realize the magnitude of DAMAGE done to the program...

[Bull Dozer]

We still have no national reputation, image, perception or whatever you want to call it. 

...and getting thrashed on national TV does nothing to build a national reputation.

we have to make the most of these opportunities when they come.

getting our asses kicked by 4th string QBs and letting every chubby running back in the NCAA breakout for 258 yards on us does absolutely diddly squat for building national prestige.

If you think that beating Oregon without Dixon (which is how it would have been spun by the talking heads) would have done a lot to build a "national reputation" your a bit delusional.  A lot of people are drama queens in this piece. 

[USF Princez099]

yes it was bad television and our "rep" took at hit, but ask GATOR FAN HOW THEY FEEL TODAY, losing to Michigan, whose season was ruined after a loss to app st and.......... oh yeah Oregon.

I was at that game yesterday (boyfriend is a die-hard Gator) and wore my Bulls shirt & hat.  I expected to catch hell for it, but surprisingly saw a few others in USF gear. 

Watching the Gators lose to Michigan made me feel a bit better about our spanking. 

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

... trust me, this set us back years.

Trust me ... our wins over Auburn & WVU offset this single game.

no, they don't.  two good games do not a reputation make.

people remember what they see most recently.  the AU and WVU games were months ago.  ancient history.

most people didn't see the AU game as we were still under the radar, and WVU has since lost to Pittsburgh-- a devastating loss to their program and the Big East even bigger than the Beatdown in El Paso, which coincidentally devalues our win.

face the facts.  in terms of national perception:

1) USF had "credibility" issues as soon as it broke the Top 10. everybody questioned if we were "the real deal."

2) those questions of credibility were proven to be founded when USF lost 3 in a row, starting with a bad loss at Rutgers in a highly-watched Thursday night game.

3) ending the season with 3 wins against the Big East's three worst teams (Cuse, Ville, Pitt) did not repair the damage done by the 3 losses.

4) getting THRASHED in El Paso on national TV reinforced the perception that we were "pretenders" from the beginning, and erased the effort we put forth in the last 3 games of the reg season.

USF's season, in terms of national perception (not the green and gold goggles of Bulls homers), is that we were fakers at #2 in the BCS, fakers in the NC title discussion, and fakers in the Top 10... and the blowout to a Dixon-less Oregon confirms this.

to u and me the AU and WVU wins are what define the season... to the average CFB fan in Georgia, Illinois, California, Ohio, etc. our season is defined by one word: MELTDOWN.

[Cubanbull]

Even if we would had beaten Oregon, people would think of USF as pretenders. A reputation is not build in one game but over years. USF will have to go out next year and win. And even if we go 12-0 and win the Big East people would say we are a pretender. Thats the reality as you said Auburn and West Virginia are ancient history and soon Oregon will be also.

The loss did not help our reputation but it hasnt damage it because we really dont have one.

So yes we are all dissapointed but lets be realistic ONE game does not destroy not make a program. Every team has had their blow outs. How many think that the Fiesta Bowl debacle by UF vs Nebraska hurt their reputation?

We do NOT have a name yet and beating Oregon was NOT going to create it. So lets focus on next year, Oregon is the past learn from it and move on.

[Bull Dozer]

... trust me, this set us back years.

Trust me ... our wins over Auburn & WVU offset this single game.

no, they don't.  two good games do not a reputation make.

people remember what they see most recently.  the AU and WVU games were months ago.  ancient history.

most people didn't see the AU game as we were still under the radar, and WVU has since lost to Pittsburgh-- a devastating loss to their program and the Big East even bigger than the Beatdown in El Paso, which coincidentally devalues our win.

face the facts.  in terms of national perception:

1) USF had "credibility" issues as soon as it broke the Top 10. everybody questioned if we were "the real deal."

2) those questions of credibility were proven to be founded when USF lost 3 in a row, starting with a bad loss at Rutgers in a highly-watched Thursday night game.

3) ending the season with 3 wins against the Big East's three worst teams (Cuse, Ville, Pitt) did not repair the damage done by the 3 losses.

4) getting THRASHED in El Paso on national TV reinforced the perception that we were "pretenders" from the beginning, and erased the effort we put forth in the last 3 games of the reg season.

USF's season, in terms of national perception (not the green and gold goggles of Bulls homers), is that we were fakers at #2 in the BCS, fakers in the NC title discussion, and fakers in the Top 10... and the blowout to a Dixon-less Oregon confirms this.

to u and me the AU and WVU wins are what define the season... to the average CFB fan in Georgia, Illinois, California, Ohio, etc. our season is defined by one word: MELTDOWN.

So your complaining that we have the same rep as before as pretenders?  Even if we won it would be well but they beat an Oregon team with their 4th string QB so we would still be labeled pretenders.  Your kidding yourself if you think a win would have changed anything.  We were gunna be pretenders no matter what happened because of those 3 losses in a row.  People are crying about losing something we never even had, its kinda funny actually. 

[af_bull05]

Some of you are seriously overreacting.  When I got to work this morning, I was expecting to catch hell.  Instead everyone was like, "So USF had a bad game, we've all been there."

I was at the game and it sucked seeing our defense get dismantled, but it's not the end of the world.  Hopefully they'll use this loss as motivation for next year.  I don't think our "national credibility" has been hurt that much, maybe just our egos. 

Even though the loss was bad, the season was still a success.  At least people outside of Tampa know who we are now.

[USF_Jimbo]

Even if we would had beaten Oregon, people would think of USF as pretenders. A reputation is not build in one game but over years. USF will have to go out next year and win. And even if we go 12-0 and win the Big East people would say we are a pretender. Thats the reality as you said Auburn and West Virginia are ancient history and soon Oregon will be also.

The loss did not help our reputation but it hasnt damage it because we really dont have one.

So yes we are all dissapointed but lets be realistic ONE game does not destroy not make a program. Every team has had their blow outs. How many think that the Fiesta Bowl debacle by UF vs Nebraska hurt their reputation?

We do NOT have a name yet and beating Oregon was NOT going to create it. So lets focus on next year, Oregon is the past learn from it and move on.

Amen...nice post. 

[Triple B]

So your complaining that we have the same rep as before as pretenders?  Even if we won it would be well but they beat an Oregon team with their 4th string QB so we would still be labeled pretenders.  Your kidding yourself if you think a win would have changed anything.  We were gunna be pretenders no matter what happened because of those 3 losses in a row.   People are crying about losing something we never even had, its kinda funny actually.   

This really sums this whole thing up quite nicely ..... All a win would have done was make MOST Bull fans happy but would have had minimal affect on our so called national "reputation".

[smazza]

Last year, we got our @$$e$ handed to us by Cinci or UL. This year, we came within a few minutes of winning all of our BE games. We didnt win our Bowl game like last year, but I would venture to say that this was a more successful year than last!

we lost 3 games

we came within hours of losing all our big east games

[smazza]

... trust me, this set us back years.

Trust me ... our wins over Auburn & WVU offset this single game.

no, they don't.  two good games do not a reputation make.

people remember what they see most recently.  the AU and WVU games were months ago.  ancient history.

most people didn't see the AU game as we were still under the radar, and WVU has since lost to Pittsburgh-- a devastating loss to their program and the Big East even bigger than the Beatdown in El Paso, which coincidentally devalues our win.

face the facts.  in terms of national perception:

1) USF had "credibility" issues as soon as it broke the Top 10. everybody questioned if we were "the real deal."

2) those questions of credibility were proven to be founded when USF lost 3 in a row, starting with a bad loss at Rutgers in a highly-watched Thursday night game.

3) ending the season with 3 wins against the Big East's three worst teams (Cuse, Ville, Pitt) did not repair the damage done by the 3 losses.

4) getting THRASHED in El Paso on national TV reinforced the perception that we were "pretenders" from the beginning, and erased the effort we put forth in the last 3 games of the reg season.

USF's season, in terms of national perception (not the green and gold goggles of Bulls homers), is that we were fakers at #2 in the BCS, fakers in the NC title discussion, and fakers in the Top 10... and the blowout to a Dixon-less Oregon confirms this.

to u and me the AU and WVU wins are what define the season... to the average CFB fan in Georgia, Illinois, California, Ohio, etc. our season is defined by one word: MELTDOWN.

this guy sounds like smazza