Nothing is certain with Bulls football

[USFishin]

Nothing is certain with Bulls football

By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

The enigma that is the University of South Florida football team was at its most bizarre a year ago.

Were they the good Bulls who beat ranked Kansas, routed North Carolina State and were ranked 10th in the country? Or were they the bad Bulls who finished 2-5 in the Big East?

How could a team with that much talent lose to Louisville, which was in disarray? Or how could the Bulls be run off their own field 49-16 by Rutgers? For the first time, there was open discontent with Coach Jim Leavitt as alumni and fans filled message boards with various complaints. It all meant one thing was certain.

Change.

And there has been change. As the song says, a change will do you good. It sure couldn't hurt, anyway. As the Bulls opened practice Thursday for the season ahead, they did so with new offensive and defensive coordinators. That's the most visible change, but Leavitt also examined every aspect of his program.

"I've been looking at the training I do with the players. I've looked at that pretty close â a lot of time looking at our practice scheduling and conditioning," he said. "We've had two years in a row where we've dropped off in the middle of the season. You take the last three games of the past two seasons and we've finished well. It's been the middle time, in October, when we struggled. We have to figure out how to stop that."

Fittingly, people don't know what to make of the Bulls. They were picked to finish fourth in the Big East this week at the conference media day, but also received three first-place votes.

My take is simple: I think the Bulls should compete for the Big East title. It will be a major disappointment if they don't.

They have a fourth-year starting quarterback in Matt Grothe â that's almost unheard of in big-time college football â and a potential first-round NFL pick in defensive end George Selvie. They have more depth than in years past, particularly on the defensive line, and they should be able to handle it when players get hurt.

Early this season, Grothe should become the Big East career leader in total offense. He needs 288 yards to pass West Virginia's Pat White, who took the record from Donovan McNabb. That's pretty good company.

"I don't know if people really realize how big that is. We're talking about Donovan McNabb, Pat White ⦠and Matt's going to shatter that record," Leavitt said. "You don't know if that will be reached for a long time. That's pretty impressive, but we haven't won a Big East championship. Pat White won two Big East championships and beat Oklahoma [in the Fiesta Bowl]."

The Bulls were supposed to compete for the conference title last year but stumbled from the start, losing their first Big East game at home against Pitt. They basically fell apart after that before regrouping to win two of their last three, including a 41-14 laugher against Memphis in the St. Petersburg Bowl.

Injuries were part of the problem, particularly a nettlesome ankle injury to Selvie. The Bulls didn't have the depth to overcome.

And after the season, offensive coordinator Greg Gregory was either fired or demoted, depending on who is telling the story, before leaving for South Alabama. Longtime defensive coordinator Wally Burnham left for Iowa State.

"Our offense is going to be different. There will be a lot of subtle things that you might not notice on the field â it's more how we go about things," Leavitt said. "You've got to get in the end zone. If you say that around coaches, they'll know exactly what I mean."

It's their last chance to win the conference with Grothe and Selvie. Two of their toughest Big East games (Cincinnati, West Virginia) are at home. Their nonconference schedule includes FSU and Miami. There is a sense of urgency.

For a program that has been in and out of the national picture for a couple of seasons now, it's the Bulls' chance to prove they belong among the elite. Leavitt has seemed to sense that with his approach to this season. He says they are ready.

"If the gods are kind to us, we've got a chance to be a pretty good team," he said. "We really do."

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/07/bulls-balance/sports-colleges-bulls/

[Rizman]

Key is can CJL and others steer the program to a level of maturity that we need to see to stay up in the rankings and finish.  I am excited about this years program.

[Costa]

I like the comment (first one) that someone made. Sums up our local media coverage of the Bulls right there.