers remaining, they'll have to show they can win those games in order to go bowling.

"That's what gives you confidence, but you have to do something with that confidence," Dantonio said. "People still don't know where we're at. ... We have to go out and win, that's where we start Sunday."

All five of UC's remaining games are against Big East foes and the Bearcats haven't won a conference game in their last five attempts. UC has lost to Pittsburgh and Louisville so far this season, and lost their last three games last season, to West Virginia, South Florida and Rutgers.

"This is a different football team than last year. We're 0-2 right now, we've played Pitt and Louisville, two of the better teams in this conference, and we had chances to win," Dantonio said. "I don't think there's a bad football team in this conference. With our schedule, we've played three top 10 teams, we played a Pitt team that I don't know where they're ranked, but they've got to be climbing up there. (Pittsburgh received the most votes of any unranked team in both polls this week). ... We're 3-4 and the next three games are very critical."

Jim Leavitt's Bulls (5-2, 1-1) can become bowl eligible with a win Sunday, but the USF coach said he's impressed with the Bearcats this season.

"They hustle on defense, they run, they're well coached. They are solid," Leavitt said. "Offensively, their line is big. They have big running backs, big receivers and this quarterback (Dustin Grutza) has got the heart of a lion. He is a lot like (USF quarterback) Matt (Grothe). He is going to do whatever it takes and you saw that when he played us last year. ... I see, really, two teams that are very similar. I really do."

[bulls96go]

just win jim

[E.T.]

We NEED to put doubt in their helmets early !

Go BULLS !!!