Bulls Index Face Lift

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Nothing like a mini-vacation to help recover from a devastating loss. I'm never one that calls out officials, but the booth overturn of the TD on the blocked field goal really broke our backs. Going into half-time with a 14-point lead would have been a huge advantage, especially on the road.

I'm Pumped! Time To Gore A Few Scarlet Knights!

A lot of articles from around the country are loaded with Bulls coverage, but they all seem to have the same story containing a variety of clichés. "Cinderella Story", "Out of Nowhere", and "Improbable" all seem to be mandatory verbatim in every story. Meanwhile, a few have drawn attention to a small little banner in the lower right-hand side of the newest Sports Illustrated. I love the exposure, but hate the play on words that every media outlet insists on using. "NO BULL SOUTH FLORIDA IS #2!"

I know the SI Jinx is only supposed to be for full covers and not just small banners, but I'm sure there is a Rutgers fan out there somewhere that is now convinced a Scarlet Knight victory is inevitable due to our name sharing the cover with Tom Brady.

Enjoy the game tonight, and take a look at my game preview if you haven't already.

Heisman Talks Are Beginning To Include Matt Grothe

A lot of articles today about Matt Grothe for Heisman and even one that makes an arguement for George Selvie to take home the hardware. As nice as it would be to see a Bull take home the trophy, I don't believe either to be the best player in the country. Don't get me wrong, Grothe and Selvie are two of the best right now, just not #1.

Tom Jones believes that if the Heisman were to be handed out right now that Grothe is the clear-cut winner. He compares Grothe to the top eight candidates and lists his reasons why Grothe is the better pick. [SP Times]

Martin Fennelly gives a more general mention to the Heisman talks that are starting to include Grothe's name. [Tampa Tribune]

Christopher Reina has Grothe ranked #9 in his list of Heisman worthy candidates. [Real GM Football]

BULLS WEBTOPIA...

• Matt Grothe is becoming more and more a leader with each passing game.... [Lakeland Ledger]
• ....and even convinced Coach Leavitt to change his mind and go for the touchdown at the end of the first half against UCF. [Tampa Tribune]
• Rutger's players contemplate how to stop the force that is Matt Grothe. [Home News Tribune]
• Kevin Blackistone is ready to hand the Heisman off to George Selvie.... [AOL]
• .... and Rutger's OL Pedro Sosa is up to the challenge of containing Selvie. [NJ.com]
• Joe Starkley chronicles Coach Leavitt's path to history. [ESPN.com]
• In each of Rutger's losses this season, Ray Rice was held to under 100 yards rushing. [ESPN.com]
• USF at Rutgers preview. [ESPN.com]
  

Looking Ahead: Rutgers

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-1 Conference, 4-2 Overall) are our gracious hosts this Thursday on a nationally televised game on ESPN. Let's take a look at Rutger's schedule so far this year: Buffalo, Navy, Norfolk St, Maryland, Cincinnati, Syracuse. The only two teams worth a damn that they've played so far has been Maryland and Cincinnati who both walked into New Jersey and came out with a win.

At one point in time this season Rutgers was ranked as high as 10th, but why? Matching up against South Florida, the Scarlet Knights do not fare too well:

• QB - USF
• RB - Rutgers
• WR - USF
• OL - Rutgers
• DL - USF
• LB - USF
• DB - USF
• ST - Rutgers

Rutgers QB Mike Teel has been steady but tends to turn the ball over too much. He threw three interceptions in the loss against Cincinnati and one in the loss to Maryland. RB Ray Rice's average yards per rush has dropped this season, but has become more active in the passing game already catching 17 passes this season alone after only catching a total of 12 in the previous two seasons.

Rutgers likes to run Rice in a stretch play with the FB leading the way. Rice then runs down the line looking for a seam to run through. With Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams excelling at 1 on 1 match ups all year long, look for USF to stack eight in the box with Ben Moffit filling Rice's running lanes and racking up double digit tackles. George Selvie should add a few more sacks and TFL to his NCAA leading totals while using his speed to force Rice up the middle and keep him from getting to the outside.

Vegas currently has USF as a 2.5 point favorite, but I see USF doubling up Rutgers 34-17.

Bobby Bowden Showing Love For USF

Nick Saban is not a fan. Jimmy Johnson? Nope. Mike Prater of the Idaho Statesman only has USF as the 7th best team in the country on his latest AP Poll ballot. Bobby Bowden? "I'm glad to see someone in the state of Florida holding the banner up while the rest of us try to get off the floor." It's good to see College Football's all-time wins leader not making excuses for Florida State falling behind a school not named Florida or Miami. After all, it was just nine months ago when UF destroyed Ohio State for the National Championship. [Seattle Times]

BULLS WEBTOPIA...

• Jon Gruden has admitted he's a Matt Grothe fan. The way Gruden loves to stock up on QB's it's hard to imagine Chucky ever seeing a QB he didn't like. [Lakeland Ledger]
• The UConn game on Oct 27 has been given a 3:30pm start time and will be shown on ABC. [SP Times]
• Stewart Mandel tells us why he voted USF as the best team in the country. [Sports Illustrated]
• "If the Ohio State jerseys had 'Indiana' on them, they'd be in the same boat as South Florida." - BCS Guru Jerry Palm [Sportsline.com]
• The Collegiate Licensing Company is warning fans to be on the lookout for fake USF merchandise. [Bay News 9]
• Matt Grothe is the dominant human pinball. [SP Times]
• Dan Patrick stakes his claim the 'His' South Florida Bulls. [Dan Patrick]
• Ray Rice was the last running back to run for over 100 yards against the Bulls defense...and he did it twice in one game. [NJ.com]
• Coach Leavitt has no interest in chatting about the BCS. [Courant.com]
• USF notched two wins this past Saturday. One against UCF, and one in the recruiting war. [Tallahassee Democrat]
• Save money on your taxes, go to USF home games. [SP Times]
  

Bowl Championship Series Explained

Team percentages are derived by dividing a team's actual voting points by a maximum 2850 possible points in the Harris Interactive Poll and 1575 possible points in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Six computer rankings calculated in inverse points order (25 for #1, 24 for #2, etc.) are used to determine the overall computer component. The best and worst ranking for each team is dropped, and the remaining four are added and divided by 100 (the maximum possible points) to produce a Computer Rankings Percentage. The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin, and Peter Wolfe. Each computer ranking accounts for schedule strength in its formula.

The BCS Average is calculated by averaging the percent totals of the Harris Interactive, USA Today Coaches and Computer polls.

Tony Marquis Doesn't Want His Alma Mater To Succeed

Tony Marquis is an alumnus from USF as well as a "cynical sportswriter" for the Corsicana Daily Sun in Texas that wants to see his Bulls fail. Citing his fear of losing normalcy as his reasoning, he longs for the days where people have no idea where the University of South Florida is located and no one confuses Hook 'em Horns with Go Bulls.

What is this guy thinking? In a time where Bulls fans are displaying their horns with pride Mr. Marquis prefers to keep them hidden. I tried giving his article the benefit of the doubt after first reading it, hoping to detect some type of sarcasm that puts his thoughts off as a joke but I failed to find any. If you feel the Bulls should be ranked #10 instead of #2, support your thoughts with facts and I'll respect your opinion if your logic is viable. If you feel the Bulls should tank the rest of the season simply because "you're not winning one or even two (national championships) anytime in my lifetime" you should look for employment somewhere other than the journalism field. [Corsicana Daily Sun]

BULLS WEBTOPIA

• Complete AP Poll voting results [Google Docs] *I will credit this link as soon as I can pinpoint the creator.
• A very deep photo album from the USF vs UCF game. [Talking Sports]
• Stewart Mandel sees many similarities between this years BCS rankings and that of the 2003 season. [Sports Illustrated]
• ESPN's Outside The Lines will be running a feature on USF this Sunday. [Tampa Bay's 10]
• Matt Hayes is positive that a USF vs BC BCS National Championship Game would be a nightmare for the NCAA and the BCS...... [TSN]
• ....then goes on to wonder if USF can be stopped.....[TSN]
• ....and that he told us so. Make up your mind Matt! [TSN]
  
• USF beat Georgia Tech.....in hockey. [Bradenton Herald]
• Al Keck reminds us that USF's top players are all sophomores. I'm sure no disrespect was implied towards Mike Jenkins or Ben Moffit. [ABC News]
• Rutgers began prepping for this Thursday's game vs USF mid-way through the Syracuse game. [NorthJersey.com]
• The next two Thursdays are must see TV thanks to USF vs Rutgers this week and BC vs Virginia Tech next week. [NY Times]

Matt Grothe's Perfect Pass to Taurus Johnson vs UCF

Grothe is developing nicely as a passer. I'd personally like to see Grothe stay in the pocket a little longer to deliver more passes like this one.

BCS Rankings and Elon's Kicker

So the computers say USF is the best team in the country (5 of 6 do anyways) but the people still don't agree. The first BCS rankings of the year are here and Ohio State sits at the top at #1 with USF #2. Dennis Dood of CBS Sports notes that it's never a plus for a BCS team to play a Division I-AA and that Elon place kicker Andrew Wilcox is USF's team MVP, citing a 49-yard field goal to beat #21 Georgia Southern 36-33 as the reason. Huh? Dood fails to mention that Ohio State also played a Division I-AA opponent of their own in Youngstown State and does not list the Penguins PK Brian Palmer as their team MVP despite his three FGs in a win against Southern Utah on Saturday. Just for the record, Elon's only other loss this season came against defending national champion Appalachian State 49-32.

BULLS WEBTOPIA...

• BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls. [ESPN.com]
• Kyle Hightower breaks down the worst Division I loss in UCF history. [Orlando Sentinel]
• Slow program progression, weak conference membership, and upset capabilities make UCF a risk that isn't worth taking and it's time for USF to move on to a more worth opponent. [SP Times]
• After being held to a season low 55 yards rushing, UCF RB Kevin Smith was tight lipped while sneaking past reporters after Saturday's loss. [SP Times]
• Photo Gallery from the UCF game. [Tampa Tribune]
• College Football News breaks down the Top 10 in the BCS, all while predicting a USF loss to Rutgers this Thursday. [Scout.com]
• A "What If?" look at a March Madness style playoff in college football. [Scout.com]
• CBS updates their Bowl Predictions and has Ohio State and LSU playing for the National Championship. [Sportsline.com]
• A 59-year-old Texas grandfather plays the O-Line for a Division III team. [ESPN.com]
  

How is this guy still able to walk?

Apparently David Whitley (above) had a death wish that wasn't fulfilled. His trip to USF to get student opinions on the upcoming UCF game and his accompanying article have outraged many USF students, alumni, and fans. Mission Accomplished, Dave. My guess is that while on the bull it was the first time Mr. Whitley had ever had a set of balls (real or not) between his legs.

Playoffs? Diddly Poo!

ESPN.com writer Jemele Hill thinks that USF is the poster child for a playoff system in college football. By comparing USF to "the have nots" of Appalachian State and Stanford she writes that the gap almost would become an imaginary line. What she fails to realize (or maybe research as all good writers should) is that Appalachian State is coming off a national championship and is not even in the same bowl division as "The Haves" and that Stanford can rarely be a contender due to their high academic standards. Well played Ms. Hill. A comparison to both Utah and Boise State's undefeated seasons in 2004 is a little off as well since neither school is guaranteed a BCS bowl just for winning their conference.

BULLS WEBTOPIA...

• About 50 counterfeit tickets were sold for the USF-West Virginia game. Fans are being warned to look out for counterfeits for Saturday's game against the University of Central Florida. [Bradenton Herald]
• Why scalp when you can still buy tickets? [Fox Tampa]
• USF nose tackle Richard Clebert gives the quote of the year regarding UCF RB Kevin Smith. [TSN]
  
• USF is closing the gap on FSU, UF, and UM when it comes to recruiting. [Palm Beach Post]
  
• The mayors of Tampa and Orlando have a gambling problem. [Fox Tampa]
• USF and UCF have 28 fumbles between them this season. [Orlando Sentinel]
• The critics aren't jumping on the USF bandwagon.... [USA Today]
• .... and that's fine with me. [Sunday Morning Quarterback]

Finally, congratulations to The Professor over at RaysIndex.com for having the courage to drop the blogspot from the site. Corky has been grateful enough to let us borrow many of his ideas and his site is a great read for Rays fans.

Looking Ahead: Central Florida

The University of Central Florida Golden Knights (1-1 Conference, 3-2 Overall) make the short trip down I-4 this Saturday to play in a sold out Raymond James Stadium in their last trip to Tampa for the foreseeable future. UCF has never beaten a ranked opponent, going 0-17 and more importantly have never defeated USF going 0-2 including a 24-17 loss last year. The third game of the four game series will conclude next season at UCF's new Brighthouse Networks Stadium.

After going into half time up 28-17 in last weeks game vs Eastern Carolina the Golden Knights gave up 35 second half points to lose 52-38. Prior to this game the UCF message boards had been loaded with talks of USF with only a few sparse posts regarding ECU to be found.

UCF's offense is based around running back Kevin Smith. Smith rushed 29 times for 147 yards and a touchdown in UCF's 52-38 loss to East Carolina last Saturday. The junior leads the country with 172.0 yards per game and has 860 yards and 11 touchdowns. UCF committed five turnovers against ECU, a trend that the USF defense will tend to duplicate.

UCF's program has been on the rise this season under head coach George O'Leary (liar) in his fourth season at UCF, even earning a few votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls. Vegas has USF as an 11.5 point favorite which seems pretty accurate, USF wins 28-17.

Matt Grothe's 32 Yard TD Run vs FAU

It's 4th and 1. Give it to your Go-To Guy.

UCF Game At Ray Jay is a Sell-Out

Saturday's noon game vs UCF is now officially a sell-out, the second in school history. Tickets for the Cincinnati and Louisville games are running low as well. If I'm not mistaken I believe you can still get tickets for the UCF game as part of a three game package.

Florida Atlantic vs Kentucky

Here's highlights from last weekends FAU/KU game. Andre Woodson tore FAU's secondary apart.

What needs to happen?

With the first BCS rankings right around the corner it's hard not to think "what if" and begin scoreboard watching.

Realistically, a few teams could remain undefeated that are currently in the top 10. Anyone of these three pairs: LSU/UK, Wisconsin/OSU, and USC/Cal all play against each other and all except Kentucky are rated higher than the bulls in the AP. If Kentucky somehow beats LSU they will shot put over us easy in the polls assuming they win out, but that's highly unlikely. But as of right now we have two quality wins that are better than any of those six teams (at Auburn and vs WVU).

With all the talk of playing for the National Championship we would of course need to win out and handle our own business, but here is what needs to happen the rest of the season:

• LSU loses to either UF or in the SEC Championship Game as no other team in the SEC has a chance to beat them.
• Kentucky loses to LSU.
• The winner of the Wisconsin/OSU game needs to lose a game.
• The winner of the USC/Cal game needs to lose a game.

This would leave three undefeated teams: USF, Boston College, and Hawaii with USF/BC in the National Championship game.

Boston College is too good to lose in a weak ACC during the regular season and winning a conference championship game goes a long way with the voters and will help boost their strength of schedule.

So basically it's in the best interest of the Bulls for UF to win, even though it makes me sick to my stomach.

Looking Ahead: Florida Atlantic

Up next for USF are the Florida Atlantic Owls (2-0 Conference, 3-2 Overall). FAU has a very tough schedule outside of the Sun Belt Conference having already played Oklahoma St, Minnesota, and Kentucky while still having USF and Florida left on their schedule.

One player generating a mild buzz for the Owls has been redshirt freshman CB Tavious Polo. Polo leads the nation with seven interceptions and has blazing speed that makes up for his lack of size (5'10" 146 lbs). He was the one who broke Kentucky QB Andre Woodson's streak of 325 straight passes without an interception. Even with Polo's historic interception the Owl's defense was horrid allowing Kentucky to convert on 11 of 16 3rd down chances and giving up over 500 yards of total offense.

FAU's football program looks a lot like USF's a few years back. If the Big East looks to expand to 12 teams in the future look for FAU to possibly be a target. That being said, expect FAU to win the Sun Belt, just not any of their remaining non-conference games.

Prediction: USF 38 FAU 16

USF vs WVU Highlights

Here's the game wrapped up into a nice tight 8 minutes.

West Virginia Yankees Come Up Short

With all the talk from Rich Rodriguez likening his Mountaineers squad to "The Bronx Bombers," we here at The Bulls Index thought our readers might like to see this photo.....

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