USF at FAU Game Notes out (link)

[Brad]

Courtesy GoUSFBulls.com

Setting The Scene

Date: Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007

Location: Boca Raton, Fla.

Kickoff: 3:30 p. m. Eastern

TV: ESPNU

Radio: WFLA 970 AM (Tampa)

Stadium: Lockhart Stadium

Stadium Capacity - Surface: 20,500 - Natural

Tickets:  (866) 328-6357

The Game

Freshly minted as a top-10 team, the No. 6/9 University of South Florida football team begins a two-game nonconference stretch at Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Bulls and Owls will square off on ESPN U at Lockhart Stadium in Boca Raton.  USF is coming off a 21-13 over then-No. 5 West Virginia.  FAU is coming off a 45-17 loss to  highly ranked Kentucky.

The Series

USF and FAU have met once - in 2002 - and the Bulls prevailed 51-10 at Raymond James.

The Broadcasts

The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU with Charles Arbuckle (play-by-play) and Doug Bell (color).  USF’s radio broadcast  with Jim Louk, Mark Robinson & Mike Pepper can be heard on WFLA 970 AM, WFLL 1400 AM, WORL 660 AM, WTSU 1590 AM, WPSL 1590 and the Press Pass on GoUSFBulls.com

The Coaches

USF: Jim Leavitt (Missouri ‘78) has a career record of 74-43 and is in his 11th season at USF.  He has coached every game in the program’s history.  He is 2-0 when ranked, 1-0 against FAU, 5-2 against Sun Belt conference members, 20-29 on the road, 28-12 in hot weather (80 degrees or higher), 2-3 on ESPNU and 43-37 on television.

FAU:  Howard Schnellenberger owns a 136-116 record in 23 seasons as  head coach at Miami, Louisville, Oklahoma and FAU.

The Program

The USF program has an all-time record of 47-26 at the NCAA FBS level and a 74-43 overall record. The wining percentage of 64.4 is good enough to rank USF No. 12 among FBS schools in all-time winning percentage.  USF became the fastest team in the modern era of college football to go upstart NCAA FBS school to a top-10 ranking this week.  There has been 106 AP polls and 112 Coaches Polls since USF became a full-time FBS member in 2001.

Player to Watch

Senior CB Mike Jenkins (left) and his fellow CB Trae Williams will play a vital role in slowing down FAU quarterback Rusty Smith, who is averaging 257.8 yards per game and has nine TD and just two interceptions this season.  Jenkins an d Williams both excel in man coverage, which funnels the opponents offense to the middle of the field where FS Nate Allen and LB Ben Moffitt have already combined for six interceptions.

By The Numbers - 23

Matt Grothe has the highest winning percentage of any regular starting quarterback in USF history at 75.  He has led USF to wins in 12 of 16 career games and has surpassed previous record holder Marquel Blackwell, who was 30-12 as starter for a percentage of 71.4.

Fast Starts

USF has received and scored first in all four games this season and has received the ball first three times.  The Bulls have scored 25 points in the first quarter of the last three games (14 vs. UNC & Auburn, 7 vs. WVU) and collected a TD on their first two drives against North Carolina.

This and That for Florida Atlantic

USF is 2-3 all-time when playing on ESPNU ... Saturday will mark the fourth of six consecutive weeks that USF will play on the ESPN body of networks ... The Bulls will face UCF at Noon on ESPNU next weekend and Rutgers on ESPN on Thursday, Oct. 18  ... USF’s game with West Virginia was the second highest rated ESPN2 College Football regular season broadcast in the station’s history ... The game was viewed by 2.7 million households ... A win Saturday would tie USF for the best start in program history at 5-0 ... The 1998 team also went 5-0 ... So far this season C Jake Griffin has graded out the best on the OL, posting a season average of nearly 80 percent ... Griffin had to replace returning starter Nick Capogna at center during and since the season opener .... Jay Vinicki, who is a government policy analyst in Georgia, has USF NO. 1 in his college football computer rankings ... His complete rankings can be found at http://collegezenindex.blogspot.com/.

Complete release at GoUSFBulls.com

[Zonald]

We're citing blogs???

[Guest]

Fast Starts

USF has received and scored first in all four games this season and has received the ball first three times.  The Bulls have scored 25 35 points in the first quarter of the last three games (14 vs. UNC & Auburn, 7 vs. WVU) and collected a TD on their first two drives against North Carolina.

[Brad]

We're citing blogs???

When they cite us as #1... 

[outrunner]

20-29 on the road

still amazes me. just shows how strong we are at home. This stat must be changed in the next two years.

[79 Bull]

The last half of these notes appear to be cut and pasted from the UNC or WVU game notes.  It talks about next week's game with WVU and other stats and items that were not updated with WVU info.