An observation about USF

[John]

I am disappointed with Forde with this.  I may be wrong, but Rutgers looks extremely one dimensional to me.  Mr. Rice will kiss his Heisman hopes good-bye in this one.  In fact, I guarantee his numbers will be identicle to ex-heisman hopeful, Steve Slaton's numbers against us.

Also, last year, we led at halftime against this team.  In the second half, Grothe looked like a freshman.  He failed to put the ball away in traffic.  And, it looked like he did a poor job of recognizing the defensive scheme - which led to a pick.  Even after all of that, we were still a dropped two point conversion pass away from sending the game into overtime.

Our team is better than the one Rutgers faced last year - if for any reason - we are a year older.  Leavitt has this team focused.  Every week this team looks more focused than the previous week.  Minus any injuries in the preceeding games, we will hand Rutgers a beatdown.

[bullwark]

The Bulls have to take care of the Owls and Knights first.  The UCF game is going to be a tough game, UCF has never beaten the Bulls and they will be looking to knockoff a ranked team especially a team wearing green and gold.  Although I agree the Rutgers game will be difficult due to the short week and being played on the road.

[Guest]

About some of our future games...

Cincinnati and FAU are both ahead of USF in total turnovers and turnover margin... and Connecticut is in the Top 10...

Bowl Subdivision (FBS) National Team Report

Turnover Margin

Rank Name Games Fumgain Intgain Gtotal Fumlost Intlost Ltotal Margin Wins Losses Ties

1 Cincinnati 5 8 13 21 3 4 7 2.80 5 0 0

2 Fla. Atlantic 5 7 11 18 2 4 6 2.40 3 2 0

3 LSU 5 5 10 15 1 3 4 2.20 5 0 0

3 California 5 7 8 15 2 2 4 2.20 5 0 0

5 South Fla. 4 7 10 17 7 2 9 2.00 4 0 0

5 Bowling Green 4 6 8 14 2 4 6 2.00 3 1 0

7 Connecticut 5 3 11 14 2 3 5 1.80 5 0 0

Bowl Subdivision (FBS) National Team Report

Turnovers Gained

Rank Name Turnovers Gained

1 Cincinnati 21

2 Idaho 18

2 Fla. Atlantic 18

4 South Fla. 17

5 California 15

5 Michigan 15

5 LSU 15

5 Indiana 15

9 Arizona St. 14

9 Bowling Green 14

9 Troy 14

9 Kentucky 14

9 Connecticut 14

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Kevin Smith (UCF) leads the nation in rushing yards... and Ray Rice (Rutgers) is still 7th despite his bad game against Maryland...

Rank Player Pos Cl Gm Carries Net TDs Avg Ydspgm

1 Kevin Smith, UCF RB JR 4 117 713 10 6.09 178.25

2 Darren McFadden, Arkansas RB JR 4 105 657 6 6.26 164.25

3 Eugene Jarvis, Kent St. RB SO 5 125 769 7 6.15 153.80

4 Michael Hart, Michigan RB SR 5 157 761 7 4.85 152.20

5 Calvin Dawson, La.-Monroe RB SR 4 92 556 2 6.04 139.00

6 P.J. Hill, Wisconsin RB SO 5 139 667 9 4.80 133.40

7 Ray Rice, Rutgers RB JR 4 95 528 9 5.56 132.00

WVU, Rutgers, and U Conn have better defense (statistically) on the total defense list...

Rank Name Games Plays Yds Avg TDs Ydspgm Wins Losses Ties

1 LSU 5 302 873 2.89 4 174.60 5 0 0

2 Ohio St. 5 314 988 3.15 4 197.60 5 0 0

3 Kansas 4 265 875 3.30 3 218.75 4 0 0

4 Wyoming 4 257 995 3.87 8 248.75 3 1 0

5 Connecticut 5 315 1253 3.98 7 250.60 5 0 0

6 Oklahoma 5 341 1318 3.87 8 263.60 4 1 0

7 Penn St. 5 342 1325 3.87 9 265.00 3 2 0

8 Boise St. 4 261 1067 4.09 8 266.75 3 1 0

9 Iowa 5 314 1337 4.26 7 267.40 2 3 0

10 Pittsburgh 5 346 1342 3.88 13 268.40 2 3 0

11 West Virginia 5 311 1367 4.40 11 273.40 4 1 0

12 Rutgers 4 285 1104 3.87 7 276.00 3 1 0

13 Kansas St. 4 277 1105 3.99 8 276.25 3 1 0

14 Colorado 5 314 1383 4.40 13 276.60 3 2 0

15 Southern California 4 280 1110 3.96 10 277.50 4 0 0

16 Arizona St. 5 332 1391 4.19 7 278.20 5 0 0

17 Vanderbilt 4 251 1116 4.45 7 279.00 3 1 0

18 South Fla. 4 303 1150 3.80 5 287.50 4 0 0

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USF leads the nation in tackles for loss... but both Rutgers and Cincy are near the top (10 and 13, respectively) in fewest tackles for loss allowed...

Want more ... check the NCAA site here.

[Jamie]

The Cincinnati-Rutgers game is at Rutgers. Their BE schedule is actually pretty favorable - the only road game they have against a tough opponent is Louisville (I'm not totally discounting them yet).

[ChiTownBull]

I think we will find out about rutgers this sat.

While I think they were over rated they might be a top 15 team

They have rice and a good defense and it seems their wr's have improved

I still think we can force teel to try and beat us and force him into mistakes

Also think rice is the kind of back that could potentially have more success as he has power and speed and can run up the middle unlike wvu

Do they still have that good fg kicker?

I also think we would have beat them last year if ponton had played

Thurs night on the road in conf will be a tough game

Just saying I don't think we should take them lightly

Sorry for the ramble