Tampa, we have a problem

[TheTrumpetBeast]

The defensive scheme has been pretty vanilla so far... The D-linemen first priority: stopping up the running lanes with Selvie rushing the passer almost every down.  This has worked flawlessly as it forces teams to throw the ball on our secondary.  By forcing the double team on Selvie teams are playing right into our defensive scheme.  Unless you're Kansas or have a Heisman-caliber QB you're not going to rack up the score on this secondary.  If Kansas had established the run in that game, we would have been toast.     

If USF wants to compete for a national title, then our reserves better be **** good and ready for the challenge.  Remember this is a TEAM sport, not a one / two / three man show.  The difference between good teams and great teams is depth.  We'll get to see how deep we are over the next 2 games.  I don't think we're going to see a helluva lot of dropoff from this defense.  There is some definite talent at backup on our line.     

If Selvie, McClain and Williams aren't 80 - 100% for this game, why risk them to further injury?  It's a big OOC matchup and winning it would be great, but not at the expense of having that depth available during conference play (which starts 5 days later).  Winning the BE conference and the assured BCS game that comes with it should be priority #1.  Just getting to the NC game through all the political garbage is more about luck and factors you can't control than anything else.  Just ask Auburn how you go 12-0 in the SEC and still be left out.   

Good post