One Hot Ticket

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One Hot Ticket

Buzz-Worthy USF to Battle West Virginia on National Stage

By Rick Brown

The Ledger

(863) 802-7569

rick.brown@theledger.com         

Sold out stadium. National television audience. College football. All eyes will be on the state of Florida tonight, but they won't see the typical beaches or alligators. The nation will be fixated on the city of Tampa and the University of South Florida as the No. 18 Bulls take on the No. 5 West Virginia Mountaineers in the Big East opener for both teams.

The ESPN2 telecast is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. at a sold-out Raymond James Stadium. In what has been a season of firsts for USF, the sellout at Ray Jay is the first home sellout in school history.

Add that to USF's first victory against an SEC school (Auburn) and its first appearance in the national polls (two weeks ago) and excitement about the football program is building.

The Mountaineers (4-0) hope to curtail some of that enthusiasm.

"West Virginia is an awfully good team," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "They wouldn't be ranked fifth in the country if they weren't good in every way. Special teams - they're very strong. I know everyone wants to talk about their offense and defense. They are certainly well coached, and they have a lot of tremendous athletes. They play with a lot of confidence."

The match-up features the explosive offensive attack of West Virginia against the defensive prowess of South Florida.

The Mountaineers are second in the nation in rushing offense (357.0 yards per game), ninth in scoring offense (47.2 points) and 10th in total offense (525.0 yards per game).

West Virginia is led by two Heisman candidates in the backfield - quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton.

Running a variation of the spread offense, White has completed 49-of-69 passes (71.0 percent) for 617 yards and six touchdowns. He also has rushed for 286 yards and six touchdowns on 46 carries (6.2 average per carry). Slaton leads the team with 502 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. West Virginia has not thrown an interception and has lost just four fumbles this season.

JEFF GENTNER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pat White (5) and Steve Slaton, left, have combined to become a dangerous duo for West Virginia.

South Florida will counter with a defense that is seventh in the nation in total defense (237.7 total yards allowed), and 13th in both rushing (79.0 yards allowed) and scoring defense (15.3 points per game allowed).

"White is like a running back at quarterback," said USF defensive end George Selvie, who leads the nation in sacks (8.5) and tackles for losses (15). "He's going to run the ball; we know he's going to run the ball, that's their game, their scheme. They have a lot of speed and they have the addition of Noel Devine. ... So we're going to have to play relentless defense to try to stop these guys."

Relentless defense is what helped USF upset then-No. 7 West Virginia in Morgantown, W.Va., last year. South Florida forced four West Virginia turnovers, jumped out to a 21-6 lead and held on for a 24-19 victory.

West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said revenge isn't the main focus for his team.

"It may be mentioned a little bit, but I'm not a big guy on harping on the revenge factor," Rodriguez said. "I don't think it plays as much of an issue as the big part of the game. What's happened in the past is certainly in the past. It's what's going on right now that's important.

"To play a very talented, highly ranked team on the road on a Friday night is quite a challenge," he said. "Our guys have been in some big games before. My hope is we keep our focus and that we'll play well."

USF also needs to remain focused, on both sides of the football.

Quarterback Matt Grothe (Lake Gibson) said his team will be ready.

"I think being excited is going to help us," he said. "Going into the Auburn game, everyone was excited, and I think we played even better because of that.

"For them, I am assuming they will come down here looking for revenge," Grothe said. "For us, we already know we can beat them and that gives us confidence. Now it is just a matter of playing well and having fun."

[ Rick Brown can be reached at rick.brown@theledger.com or 863-802-7569. ]

ROB CARR/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Matt Grothe will look to help USF score another big win tonight.