changing my prediction for 2008

[theman123]

chicken little.

we will be fine.  if anything, my expectations are higher now.  not because of how we have played but because of how bad the big east is this year.

^^^ this ... and, as said above, get down off the ledge.

I still think we lose one... Worst case, two. Even then, we might still win the BE.

I also like what our close away-game win at FIU did to the team last year (won 64-12 at home the next game).

Looking forward to Kansas.

It was FAU

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

Greg Gregory is doodoo.

i have never liked his playcalling.

it will take a lot for him to win me over at this point.

[Pasco Joe]

We have a few chicken little fans ...

Our D allows 2 TD's in about a minute of playing time under about 3 minutes left in the game and our Kick Coverage allows a return for TD ... 21 points. We miss 2 FGs -6 points.

And our offensive play calling is the reason for our close win ?

Silly Reasoning.

Go BULLS !!!

I got a hard time understanding the play calling in the last few minutes.  I have tried - up by two scores and your defense has only given up 3 points all day.  How do you not bleed the clock?  You have a junior QB and you assume he understands the game situation well enough to only throw it if the guys wide open?  Really, I just can't figure out the call.  Poor special teams and coaching in the last few minutes are definitly what almost cost us this game.  I think CJL basically said as much in his post game interview.

The only explanation I can come up with the play calling is that our coaching staff was trying to run the score up a bit so it would look better to AP voters.  Horrible decision, in my opinion.  Hopefully, they learn from this, and next time just go for the win instead of trying to score as much as possible.

[TheBullies]

It was FAU

Eh, whatever. I get them confused (yes, I know one is considerably better than the other, but I still get them confused).

[BDYZR]

That was it! The absolute best UCiF could throw at us, and, except for the last three minutes, they were not close to matching up with our BULLS.

For the most part we totally dominated them. They made four plays. A kickoff, a punt, and two pass plays.

Our O-line broke down on a few coverages in the passing game and was not as solid as I thought they would be in the run game, but we still played a mostly good game. If we catch a couple of VERY CATCHABLE balls, this game isn't even close.

Bring on the Jayhawks!

GO BULLS!

[usfgrad84]

Before anyone starts going off the deep end here let's put a few things in perspective.

First of all, the coaches have said all along that the only back they trust to use the entire playbook with is Williams.  How much of the playbook do you think we were able to use or were willing to use with the 4th and 5th string RBs in there.  Especially considering that one is a reclamation project coming back from injuries (Plancher) and the other was getting his firest carries in a game (Kelly).  Despite we were using our 4th and 5th stringers we still moved the balll pretty much at will last night.  We were also missing Pupello who the coaches have said is basically the Co-starter at TE who brings another dimension to the blocking schemes.  I never remember seeing a team so dominant going that deep into the depth chart. 

On defense we are leading the country right now despite not throwing anything fancy at either team we have played so far and that includes playing 3rd stringers in the first game.  We have been so dominat so far we just have not had to.  I expect that to change this week.

I am not concerned about the offense.  I am not concerned about the defense.  I am worried about Alvarado kicking pressure situations.  I am a little concerned about the coaches managing the game properly ina tight situation.  I don't see us losing more than 2 games this year unless some of the other teams in the BE have drastic turnarounds.  From what we have seen so far USF is the best team in the conference.  They key will be to not beat ourselves.

[JerseyBull06]

i was an 11-1, 12-0 optimist

now i am a 8-4, 9-3 pessimist.

crappy questionable coaching will do that to you

Come off the ledge. If you remember, Texas struggled there last year. I think they have now lost 2 games in that stadium by a combined total of 10 points. Give them a little credit.

Sure, coaching could have been better, but we got the 'W' and thats all that matters.

If you've been watching the BE this season, I would lean toward more optimist as far as our record goes. Let's see what happens Friday before we throw in the towel.

I think we do need a new OC though.

I felt the same way about Rod Smith, but When you consistently have the same issues with play calling and clock management every season as USF has had for several years now and it's with two differnt OCs at what point do you consider that maybe the problem goes deeper than just your OC? 

you could replace Gregory this week, based on recent history I'd say that won't fix the issues.

[Joe]

Last I checked a football game was 60 minutes long.

Look, Even without the last 4 minutes, the team still didn't look great. The usual stuff that frustrates the hell out of me.

No Running game aside from Grothe, can't finish drives, etc.

Blame the OC all you want, but I think this is the players not executing like they should.

[Jake_Ryan]

That was it! The absolute best UCiF could throw at us, and, except for the last three minutes, they were not close to matching up with our BULLS.

For the most part we totally dominated them. They made four plays. A kickoff, a punt, and two pass plays.

Our O-line broke down on a few coverages in the passing game and was not as solid as I thought they would be in the run game, but we still played a mostly good game. If we catch a couple of VERY CATCHABLE balls, this game isn't even close.

Bring on the Jayhawks!

GO BULLS!

What game were most of you watching?  This post sums it up pretty well.  This should have been a 14 point road win against a rival that had revenge on their mind and gave us everything they had.  That ain't bad.

The coaches made this closer than needed.  Bad job by Grothe of running the game clock down when running the ball with 4 mins left and a 14 point lead.  Every snap was with 12-15 secs left on the play clock.  The pass play call on the INT was horrific.  Why in the world do you throw the ball there??  Run the ball, and get the clock under 2 mins, and if they stop you, punt it and let the D do their job.  If you must throw the ball, throw a WR screen that is safe.  One bad play call let them back in the game. 

The good news is that we won a tough game, were the better team by a good margin, and Leavitt may have learned some things in the process.  Fix the issues on special teams and get smarter in late game siuations, and this is a very good football team.

[Guest USF08]

My prediction is actually more optimistic after the first two weeks.

UCF took a George McFly haymaker swing at us and we are still standing.

Even if Kansas gets us, I still feel much better about our chances to win the Big East.