It's pretty sad, isn't it?

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

We are 4-0, have played lousy, and we're only ranked in the Top 15.   :'(

Come on, people!  A year ago we were happy to crack the Top 25.  Are we ALREADY bored with being ranked?

I'm not! 

No. The issue is ... we're supposed to be a Top 15 team, but we played against UCF and certainly FIU like a team barely in the Top 50.

Being ranked means certain expectations... the Kansas game showed the potential the team has...

But you have to realize... those of us who are not beaming with pride are not looking back, we're looking ahead... and we're taking this team's performance and extrapolating it forward... Louisville, Cincinnati, and WVU (at least) are games where USF simply HAS to perform better...

yep.

NCState, Pitt and UConn aren't going to be any easier than FIU either.

[slbpsi63]

We are 4-0, have played lousy, and we're only ranked in the Top 15.   :'(

Come on, people!  A year ago we were happy to crack the Top 25.  Are we ALREADY bored with being ranked?

I'm not! 

Has nothing to do with being ranked or not. It has everything to do with how inconsistent our Bulls are. If the game doesn't have any hype or require their A game, they just seem to go through the motions as if it's a walk through. I am getting tired of the lack of effort. We should have crushed UCF and FIU. I can give them a pass on UCF, but there is no excuse on the FIU game. They need to understand that every game we play the rest of the season is that teams super bowl. We will get there A game and if we don't bring ours another losing streak is around the corner.

[Who'sYourData?]

Every team is inconsistent.  I'm fully supportive of constructive criticism.  It's the incessant sky is falling routine that irritiates me.

Good, reasoned post -

We really better get our act together on the road, or we're going to get beat at some point.  The offensive line didn't fire off the ball after the first quarter.

Makes me want to poke my eyes with a pen -

OMG!  That was the worst game in the history of football!  Fire the coaches!  Get new players!  We'll never win another game in the history of the program!

The first quote is good discussion.  The second is silly, useless melodrama.

My 2 cents.

[Guest]

well I don't see how extrapolating current results out to later games is really talking about how to fix something.

It's not really our job as fans to "fix" anything, is it? (Especially since nothing we really say here will ever get to the coaches anyway)...  However, I will say what really has gotten me to this point is that our coaches and players haven't fixed anything -- or so it would appear.

You see, I could forgive our team for UCF... if they didn't let the same kinds of things happen against KU and FIU.  To me, that tells me something is NOT getting fixed.

Which is how you can actually start extrapolating going forward:

"Hmm... USF doesn't seem to have the cojones to finish off an opponent this season.  Well, if we let NC State or Louisville or WVU do the same thing, they seem to have the cojones.  We've been lucky so far, but that won't be enough against ______."

... This is a flawed approach to being a fan imo-- when do you ever get to enjoy the game if your main concern is what is wrong and what could go wrong? Wht ever happened to what went right (winning) and what fun you had while watching that? Different strokes perhaps. I just don't see the point of worrying about anything beyond last game and the next game. Yes-- we played down to our opponents level-- you are right about that. Does that mean the Bulls are suddenly less impactful on the field? Not at all. Every single game has it's own set of variables. It is nearly impossible to figure out how two teams matched against each other will do. That is the fun part of watching the game.

To be sure, I let everything go once the kickoff starts... until we get to the "Here we go again part..."  and that is really why I think I am where I am (mentally) right now.  Because I assume the coaches took care of the problems from the last game and we'll be okay in the next one.  But three straight games with essentially the same problems...(four if you count the bowl game, because UTM was a talent-issue).

Now I'm starting to worry that our coaches aren't sure how to prepare this team for a game. How to correct those mistakes...  Sure, once 7:30 Saturday hits, I will let all of this go and be cheering for the Bulls.

But that little part at the back of my mind that, last year, would disappear from game to game doesn't seem to go away completely this year...

Now if you are trying to find areas we need to work on-- have fun with that. You are really just hypothesizing and those thoughts are probably going no further than this forum. But I guess that could be fun. I seriously doubt any of it will reach the coaches. I join in those discussions sometimes but man-- some folks just want to throw coaches and players under the bus based on one or a few games-- that kind of makes me a little mad.

ps-- To think that Jim only felt USF played well for about 1 quarter and the final kick against KU is disturbing to me. It fails to recognize alot of good play imo. the momentum of the end of the first half is what led to the 3rd quarter imo. Nate Allen's INT was exceptional-- it wasn't just that kick.

There were a few good plays here or there... but outside of the time between our TD drive in the 2nd quarter until we scored the 34th point in the 4th (when our whole team was clicking like the WVU game), and then Bonani's kick (okay AND Allen's INT), our team was basically manhandled on offense and defense...

[TheBullies]

"Hmm... USF doesn't seem to have the cojones to finish off an opponent this season.  Well, if we let NC State or Louisville or WVU do the same thing, they seem to have the cojones.  We've been lucky so far, but that won't be enough against ______."

My friend, you need to take a chill-pill. Guys, I think we need to have Jim on suicide watch.

re: this quote, I can't fill in the blank. If we can do it against Kansas, it'll be enough for anyone left on our schedule.

When we get to our bowl opponent, we can talk.

[Sunil]

"Hmm... USF doesn't seem to have the cojones to finish off an opponent this season.  Well, if we let NC State or Louisville or WVU do the same thing, they seem to have the cojones.  We've been lucky so far, but that won't be enough against ______."

My friend, you need to take a chill-pill. Guys, I think we need to have Jim on suicide watch.

re: this quote, I can't fill in the blank. If we can do it against Kansas, it'll be enough for anyone left on our schedule.

When we get to our bowl opponent, we can talk.

Kansas was the best opponent on our schedule this year, but not the toughest matchup. Conference opponents are a different animal because of the familiarity with each other's schemes and personell. If we play for 60 minutes, I believe we are capable of beating ever team on our schedule...but we have yet to see the ability to give a consistent effort. The way we have played...6 of the 7 (excluding Syracuse) Big East opponents could give us a serious game down to the wire. Hope CJL uses the week to right the ship so we're ready for conference play because right now we are not...

[Bruce Blingstein]

Mike as a fan watching the game of any team you like in any sport, you dont ever get frustrated?  say things like man the rays are great but their closer is blowing leads.  Sure they are in first place but in situations where games and seasons really count we need to fix this problem or it will come back to bite us.  

I mean the only fan i ever knew that was just happy with their teams current record and ignored actual facts of games was my mom.  I would say she was a flawed fan.    

there is obvious areas where we need improvement, my mom wouldnt see it, she would see 4-0, but most do.

please re-read my comments.

I am talking about somethign different entirely. I cannot explain it again. Read it slowly

Yep I read it again and I got the same thing out of it.  You are saying every game is a different situation and we cant predict our performance from one to the other.  My point, and most everyone elses is, we get that.  The problem is when we cant close out games or give up leads towards the end of the games and like someone mentioned no enthusiasm on the sideline it is an obvious problem.  If our leaders and coaches continue the laid back approach against conference opponents late in games we will lose. not everyone is FIU or UCF

lackof conditioning, lack of focus both come to mind when we give up 14 point leads in the 4th quarter and beat a team like FIU by 8 points.  All can be attributed directly to the coaching staff. 

again the rays example.  When Percival comes into the 9th vs the Sox with a 1 run lead and gives up a leadoff hit you get the "here we go again" feeling Jim is talking about.

when usf vs any opponents starts getting outplayed, coached and scored in the 4th quarter i get the "here we go again" feeling again.  a conditioned emotion which has been reinforced by usf play on the football field late in games so far this year.

its quite simple you just cant stand seeing people point out negatives of usf, ive read this board enough, i know you have the biggest pair of green an gold goggles and take a negatve combative stance towards everyone who wants to see improvement.  my advice would be stay out of conversations when people like Jim are making great points about how we need to improve because everything he writes makes you say "good point" while every you write makes you say "i bet this guy couldnt see a negative out of the sunbowl"

[BleacherBull]

I'm happy with seeing a little bit of improvement from week to week.  Unfortunately, last Sat. we took a step or two backwards. 

[tamiamibull05]

Don't forget guys: most, if not all, of us thought we'd be 3-1 at this point. I know we certainly haven't been dominant, but we're undefeated and ranked top 15....they'll get it together. I certainly don't think we'll lose at home this year.

[NAM37]

To me the issue is simply that I feel we TRULY are overrated, and that very soon the season is going to start getting very ugly.

I hope and pray that I am wrong, but nothing I've seen on the field tells me that I am.