Three Straight Losses: Get It Off Your Chest & Point Your Finger

[Guest JulmisteForPrez]

I am surprised at the number of folks selecting "injuries" as the culprit.

I guess we may not realize how fortunate we've been in this area.

The Amarri Jackson injury has not hurt us in the slightest.

The only two injuries that have hurt us at all have been Walter Walker and Taurus Johnson.

Having just TWO injuries is pretty amazing!

Blaming these three losses on injuries is pretty funny.......almost as funny as if we had placed a checkbox up there for officiating.

[Orlando Bull]

I am surprised at the number of folks selecting "injuries" as the culprit.

I guess we may not realize how fortunate we've been in this area.

The Amarri Jackson injury has not hurt us in the slightest.

The only two injuries that have hurt us at all have been Walter Walker and Taurus Johnson.

Having just TWO injuries is pretty amazing!

Blaming these three losses on injuries is pretty funny.......almost as funny as if we had placed a checkbox up there for officiating.

Losing Amarri has been huge. Even if he only catches one ball in a game, and drops 4, he is still our most athletic guy (C Mitchell may be, but not perception), and the defense is likely going to put their best corner on him, or double team. That opens everything else up for the other guys to create more space. Now we have their best guy on Hester, other corner on Mitchell, with Bogan out, we are looking for converted QB Denson, or AJ Love, or C Hill to make a big time play on a safety or LB.

Having Amarri and TJ out is killing us. With at least one of them, we get Mitchell or Hester working on a LB or safety on those last two plays. Sorry to say it (and not blaming Mitchell as he is a freshman), but Amarri likely would have caught the jump ball that Mitchell dropped. When the chips are down, the senior would have been able to focus a bit more (see the catch/interferance against RU), he focus' more in pressure situations.

You (among others) take every opportunity to take a shot at Amarri. He is a big time leader on this team. Consider the fact that when he was recruited, we had nothing, we weren't in the Big East, we couldn't recruit stud receivers (Mitchell and Bogan types). So, we had to find athletic guys and make them into recievers. Amarri has had a pretty good career for a QB who wasn't playing football, chose basketball instead, and came back to a totally new position. He's not a great receiver, we all know that, but he has done well enough to deserve to play out his senior year without being attacked for every mistake.

As for other injuries...

Huners was expected to be a starter right?

Capogna (maybe griffin is a better blocker, but it still seems to me that Matt has to field 75% of snaps at his ankles)...

Erskin (huge loss)...

Delbert (maybe?)

Factor in that Grothe takes 20 hits a game because of the OL and the calls to run up the middle, and I think it is safe to say that when he wakes up in the morning, he probably doesn't feel like a 21-year old should feel.

With all that said, I voted special teams.

RU - missed FG, make it and we are looking at a tie game heading in to OT (also had one blocked, get it in, and we win)

UConn - Missed 2 FGs, make them, and we are kicking one for the lead on fourth down with a minute to go.

Cincy - Blocked punt for a TD, and dropped punt turned over to them (I don't think they scored, but time was not on our side) - I also need to recognize that we has a return for a TD in this one, so we over-achieved a bit here too.

You can easily say that if our special teams had executed, we could have won all three of those games.

[USF Colby]

I'm surprised I wasn't a choice, and people aren't claiming I somehow placed a curse on the Bulls so they could lose 3 games and all of the bandwagoners would go away so I could prove how awesome of a fan I am.

On a serious note

1) O-Line

On offense we are good at the skill position spots, I would say better than the three teams we have lost to. The problem is that our offensive line is weak, and in football the o-line is the most important part of the offense. If those guys can't block it doesn't matter what kind of skill players you have. A guy with a real strong arm might be able to survive by throwing deep passes constantly, but Grothe does not have the strongest arm ever, he needs time.

2) Injuries

Our receiving corps are depleted, you can make the case that losing Jackson doesn't hurt us that much. However, we don't have Taurus Johnson are missing a key lineman in Walter Walker and Bogan was hurt for a good portion of the Cincinnati game. Mike Ford is our best running back but due to injuries he isn't getting much playing time.

3) Offensive Play Calling

The highest vote getter so far, problem is that if you have an o-line that struggles at blocking it wont matter what plays you call. If you have injuries, the play-calling needs to be changed up and may not be as good because with lower quality players your going to have to call lower quality plays.

[DELdaBull]

An offense that squandered a 14-10 lead before getting on the field.  That is O-line, QB (4int), RB (1 fumble), WR (stone hands, 2 fumbles), O -Coordinator, Head Coach.

It is also on a D that handed the O a 14-10 lead and by the time they got back on the field were down 17-14 that started pressing trying to make another big play instead of playing fundamentally sound.

Other than that it was a perfect game!

[IncrediBULL]

We lost 3 of 5 O Line starters.  That is huge, so O Line needs to be on the list.  Remember how well Capogna played before injury.  And he had a second injury after the first, but still has had limited play.  We shifted all players after each injury.

When you start inexperienced Fresh/Soph's or smaller linemen, it will definitely affect your entire game...    I think this is the biggest issue so far, affects Special Teams (ie blocked punts with touchdowns) as well.... 

[Guest JulmisteForPrez]

I am surprised at the number of folks selecting "injuries" as the culprit.

I guess we may not realize how fortunate we've been in this area.

The Amarri Jackson injury has not hurt us in the slightest.

The only two injuries that have hurt us at all have been Walter Walker and Taurus Johnson.

Having just TWO injuries is pretty amazing!

Blaming these three losses on injuries is pretty funny.......almost as funny as if we had placed a checkbox up there for officiating.

Losing Amarri has been huge. Even if he only catches one ball in a game, and drops 4, he is still our most athletic guy (C Mitchell may be, but not perception), and the defense is likely going to put their best corner on him, or double team. That opens everything else up for the other guys to create more space. Now we have their best guy on Hester, other corner on Mitchell, with Bogan out, we are looking for converted QB Denson, or AJ Love, or C Hill to make a big time play on a safety or LB.

Having Amarri and TJ out is killing us. With at least one of them, we get Mitchell or Hester working on a LB or safety on those last two plays. Sorry to say it (and not blaming Mitchell as he is a freshman), but Amarri likely would have caught the jump ball that Mitchell dropped. When the chips are down, the senior would have been able to focus a bit more (see the catch/interferance against RU), he focus' more in pressure situations.

You (among others) take every opportunity to take a shot at Amarri. He is a big time leader on this team. Consider the fact that when he was recruited, we had nothing, we weren't in the Big East, we couldn't recruit stud receivers (Mitchell and Bogan types). So, we had to find athletic guys and make them into recievers. Amarri has had a pretty good career for a QB who wasn't playing football, chose basketball instead, and came back to a totally new position. He's not a great receiver, we all know that, but he has done well enough to deserve to play out his senior year without being attacked for every mistake.

As for other injuries...

Huners was expected to be a starter right?

Capogna (maybe griffin is a better blocker, but it still seems to me that Matt has to field 75% of snaps at his ankles)...

Erskin (huge loss)...

Delbert (maybe?)

Factor in that Grothe takes 20 hits a game because of the OL and the calls to run up the middle, and I think it is safe to say that when he wakes up in the morning, he probably doesn't feel like a 21-year old should feel.

With all that said, I voted special teams.

RU - missed FG, make it and we are looking at a tie game heading in to OT (also had one blocked, get it in, and we win)

UConn - Missed 2 FGs, make them, and we are kicking one for the lead on fourth down with a minute to go.

Cincy - Blocked punt for a TD, and dropped punt turned over to them (I don't think they scored, but time was not on our side) - I also need to recognize that we has a return for a TD in this one, so we over-achieved a bit here too.

You can easily say that if our special teams had executed, we could have won all three of those games.

Um, if you will just take a moment to take note of the title and ENTIRE POINT of this thread.....

What was to blame for these THREE STRAIGHT LOSSES.

All those other injuries you mentioned happened either in the pre-season (see Erskin, Huners) or early on in the season (see Capogna).

So we beat some really good teams without all those guys.

So maybe it was Amarri and his one reception per game & four drops per game that killed us.

[BullAdrian]

Special Team!!!!!

Kickoff:

We gives them in good position often.

Field Goal:

Did you know that we have highest attempts in redzone than anyone in Big East?http://cfbstats.com/2007/leader/823/team/offense/split01/category27/sort01.html

We scored 35 out of 46 in red zones.  We missed 9 FGs this years.. wondering how many missed FGs in red zones?

[Minotaur]

I am afraid that I had to choose special teams, although I would like to have chosen . . . . gulp . . . . The Jim.

I love him and by no means am I saying that he is not the coach USF needs but I put these loses straight on the head coaches shoulders for a few different reasons.

1.) CJL coaches the special teams and the performance of the special teams has been sub par. In these past three game we have had: a horrible place kicker who missed as many kicks as he has made, we have had two punts blocked, we have 2 fake punts pulled on us, we have had a fake FG pulled on us. I challenge you to find another coach on our staff with that kind of performance that isn't already packing their bags. I think its unreal not to challenge him on this.

2.) No responsibility for the offense. CJL constantly talks about the high standard to which he holds the defense. Have you ever heard him saying anything like that about the offense. Its not only the OC its the scheme. Its overly complicated to run and its becoming easier to stop, especially when so many other teams run a version of it AND you run it as poorly as we do. This P.O.S. version of the spread allowed us to grow at an accelerated rate but I think it is time we outgrew it. Its time CJL realized that by allowing half (arguably 2/3) of HIS team to be mired in mediocrity while demanding almost perfection from the defense is unfair and when they lose because of that 2/3 he is personally responsible for letting the team down.

3.) USF football needs a big picture head coach now. CJL is an unbelievable recruiter and emotional motivator (not going to delve into the +/- of that now). Hell I will even go as far to say that he is a great defensive coach but those are not the things this team needs now. We need a head coach that works like an executive. Hiring the right people and making sure they have what they need to succeed. Holding them (everyone) to a standard and making sure they meet it. Handling fund raising and media relations is more important than running sprints with the team. Arming them with what they need is more important than head butting them in the tunnel . . . .

CJL can easily make the transition to the kind of coach it will take to take us to the next level he just needs to do what he expects out of his players: accept coaching and get better every day.

[IncrediBULL]

I am afraid that I had to choose special teams, although I would like to have chosen . . . . gulp . . . . The Jim.

I love him and by no means am I saying that he is not the coach USF needs but I put these loses straight on the head coaches shoulders for a few different reasons.

1.) CJL coaches the special teams and the performance of the special teams has been sub par. In these past three game we have had: a horrible place kicker who missed as many kicks as he has made, we have had two punts blocked, we have 2 fake punts pulled on us, we have had a fake FG pulled on us. I challenge you to find another coach on our staff with that kind of performance that isn't already packing their bags. I think its unreal not to challenge him on this.

2.) No responsibility for the offense. CJL constantly talks about the high standard to which he holds the defense. Have you ever heard him saying anything like that about the offense. Its not only the OC its the scheme. Its overly complicated to run and its becoming easier to stop, especially when so many other teams run a version of it AND you run it as poorly as we do. This P.O.S. version of the spread allowed us to grow at an accelerated rate but I think it is time we outgrew it. Its time CJL realized that by allowing half (arguably 2/3) of HIS team to be mired in mediocrity while demanding almost perfection from the defense is unfair and when they lose because of that 2/3 he is personally responsible for letting the team down.

3.) USF football needs a big picture head coach now. CJL is an unbelievable recruiter and emotional motivator (not going to delve into the +/- of that now). Hell I will even go as far to say that he is a great defensive coach but those are not the things this team needs now. We need a head coach that works like an executive. Hiring the right people and making sure they have what they need to succeed. Holding them (everyone) to a standard and making sure they meet it. Handling fund raising and media relations is more important than running sprints with the team. Arming them with what they need is more important than head butting them in the tunnel . . . .

CJL can easily make the transition to the kind of coach it will take to take us to the next level he just needs to do what he expects out of his players: accept coaching and get better every day.

Agreed, ST needs a lot of work.  As Head Coach, CJL should not be handling that - but he doesn't have funds for a dedicated ST coach so he handles it. 

agreed, CJL is not the best O coach.  Needs better assistants (but needs $$ to be able to get them which have not been provided to him yet).

Regarding transition for him, I don't agree with the assertion he should be an executive level yet.  Not yet anyways.  We don't have funds to pay enough decent coaches that he has to be hands on.  We are not there yet not until money starts rolling in.  So a lot of the day to day falls on his shoulders.  Lee Roy is supposed to be getting the funds raised, but unfortunately everything is going up in costs (trainers are getting better, more scholarships, asst coach pay, equipment/gear, travel costs, etc).  With each hint of success comes a bigger price tag.

Also, keep in mind we have made a "pretty good team" from a lot of players no one else wanted.  Not a lot of our players had offers from bigger schools/conferences and chose us (yes a few, but not a lot).  Not many of the top 200 recruits have come our way. CJL being an "in the trenches" kind of guy with a players attitude, I think has helped fire the guys up to play beyond their athletic abilities.  Not saying they are not good, but look at WVU with two heisman hopefuls who have had record games against everyone but us.  Same with Auburn who beat UF but could not get past us.  Great wins but not something we can do with a few injuries and dipping into second string. 

If I were to sum it up, I think the players played great early on, then started to believe the hype about themselves, had a loss, and mentally have not returmed to form... 

[BJ]

How can you have a list of possible reasons why we lost three straight games but not include the coach as one of those options?