Relax: Last night wasn't as bad as you think...

[Griggsy]

This upcoming Auburn game is one of the most anticipated and important games in USF history from a national respect perspective.

That said, put yourself in the coach's position. We were expecting to beat a FCS (1aa) team with a 1/4 of our playbook while holding out our secret weapons for the most part. Now, we SHOULD have readily beat them (and at no point during the game was I seriously concerned we would lose -- had that been the case, I think CJL would have released the hounds), but mistakes, opening day rust, a surprisingly stout Elon pass attack (hats off to them and their amazing true fresh QB), poor special teams play, and overall bad luck just made it look bad. So what do you do? CJL made a judgment call to remain reserved and rely on vanilla offense and stout D to put them away. It wasn't pretty (and I think its apparent he wasnt happy), but it DID WORK.

I imagine that next weekend, we will see USF's "A team" out full force with an open playbook and we will see what the Bulls are REALLY capable of. Special teams still concern me, but I wouldnt at all be surprised to see Taurus at KR/PR, 2-3 back sets, and our beloved highlight reel Grothe on fire. Good luck, Auburn, with our running defense. I wonder if Auburn has ever netted negative rushing yards in a game  ;D

Folks, we're 1-0 and Auburn is 1-0 going into this game. They are crippled and - despite our unimpressive opener - this is the best team in USF history. Our last big game was upset of #7 WVU in THEIR house. The deck is stacked perfectly for us. Many teams never get this kind of shot to make a move. WE'RE GETTING IT IN 6 DAYS.

-Last season, we struggled against McNeese St, FIU, lost terribly to Cincy and Louisville, lost on road at Kansas, and we STILL had an unprecedented good season. This season will be better.

-We had 7k more for SEASON opener this year. 7k!!! Imagine what UCF, WVU, and Louisville games will be like

-We were essentially "starless" going into the opener of last season. PJ at QB, expecting the same ole, etc. This year, we're loaded with stars. McKenzie, Selvie, Grothe, Taurus, Jamar Taylor, FORD, Moffitt, et al

Plenty or reasons to be excited. See you guys in Auburn

[outrunner]

here here

But I do have to say, a crippled beast can sometimes be the most dangerous.

[E.T.]

No doubt we were uninspired ... we will be ready for Auburn.

Go BULLS !!!

[namuh-bull]

This upcoming Auburn game is one of the most anticipated and important games in USF history from a national respect perspective.

That said, put yourself in the coach's position. We were expecting to beat a FCS (1aa) team with a 1/4 of our playbook while holding out our secret weapons for the most part. Now, we SHOULD have readily beat them (and at no point during the game was I seriously concerned we would lose -- had that been the case, I think CJL would have released the hounds), but mistakes, opening day rust, a surprisingly stout Elon pass attack (hats off to them and their amazing true fresh QB), poor special teams play, and overall bad luck just made it look bad. So what do you do? CJL made a judgment call to remain reserved and rely on vanilla offense and stout D to put them away. It wasn't pretty (and I think its apparent he wasnt happy), but it DID WORK.

I imagine that next weekend, we will see USF's "A team" out full force with an open playbook and we will see what the Bulls are REALLY capable of. Special teams still concern me, but I wouldnt at all be surprised to see Taurus at KR/PR, 2-3 back sets, and our beloved highlight reel Grothe on fire. Good luck, Auburn, with our running defense. I wonder if Auburn has ever netted negative rushing yards in a game  ;D

Folks, we're 1-0 and Auburn is 1-0 going into this game. They are crippled and - despite our unimpressive opener - this is the best team in USF history. Our last big game was upset of #7 WVU in THEIR house. The deck is stacked perfectly for us. Many teams never get this kind of shot to make a move. WE'RE GETTING IT IN 6 DAYS.

-Last season, we struggled against McNeese St, FIU, lost terribly to Cincy and Louisville, lost on road at Kansas, and we STILL had an unprecedented good season. This season will be better.

-We had 7k more for SEASON opener this year. 7k!!! Imagine what UCF, WVU, and Louisville games will be like

-We were essentially "starless" going into the opener of last season. PJ at QB, expecting the same ole, etc. This year, we're loaded with stars. McKenzie, Selvie, Grothe, Taurus, Jamar Taylor, FORD, Moffitt, et al

Plenty or reasons to be excited. See you guys in Auburn

I don't think they were intentionally throwing behind the receiver, dropping balls that should have been caught, fumbling punts, fumbling snaps, getting burned in the secondary, making penalties on defense that extended drives, etc.  Don't kid yourself.

I think the team will be alright this year, but last night was not a good performance for the most part.  The thing that concerns me the most is our punting game.  Blocked punts can lose a game and it looks like we could be in trouble there.

Go Bulls.

[Guest BasketBull.]

All I wanted against Elon was for a RB to come out of the crowded backfield. Mission accomplished and I am happy.

Also, 33,000+ for an opener was good.

[JoeB]

Well said Griggsy.  A few more stats to chew on.............

Grothe was great last night, but still 22/38 for 227 yards and 2 TDs and no picks.  Solid job with no turnovers.  If he controls the ball better this year, we'll be very dangerous.  Even some of his completions weren't great throws, so that will improve.  Plus, there were a few drops in there as well.  It could have been better, but it wasn't as horrible as some are saying.

Our defense gave up 3.8 yards per pass attempt.  I think what teams shoot for is around 7 yards per attempt to be successful, so we basically cut that in half.  Very impressive.  Also Elon averaged only 1.3 yards per rush, which is a ridiculously miniscule amount.  

Don't fear, the D is still strong!!

[BullsFanInTX]

Let's also not forget, the game was never really in doubt and we had a lot of second stringers in there a lot of the second half especially on Defense.  The also got a garbage time TD which made the score look closer than it was.  And, their only TD drive existed because of our penalties, otherwise they wouldn't have scored.

[nukebull]

Not to demean anyone on this site but for 20 plus years of following CFB I have seen a ton of games were teams came out stale against lesser opponents and then pulled away to win in the 2nd half. UF and UT use to somehow always have a close game against Vandy for 2-3 quarters and then win. Famu use to keep it real close for a while against UM and actually won against them once.

The players are human and no matter what it is hard to get up for a team like Elon. I had trouble getting fired up to heckle Elon.

I truly feel the Bulls played the game they wanted and did not want to show too much for Auburn. Grothe got a good workout and Ford got in a little. I have no problem with the game last night. I have been watching other teams do the same thing for 20 years.

[South_Florida_Flip]

The thing that was real concerning was the special teams. Teachey shouldn't be dropping a snap that was right in his breadbasket. I had many concerns about Amarri returning punts and those came to light last night (hope the change to Edwards is permanent). The roughing the kicker was more like a running into the kicker, but it still should not have happened at that stage of the game.

2 personal foul penalties that that kept Elon drives alive lead to 10 of their points. We have to be more disciplined, which is nothing new.

Defense played very well. I thought we could have used Ford more, but we'll need him against Auburn.

[dantheusfman]

"I had trouble getting fired up to heckle Elon."

Trust me, I didn't  >  . One of the best parts about going in early to the student section is verbally abusing the visiting tem in front of you.

I have to agree with the notion that despite the fact that it was not FAMU in 2005, we handled Elon for 60 minutes last night. Our defense, as dangerous as ever, allowed the Elon QB to have his first taste of Bermudagrass this season. Six times, if I'm not mistaken. For a good three and a half quarters, we kept a decent offense out of the end zone, and although the secondary could have played better, the overall defense was right below expectations, which is normal for opening day.

The offense had its ups and downs. Matt Grothe, from what I saw, was a little less aggresive in terms of running. This could be because Mike Ford is now handling 80% of the running for the remainder of the season (That guy is a beast, people), but I'd like to see him take off a little bit more. Amari needs to toughen up his hands, he had one too many drops last night.

Overall, I think we still have a great shot to beat Auburn.