CFN 2007 Midseason Report & All-Americans

[Apis Bull]

Coach of the Midseason - Jim Leavitt, South Florida

Call this a lifetime achievement award as much as anything else. USF was supposed to be good, but second in the BCS rankings is something special for a program that wasn't even on the map nine years ago.

Biggest Surprise - The entire year

Where do you want to start? Kicking off the year with Appalachian State's win over Michigan, and continuing on week after week with upset after upset. These aren't just upsets; these are Stanford over USC all-timers. How crazy has the year been? Just look at the initial BCS rankings with South Florida second, Boston College third, Kentucky is seventh, and Kansas ranked ahead of USC.

2006 First Team Midseason All-American Defense

DL - Chris Long, Sr. Virginia

DL - Jonal Saint-Dic, Sr. Michigan State.

DL - George Selvie, Soph. South Florida

DL - Glenn Dorsey, Sr. LSU

LB - Jordon Dixon, Sr. Colorado

LB - Sean Lee, Jr. Penn State

LB - Ben Moffitt, Sr. South Florida

DB - Aqib Talib, Jr. Kansas

DB - Craig Steltz, Sr. LSU

DB - Terrence Wheatley, Sr. Colorado

DB - Rashad Johnson, Jr. Alabama

P - Kevin Huber, Jr. Cincinnati

PR - Leodis McKelvin, Sr. Troy

http://cfn.scout.com/2/691569.html

[Apis Bull]

Defensive Player of the Midseason

George Selvie, DE South Florida

Ten best Big East players in the first half of the season

1. George Selvie, DE South Florida

2. Brian Brohm, QB Louisville

3. Patrick White, QB West Virginia

4. Ray Rice, RB Rutgers

5. Steve Slaton, RB West Virginia

6. Harry Douglas, WR Louisville

7. Ben Moffitt, LB South Florida

8. Ben Mauk, QB Cincinnati

9. LeSean McCoy, RB Pittsburgh

10. Mike Mickens, CB Cincinnati

Biggest Surprise – South Florida

Feel free to put Cincinnati in this slot, since USF expected to be good … just not this good.  Not positioned-to-play-for-a-national-championship good.  With Auburn and West Virginia already in the win column, South Florida has become the favorite to take the Big East and play in a BCS bowl game, the next step in Jim Leavitt’s master plan toward building a fourth power program in the state of Florida.  The biggest one-game surprise was Syracuse’s 38-35 shocker over Louisville, one of the most improbable results in league history.

The Big East Champion will be ... South Florida

A close call with Florida Atlantic was a reminder that the Bulls are hardly a lock to run away with the Big East title this fall.  However, they’re the one program that’s best constructed to survive a league that’s deep and short on gimmes each weekend.  Along with the top defense in the conference, South Florida has begun to run the ball better with Benjamin Williams and Mike Ford, taking heat off QB Matt Grothe.  The Bulls will lose one game, possibly at Rutgers Oct. 18, but getting Cincinnati and Louisville in Tampa are nice breaks in the schedule.

Best Game of the First Half

South Florida 21 ... West Virginia 13, Sept. 29

The USF defense stuffed West Virginia's running game, and started off the scoring when LB Ben Moffitt picked off a Pat White pass for a 26-yard touchdown, in the seminal win in the young program's history. The Bulls took a 14-0 lead in the first half on a 55-yard Carlton Mitchell touchdown catch, and padded the lead on the opening drive of the second half, finishing with a 19-yard Jamar Taylor rushing score. The Mountaineer offense only managed two Pat McAfee field goals until late. With Pat White out with a leg injury, Jarrett Brown had to take over the West Virginia offense, and he came through with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Darius Reynaud with just under six minutes to play. The Mountaineers had one final shot, but Brown couldn't connect on a fourth down pass to keep the final drive going, and USF was able to run out the clock. The two teams combined for ten turnovers.

Second Best Game - South Florida 26 ... at Auburn 23 OT, Sept. 8

Third Best Game - Kentucky 40 ... Louisville 34, Sept. 15

Coach of the Midseason – Jim Leavitt, South Florida

Brian Kelly of Cincinnati also deserves mention here, and wouldn’t be a wrong answer.  Leavitt, however, has the Bulls in the rarified air after knocking off Auburn and West Virginia.  Barring a second-half collapse, Leavitt will contend for more than Big East Coach of the Year, battling for national Coach of the Year honors.

Best performance so far – The South Florida defense put on a clinic against West Virginia, neutralizing the Mountaineers’ speed and changing the landscape of the Big East Conference.  Closing fast and cutting off every lane, the Bulls held the high-octane ‘eers without a touchdown for the first 55 minutes of the 21-13 signature upset.  Even more impressive, USF made West Virginia appear slow, something no other defense had done in the Pat White/Steve Slaton era.

Best remaining conference game – Cincinnati at South Florida, Nov. 3

This year’s two big surprises out of the Big East will get together for a game that’ll have infinitely more significance than anyone could have imagined back in August.  The winner gets the inside track on a BCS bowl invitation and, if still unbeaten, an outside shot at moving into one of the top two spots in the BCS standings.  It’ll also be can’t-miss viewing for fans of fast, opportunistic defenses that deliver the payload.

Team Mid-Season MVPs & Predictions

South Florida – DE George Selvie

predicted wins: at Connecticut, Cincinnati, at Syracuse, Louisville, at Pittsburgh

predicted losses: at Rutgers

predicted record: 11-1

http://cfn.scout.com/2/691561.html

[flsportsfan83]

lots of Love there

[cmhatter]

very nice to see.

[USFbulls0208]

Minus the losing to Rutgers

Very nice