Noticing a trend...

[outrunner]

Trend #1

Auburn fans claiming they were going to hang 40+ points on us and couldn't keep up with their SEC speed.

Result: USF win 26-23

UNC fans claiming they were going to hang 40+ points on us and that their QB would light us up.

Result: USF win 37-10 and 4 ints

WVU fans claimin they are going to hang 40+ points on us and that we can't keep up with the speed of their backfield.

Result: hmmmmmm????

Trend #2

UCF fans claiming they will win this year. When told they are 0-2 against USF, they reply with "well that isn't this year, things are different".

WVU fans claiming they will win big this year. When told they lost to USF last year, they reply "well that inst' this year, things are different"

Maybe it's just me, but alot fans I come across are just ignorant about USF football, thinking it's a fluke.

[MarketingGuy]

We've been surprising for a long time. This year is an eye-opener for a lot of people.

[Griggsy]

Ignorant they may be, but I dont think they're trying to slight us as much as they're just expressing belief in their own teams.

I generally ignore the type of fans who say "we're going to blow you out!" with nothing to back up their claims. A good fan, while normally biased towards their home team (we do it too), will normally give a relatively fair analysis of the matchup while demonstrating knowledge of the opposing team as a WHOLE entity (not just one or two star players).

In their minds, we have no "star" players to speak of (some have heard of Grothe and remember him from last season, but he's not in the media as much as White), and our wins have come against a 1aa, a bad SEC team, and a worse ACC team.

Any HONEST WVU fan who has done their homework will likely admit some trepidation about facing our defense. Just as any USF fan who has watched the fearsome WVU threesome are more than a little nervous.

Unlike UCF talking trash to USF fans (since they've never beaten us), USF has some amount of right to stand up for themselves against rampant WVU trashtalk. Afterall, we DID beat WVU last season in their house. Were they crippled or not playing to full potential? Sure, but they must remember they're not facing the 2006 Bulls on Friday, either. Momentum is definitely on our side.  Even with my best effort at objectivity, I still give us a decent shot of pulling off the win.

Teams with high powered offenses that get shut down will NORMALLY make claims just as WVU has. After all, they become frustrated when they're stars just cant seem to "break away", and they chalk it up to playing without heart, or injuries.

But the good thing about this year is that there is NO EXCUSE for these teams. It remains to be seen what kind of team Auburn has this year, but WVU, UCF and even FAU are having GREAT seasons thus far. For Friday, everyone is healthy. IF we shut them down, there will be NOTHING they can say. NOTHING.

Same for UCF. This is probably going to be their best team in history. If they lose to us this season, they will be completely exposed as inferior, and there will be no more "ifs". At least not from the smart ones.

[crambone]

good points, but they won't matter much when the ball is kicked off.

[Rocky Style]

If everyone always says they are going to blow you out then I guess eventually they may hit the lottery and be right once.  Then you will never hear the end of it.  Of course, if they are wrong then they are no where to be found.