Instant Analysis: South Florida-West Virginia

[ChiTownBull]

http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=183&p=2&c=594347

By Matt Zemek

Staff Columnist

Posted Nov 25, 2006

A funny thing happened on the way to a huge prime time battle with Rutgers: West Virginia forgot to take care of business against a Bullish team from Tampa. Jim Leavitt's boys were able to take advantage.

South Florida took down Louisville a year ago, but that game was at home. This year, the Bulls' Big East breakthrough came in Morgantown, where the home folks had every right to expect a solid victory one week before Rutgers came a'callin' with a share of the conference title on the line. But in a scenario that always repeats itself in college football, a highly-touted team chose to look ahead to the following week instead of tending to the matter at hand. This lack of focus destroyed West Virginia against the Big East program that does the best job of maximizing its talent on an annual basis.

If it was said before the game, it was repeated during the contest as well: South Florida's defensive front was undersized against the Mountaineers' highly respected offensive line. West Virginia's skill position speed figured to have its way with the Bulls on Saturday, but that's because Dan Mozes and the rest of WVU's big uglies stood an excellent chance of dominating in the trenches. Once the game started, however, the smaller dog in the fight had all the fight in the dog, as Josh Julmiste, Jarriett Buie, and basically anyone else wearing a number from 90 to 99 (the numbers for defensive ends, defensive tackles, and nose tackles) punched the Mountaineers in the mouth. On both sides of the ball, South Florida humiliated Rich Rodriguez' team, pancaking the pancake-flat WVU club that was aiming to stay in the race for a BCS bowl bid.

Aside of USF's domination in the trenches, the other reason for the Bulls' huge upset was the Mountaineers' stunning lack of success in the red zone. Only once in five red zone forays did Pat White, Steve Slaton, the rest of a truly explosive offense find a way to put the ball in the end zone, a sign that the Bulls possessed ample mental toughness to complement their physical prowess at the line of scrimmage. South Florida didn't just dominate in general, but in the game's pivotal patches as well.

WVU's lack of efficiency, as shocking as it was in the red zone, was made worse by a White fumble that turned into an instant South Florida touchdown. All told, the failures of West Virginia's offense represented the entire difference in the proceedings. South Florida's defense didn't just keep the Mountaineers at bay; USF defensive coordinator Wally Burnham had a unit that also made pivotal plays which turned into points. In light of the final five-point margin, USF's defensive touchdown was needed to win the game; when the Mountaineers struggled in the first half, they would have maintained a six-point lead had George Selvie not produced his defensive scoring play. It's one thing to dominate and take advantage of a flat opponent; it's quite another to reflect that domination on the scoreboard. South Florida didn't just stay surprisingly close in the first half of action; the Bulls were able to take a lead to the locker room, and that propelled them to their unlikely triumph in Morgantown.

West Virginia can only hope that Pittsburgh will come back to beat Louisville this afternoon. Otherwise, the Mountaineers' 2006 season will fall woefully short of their rightfully elevated expectations.