Regression

[Jim Johnson]

The Good:

1) Fewer penalties.  With the exception of our kick return unit -- CJL needs to work on this, but he said some of the penalties were from people not usually on special teams - the team did fairly well on penalties.  None of them were in crucial situations -- as if anything in this game was crucial. Final count: 7 for 71 yards (Cards 8 for 75).

2) Andre Hall.  The man ran for 74 yards on 17 carries.  Not bad, when you consider we ran 36 times and pass 20 times - Hall had the ball about 30% of the time.  The OL did a decent job.  The only problem with the running game was trying to run up the middle... Louisville was too strong there -- we should have stretched it outside a bit more early, to open some gaps in the line.

3) Tackling.  Army had two touchdown runs of more than 50 yards.  Louisville's longest run: 15 yards.   Army put up more than 300 yards of rushing. Louisville: 172.

The Bad:

1) Pass defense.  No rush (1 sack total - and that in the 4th quarter). Can't defend - several passes of more than 30 yards.  At least we didn't have any pass interference penalties.  I will say, though, that the secondary is young - and got hurt.  Heck, Jenkins was in at the end on his bad ankle.

2) Play calling.  Okay, so I know I keep harping on this -- but our first two drives reminded me of Mike Shula's Buccaneers:

- Run into the line.

- Run into the line.

- Pass on 3rd and long.

- Punt.

Mike Hobbie is not the biggest problem tonight, but the only "new wrinkle" I saw tonight was the quick kick by Lipp - everything else was basically the same as in the first five games.  (Oh, we didn't try the reverse - finally - so maybe that is a start.)

The Ugly:

1) Three completions.  Three.  One of them was the long touchdown -- and it looked like Peyton actually pushed off on the play.  Kudos that at least he didn't drop this one (see Army).

2) Pressure on QB.  Why on earth couldn't USF - with a defense that is supposedly so fast - get to Brohm or LeFors?  There were times - early in the game - where Louisville had 3rd-and-long situations, and USF rushed for and dropped 7... with that kind of time, any QB can find an open receiver.  Louisville finished 8 of 14 on 3rd downs.  Pathetic.  Coach, can we call a blitz sometime?

Oh and this last point also illustrates something else.  When we had 3rd downs, our receivers run short of the line to gain.  When they had 3rd downs, their receivers run past the line to gain.  Simple fundamentals. UGH.

---

I didn't expect to win - Louisville is a very good team, and better than USF this year.  I did hope that USF could move the ball, score a few times, and make it fun for a little while.

At least UAB will be a little easier - more time to prepare (12 days) and a team that is a few steps down on the ladder.  To be sure UAB's QB will be a challenge for our young defense...  But CJL needs to work on some fundamentals. Throwing the ball and catching the ball, for starters.

This is not the end, we expected to lose this game.   Five games left -- it gets easier from here.

Go Bulls! Beat UAB!

[Jamie]

One more positive - we got some of ESPN's cash.  ;D

That game was really hard to watch - USF had no chance and played like it. I guess if you have to pick a team to get absolutely jacked up by, a nationally ranked team like Louisville isn't a bad choice. At least we're not losing by 27 to Buffalo. Oops.

[smazza]

i saw no positives

we were horrible

kraky must have sucked if he couldn't beat out banks and julmiste.thank god he is gone to open up a roster spot

our OL couldn't open a hole

run left tackle

run right tackle

incomplete pass

[BULLheaded]

One more positive - we got some of ESPN's cash.  ;D

That game was really hard to watch - USF had no chance and played like it. I guess if you have to pick a team to get absolutely jacked up by, a nationally ranked team like Louisville isn't a bad choice. At least we're not losing by 27 to Buffalo. Oops.

One more ugly....we were on ESPN

I hate it when I have to agree with smazza on such a negative note but....I saw zero positive in this game at all and my hands would hurt if I tried to mention all the negatives right now  >

[goodknightfl]

was pretty bad... should be able to join us in the top 10 soon.

[South_Tampa_Knight]

Jamie, you were abused on natioal TV.  All that hype USF received over the past two years is gone and the play by play guys were trashing you on the field.  

One good note, it was Friday night and the highschool kids did not see how bad USF is.

[mrflynn]

From a Ville fan's perspective.

1) Your offense is way too predictable, probably because your Quarterback does not look comfortable.

2) Your linebackers are outstanding.

3) Your receivers drop too many balls.

4) You have a lot of speed and a lot of good athletes. For some reason, they just do not seem to be "gelling".

Defensively, your team play is not too far away from being extremely good. You held UL to fewer rushing yards then anyone else this season, including Miami. We were unable to "grind it out" in the fourth quarter against your D.

Hang in there and hold your heads up. A couple of plays here and there could do wonders for your team.

I still look for you to be a contender in the Big East within 3 years.

[BullGrad95]

My .02:

1.  Just have to get this off of my chest.  Why does UL blow the horn when they score?  This isn't a hockey game!!!!

2.  What has happened to our linebacker play.  I think this is the most unnerving part of our defense.  Somebody needs to teach these guys how to shed a block.  Absolutely no run support, and they have no idea how to cover a back out of the backfield.  Coach Burnham better step it up and teach these kids something!

3.  Coach Dawsey, please, please, please put your guys in front of one of those pitching machine like devices and work them out until their hands bleed.  We will not be successful with that many dropped passes, period.  These guys all seem to want to run with the ball before they've even caught it.

3.  Maturity.  I know we are a young team.  One thing that gets me really pi$$ed off is our attitude.  If you notice, we're down 30+ points, and our guys are getting in UL's faces, talking smack because they actually tackled someone before they gained 10 yards.  I'm all for firing yourself up, and trash talk, but on every single play?  C'mon guys, knock em on their a$$ and get back to the huddle.

Sometimes I look at this team and it reminds me of Seth's program.  Great athletes, not diciplined, don't have quite the work ethic to get to the next level.

One other quick thought.  CJL needs to fire himself as special teams coach.  Week after week, we see so many problems.  More penalties on returns, kickoffs being returned from 5 yards deep in the endzone.  CJL, give up the duties to someone else.

Last night was tough to watch.  UAB may be even tougher, if this team has totally collapsed.  One bright spot.  In today's Trib, CJL mentioned that he would start playing more freshman.  Good move, let's get these kids the experience they need now.  

[smazza]

bullgrad

other schools blow horns,shoot guns, horses run around the track etc after they score

we were trash talking from the start and the more we got beat the more we trash talked

the comparison to seth's team is frightening but accurate

leavitt has one year to turn it around

there seems to be attitude problems with the boys

after bain dropped an open pass in first series that cost us first down he should have been put to bottom of depth chart and not played again

that drop was unaccetable

he dropped another later in the game

throwing to the same guy that can't catch is  plain stupid

[beastiebull]

bullgrad

other schools blow horns,shoot guns, horses run around the track etc after they score

we were trash talking from the start and the more we got beat the more we trash talked

the comparison to seth's team is frightening but accurate

leavitt has one year to turn it around

there seems to be attitude problems with the boys

after bain dropped an open pass in first series that cost us first down he should have been put to bottom of depth chart and not played again

that drop was unaccetable

he dropped another later in the game

throwing to the same guy that can't catch is  plain stupid

Yeah let's never throw it to him again, never let him regain his confidence, and basically waste this kid's roster spot for his entire college career.