Renegade? Ha! South Florida is downright lova-Bull after upset

[Brad]

Renegade? Ha! South Florida is downright lova-Bull after upset

 

By Dennis Dodd

CBSSports.com Senior Writer  

 

TAMPA, Fla. -- Welcome to the big time, South Florida. Welcome to all the trappings that go with it.

Wins, women -- wow! -- maybe even a BCS bowl. One day soon, expect the NCAA to show up on your doorstep claiming some violation or another. That's what happens to programs that rise this far, this fast. One area columnist already is ahead of the curve, having called your Bulls renegades.

That was a year ago and will happen when a gaggle of players bomb out of school as non-qualifiers or there are a rash of drug busts.

Yeah, welcome to the big time.

But until hard evidence surfaces, these Bulls aren't quite the renegade type. Giddy? Definitely. Undefeated? Yes. Top 10? Why not?

"The possibilities are endless," said defensive end George Selvie. "We're on top of the world."

That world includes not only the greater Tampa-St. Petersburg area but the Big East and college football. The program that began 11 years ago -- operating out of trailers -- beat No. 5 West Virginia 21-13.

There were hugs, baby, not thugs. South Florida entered some sort of new stratosphere that seems to get higher with each new achievement.

It is high enough in the polls -- No. 18 going in -- to make a run to the top 10. The players are loved enough in this city to go a month without buying a meal.

"I won't let my guard down ..." said coach Jim Leavitt, who spoke mostly in clichés even after the biggest win of his career. "We're good enough to win the first four games. That's all we got. I know that sucks. I know you want me to take off my shirt and dance and hug and kiss and all that ... It hasn't sunk it yet."

It did in the stands, the contents of which spilled onto the Raymond James Stadium turf like an all-night party had just begun. Which it had.

The Bulls had trouble getting to their locker room as they got the Beatles treatment. That kind of went along with the way the game went, at least for the defense. The Mountaineers held the ball for 34½ minutes, ran 86 plays and gained 437 yards.

Selvie, who would be an All-American if the season ended today, was still panting 10 minutes after the game ended.

"We have nothing right now," he said. "I was limping off the field."

That South Florida defense is of Miami vintage. What else is there to compare it to? Twenty-three years ago, the Hurricanes announced to the world they had arrived. This was similar.

The South Florida D can run. It can tackle. It has stamina based on what we saw Friday. No one team in the Big East plays defense as well or as effectively. West Virginia quarterback Patrick White was knocked out late in the second quarter with quad bruise. He did not return, perhaps ending one Heisman run. Another one was damaged. Tailback Steve Slaton was held to 54 yards.

And one other thing. The South Florida defense has forced 10 West Virginia turnovers in the last two meetings. Last year, the Mountaineers turned it over four times in losing to South Florida. This time it was six.

"Let's be honest," Leavitt said, no doubt considering his own offense that committed four turnovers. "They're the ones that do it."

Renegades? No. The 2006 football graduation rate was 66 percent, well above the national average. Better to call this 11-year old program a diverse patchwork.

That sounds like Clintonian social reform. It's really an apt description of how this lineup has come together like an open casting call.

Ben Moffitt, the linebacker who intercepted two West Virginia passes, has two kids, a wife and drives 110 miles round trip each day to school.

You won't find Friday's leading rusher, tailback Jamar Taylor, in the press guide. That's because he didn't show up until about two weeks before the season. Taylor, from nearby Lakeland, appealed to the NCAA for a transfer waiver from Alabama. Nick Saban had made him his first recruit eight months ago. Taylor wanted to be closer to his child and ailing mother. He didn't make the press guide, but the NCAA finally, amazingly, said yes.

Taylor then finally scored his first career touchdown, the winner it turned out, to make it 21-3 in the third quarter.

The defensive line coach was Iowa State's head coach last season. Dumped after 12 seasons spent becoming the Big 12's dean of coaches, Dan McCarney inherited part of this unit.

"I haven't been around this much talent in my career," McCarney said of the high school talent he sees. "The great thing is, it's still a new program. Jim has brought it so far, so fast, kids are really alert to our program."

The recruits will have to buy in just like the defense did on Friday. In mid-week, they all decided to cut their hair as a sign of unity. There were Mohawks, messages carved into skulls, but there were converts. too. And not just in the stands, on TV and in recruiting.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe decided to cut his hair Thursday night.

"It's only going to get better from now on," Grothe said as the celebration raged on.

Linkage

[Jamie]

Oh, that poor bastard Mike Bianchi. I hope he watched that game in a dark room and slumped down in his chair and let out a huge groan when the game ended.

[Brad]

If he let out anything it would be a squeal...

[Don Toro]

Take that Bianchi!