Who is responsible for all this disappointment?

I think I hear something over there in the corner of the room, but I can’t make it out. What in the world has gone on in this town. The Rays make it to the World Series and the Bulls may be the 2nd worst team in Florida (sorry UCF, but you still hold 1st place).

This has been a horrific season for our team and our fans. At this point of the season, I still don’t know who to point the finger at. We are being subjected to horrible football. This is not the type of production that we have come to expect and deserve. The community has shown that they are willing and able to support this Bulls team and the team has taken one huge step backwards.

It would be understandable if we were being beat by better teams. I don’t know of anyone that would argue that point, but this has been a season of disappointment, after disappointment, after disappointment.

Who is responsible for all of this? Is it Coach Leavitt? Is it Doug Woolard? Is Wally Burnham? Is it Greg Gregory?

I have been disappointed in two areas of this team. First, I have to say that Wally Burnham and Troy Douglas have done a below average job with our cornerbacks. They continue to get humiliated out there on the field. How can the CB’s argue calls when they are practically tacking the WR’s across from them.

The second area of concern is the play calling. Our offense has become very vanilla. I don’t believe that our talent level is so poor that we need to resort to what we all have been watching.

It would be great if Jim Leavitt made a difficult but necessary firing. Sometimes a change is needed and this would be a great time for it. If not now, this off-season. Don’t look now, but 09 is going to be difficult, this was a year that set up perfectly for the perfect storm.

I hate to say it, but that sound in the corner just may be the fat lady singing. It is hard to swallow in the first week of November, but this season will be hard one to turn around.

Enjoy your last two tailgates everyone..

-- Brian Taylor

Ok, now it's over

Time to pack it in. The team that stepped on the field looked worse than the one we saw lose to Louisville and Pitt, two teams that we are better than. We've been outcoached by the Wannstache and a guy that had people calling for his job a few games into his first season. And we haven't even played Bill Stewart yet.

The effort level is pathetic. TJ dropped three easy passes. The offensive line couldn't block a pee-wee kid. Good coaching should be able to get these guys hyped up and ready to go. They should be able to get guys to play above their talent level. They didn't do that last night. But most of all, they should be able to avoid penalties like off-sides and illegal motions. They should be able to not waste timeouts in the third quarter because they didn't pay attention to the on-coming subs or were caught off-guard by the hurry-up.

So my new analogy is worse than the teenage girl. We are Clemson. We'll get everybody hyped up, and then disappoint them. Every year. Why? This is a team that cannot win on the road and cannot handle the pressure of being good. It's probably the most talented team in the conference, just like Clemson. But for whatever reason, the coaches and players just can't handle the knowledge that they are better than everyone. My scapegoat is not Jim Leavitt. My scapegoat is Mike Simmonds. His offensive lines have not improved, even with experience. Their effort is pathetic. Look at those reverses. Each time, a slow lineman failed to get in proper position. I didn't pick up the number on the TJ reverse, but that guy was not in shape to do such a big pull. And these are the starters. What happens when 4 seniors leave? If they aren't good, what does that say about the guys behind them?

Until the offensive line recruiting and coaching picks up, this team will be vulnerable to angry defenses. And until the defense can stop a backup quarterback with a broken arm, this team doesn't deserve to sniff the Big East title. I will say that the o-line recruiting appears to be picking up this year. 3 commits, with two guys that are well regarded by all three services. John McGhin hasn't been evaluated yet, but he had some impressive offers. I think a JUCO offensive tackle (a real tackle, not a hybrid guard) is needed. There are some guys on the lists that fit the bill.

So we'll make a bowl, which is nice. But the letdowns are killers. Hopefully Grothe's senior season will be better. But this was a year in which the Big East was on a platter for the taking. And we failed. Miserably. 

View photos from Cincinnati game

Quarterback Matt Grothe leaves the field after USF's 24-10 loss to Cincinnati Thursday night.

View more photos from the game. And share your favorites from Bulls games or around campus: E-mail them to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit -- include your name and photo info.

You also can join tampabay.com's Community Photo Gallery and build your own galleries.

AP photo

Viewing party for Cincinnati game

Andros 1 Building Council is hosting a viewing party for Thursday night's game against Cincinanti in the Delta lobby from 7:15--11:15. Pizza, chips, dip, popcorn and beverages will be served.

"Be sure to come with some spirit too; 23rd is still a ranking!" the group says on its Facebook page. Let them know whether you'll be there.

Matt hits Kelly for a TD pass

Matt hits fullback Richard Kelly for a short TD pass in Saturday's Louisville game.

Video courtesy of MattGrothe.com

The season ain't over

Ok, so the Big East is probably a little out of reach. But 10-2, with a 5-2 record in the BEAST would still be the best season in school history. Will that happen? No. In fact, we're probably losing at Cincy on Thursday? Why? It's cold, it's night, and apparently, USF is jinxed on Thursday (now that I've said that, I'm hoping against hope that our other personality shows up).

My problem with this season is the constant call for the BEAST to lose its automatic bid, as an SI.com writer suggested. One bad year is not sufficient cause, especially since the conference is 3-0 in the past 3 seasons and has one of the best out-of-conference records over the past 4 years. If the Big East loses its bid, then the ACC better lose theirs first.

I don't want to talk much about the Louisville game. 14 penalties? 8 rushing yards? Bad decisions on special teams (punting on the first drive and the end of the first half, where the timeout nonsense showed the coaches had no clue what they wanted to do). Unacceptable. We beat ourselves, plain and simple. Grothe completed 75% of his passes for almost 350 yards. That's pretty darn good. The two picks were pretty bad, and TJ bailed him out on the wounded duck, but Grothe certainly shouldn't get any blame. Nor should Selvie, Buie, and T-Mac. Those guys played extremely well (and it makes me think that Selvie's injury was far more severe than was let on, because he looked about 10x quicker).

I apportion the blame between the o-line and the coaching staff. The line just didn't open any holes, while the staff failed to prepare for Ron English's defensive schemes and underestimated the Louisville offense (which is baffling, because they've had some good games this year). And the worst part was that the team looked flat. Again. I just don't see why this team can't close.

So I've come up with an analogy: USF is that girl in 9th grade with braces and no fashion sense, but you can tell she'll be hot in a while (USF history until 2005). In 10th grade, she introduces herself to the senior QB, but she pronounces her name wrong (2006). In 11th grade, she finds the star pitcher, but she trips down the stairs during junior prom (last year). In the 12th grade, she and the QB, now a star QB in college, hit it off, but she gets drunk and embarrasses herself in front of the whole team (that's this season). But at some point in college, she ends up dating Tom Brady, Jacoby Ellsbury, or some other pretty boy athlete. And she dumps him (that would be the season when USF wins the Big East and a BCS game. Maybe next year, maybe in two or three).

I put way too much thought into that.

Anyways, what other analogies can people come up with? I'm sure they're out there, I just don't have the cranial capacity to come up with more than one.

AP photo

I wish I wasn't right all the time...

What did I point out as the main hazards of the game? The Louisville running game has been way too effective and USF doesn't seem to care. Completely unacceptable start to the game. Again. Just like so many other games, USF didn't come out ready to play. They clearly underestimated Louisville, and Greg Gregory's playcalling is unimaginative. TJ's big drop was completely unacceptable. After that, Leavitt should have gone for it.

The worst have been all of those stupid penalties, especially lining up off sides.

And the injuries have been mounting. Can't blame the coaches for that.

On the positive side, Grothe has been accurate and Selvie and Buie have been fantastic. But that's about it.

I wrote that before the last drive started. This last drive has been much better. Carlton Mitchell did a nice job on his opportunity. Grothe continues his strong accuracy.

And yet another stupid decision. There was plenty of time to take a shot at the end zone. We go on the road, and Leavitt/Gregory suddenly turn into yellow hens. This timeout nonsense is absurd. Shows a lack of a plan.

In the second half, we need to see the offensive line step up their play and Burnham needs to do something to stop the run. I'd like to see Grothe get loose once on the first drive. And then I'd like to see a nice dose of Ford, although Grothe is throwing quite well. And if the defense can force a turnover on the first drive, the tide should turn in favor of USF.

Overall grade: D+. Selvie, Buie, T-Mac, and Grothe are the only guys really playing well. TJ rebounded nicely from the drop, but that was a huge mistake on his part.

AP photo of Matt Grothe

Less than 2 hours until kick-off

I'm currently sitting in the law school library, working my behind off so I can watch the game on ESPN 360 and only work half-heartedly during the game. We have less than 6 weeks until finals, and the pressure is palpable today. Plus, the Steelers play the Giants tomorrow, so the nervous wrecks here have additional worries for the next 28 hours.

It's homecoming at Pitt, and everybody is celebrating in the streets and at Heinz, except law students, of course. It's depressing carrying around a 25 pound backpack and turning down free beer. And then I remember that I went deep into debt for that privilege. Yippee. Plus, I'm not the picture of perfect health right now.

But the USF game should be exciting. I'm 90% sure USF wins this game. Louisville, though much improved under Ron English (great hire), just doesn't have the defense that Pitt has, or even Kansas. And on offense, that three headed monster is no match for Shady and Stephens-Howling, while Cantwell's best day would be considered mediocre by Todd Reesing's standards. So given that USF already has experienced the best power running game in the conference and one of the best passing games in the country, I think that Burnham's boys will be ready. I have no worries about Grothe and the offense- Grothe clearly has gone from the very good category into the extremely good category. If he can keep his efficiency up, he'll be elite by the end of the season.

The other worry with a USF road trip is always the weather. But it looks like it will be about 60 and sunny in Louisville, so the elements shouldn't be able to mess with the collective head of the players.

The final factor to consider is that USF finally had a normal practice week. Enough time to rest, enough time to prepare, but not too much time to get rusty.

My prediction: USF 31 UL 17, with USF scoring one of those TDs in garbage time. Yardage may be similar, but I expect Cantwell to throw at least one pick. Tyrone McKenzie will have a huge game, as will one WR (never can tell, but someone is getting 75 yards, which is like 125 at any other school). As a bonus, I predict I will yell at the computer at least once, causing everyone in the library to stare at me uncomfortably while I pretend to ignore them...

Which Louisville team will show up?

I been taking a break from writing, trying to recover from the sadness of my Boston Red Sox losing the ALCS to the Tampa Bay Rays. It is been few sad days but now I'm over it.

First of all, a little comment about last night's West Virginia and Auburn game. It is so good to see Pat White playing again; Jarrett Brown really cannot be the same threat as Pat White is for the Mountaineers. But seriously, what has happened to that prolific West Virginia offense?

Since Rich Rodriguez left to the University of Michigan last year,the prolific West Virginia triple-back spread offense has disappeared. The last time it appeared was during their Fiesta Bowl win over the Oklahoma Sooners. Only once during this season they have scored more than 40 points and that was against Villanova, a D-IAA opponent and against Auburn, it was the first time they scored 34 points during this season. So it is kind of nice to see West Virginia coming back, because the Big East is so much better with competitive West Virginia, USF, Louisville, Cincinatti, Connecticut and Pittsburgh teams.

But now to the topic of the weekend, the game between USF Bulls and the Louisville Cardinals. It is really hard to judge the Louisville team this year because their big victories have come against Tennessee Tech, Memphis and Middle Tennessee State. And against Kansas State, they struggled and barely beat them.

And now one is left to wonder which Louisville team would show up Saturday at Papa John's Stadium: the one that laid the egg against Kentucky and lost 27-2 or the one that beat Middle Tennessee State 42-23?

No one knows for sure but for the Bulls sake, I hope that the 27-2 squad shows up. I think this time our defense is ready to step up and rise up to the challenge and win an away game at Papa John's Stadium. I watched the Cardinals last game to try understand what kind of team Louisville had this year and they really remind me of the old West Virginia Mountaineers team of Pat White, Steve Slaton and Noel Devine. They're powerful and would rush the ball down your throat, and they're not afraid of using trickery.

If the Bulls watch their old tapes of their victories against the Mountaineers and apply the same tactics that they did to shut down the Mountaineers spread offense, I'm convinced the USF Bulls can come up victorious. This Bulls team is not the Bulls team of old, they are ready to erase their past and show the nation that they can win big in the road. And this year, the team led by Grothe and their prolific offense will step up and win big at Papa John's Stadium.

Remember, when the Bulls see Red they charge and for the Cardinals sake, they better not wear their red jerseys because the Bulls will come out charging.  So, this Saturday night, the Bulls will come out charging and finally get over the hump and win at Papa John's Stadium.

3 good reasons to fear Louisville

Several points to get to, including a preview of a dangerous Louisville game.

1. I created a ruckus. That was pretty cool. My point was that at a college football game, you don't attack guys on your team. At such a large school, you should expect people to come from all over the nation (and in one of my majors, the world). College football is not pro baseball. I had a USF shirt on, and that is all that matters. The discussion is closed, by the way. I win. Why? Because it's my blog.

2. Big East officiating is terrible. There have been 4 awful calls on the first drive of the WVU-Auburn game. Here they are: first, the fumble was not a fumble. Auburn gained 6 yards from it and had an easy 3rd and 1. Second, the dropped pass was readily apparent to everyone in the stadium except the official. Third, Burns was pressured by Andrews, threw it away, and even Lou Holtz figured out that it was intentional grounding. Again, though, the official didn't see it. And the fourth was the spot on a 3rd down where the RB got about 2 yards he never ran over. The only things missing were a blown pass interference call and missing a fair-catch call (my call- it'll happen tonight).

3. Great sports night: I'm watching the WVU game, the Penguins game, and the Rays game.

4. I put this in a comment at the end of my previous post, but I'll repeat it. The Rays will win in 6. I said they would lose to Hamels in game 1, and then lose once in Philly (probably to Hamels again). I love the Rays as a team, I just don't like the bandwagon. But the Rays drafted amazingly well (really, only the Sox compare, and the Rays have brought up more all-star caliber players and one all-timer in Longoria). And they have the core together, sans BJ Upton, for quite some time. Price looked great in the closing role, but I think he's a starter. Wade Davis may be that guy.

5. USF basketball. I'm terribly afraid of the upcoming season. This team will be awful in the Big East without Gilchrist. With him, not sure if they can crack the top-11. In C-USA, this team would make the NIT. But the Big East is just so good that without more on the frontline (and as long as Chris Howard continues to play matador/brick layer), USF can't compete.

OK, so the rest of this post will focus on football, which is what I'm supposed to focus on in the first place. The Louisville game is terrifying. Why? Because USF isn't good against power running teams. That's a fact I've continued to harp on. 5 losses in two years with the same common theme. Here it is in handy list form for future reference:

1. Rutgers: Ray Rice, 181 yards.
2. UCONN: Andre Dixon, 167 yards.
3. Cincy: Ben Mauk, 7 carries for 75 yards. The outlier in the group.
4. Oregon: Johnathan Stewart, 253 yards.
5. Pitt: Lesean McCoy, 142 yards.

Louisville has three good running backs. You see why I fear them. I'm still picking USF to win, but we won't cover. It'll be close, especially given the pressure that Ron English has been able to fabricate out of nothing. Plus, the tackle-for-loss and sack columns are still sorely unbalanced (in the sense that we aren't doubling our opponents).

Papa John's Cardinal Stadium has been a bit of a graveyard for USF, so history isn't exactly on our side. And the demolition last year will serve as motivation for Louisville. And, as always, I have to question the heart of USF when playing unranked opponents. Why? Because this game looks exactly the Rutgers and UCONN games of last year.

So the other thing I was thinking about -- my favorite USF players since 2004:

1. Andre Hall: Singlehandedly carried USF in 2005 (and was the only reason to pay attention in 2004).
2. Matt Grothe: Most exciting QB in college football.
3. George Selvie: Non-stop hustle.
4. Stephen Nicholas: carried the defense the same way Hall carried the offense.
5. Tyrone McKenzie: best tackler in USF history, overcome a lot, and I had a class with him (4000 level econ!)
6. Ben Williams: Who doesn't like a walk-on? Who doesn't like a strong blocking back?
7. Leroy Selmon the younger: Because he was on a poster in my dorm room.
8. Ben Moffitt: would have been higher, but I have a tough time forgiving the paper thing. Because I did all of my school work.
9. Trae Williams: Mr. TAINT (See Bill Simmons)
10. Mike Jenkins: 2 plays in the Cincy game- the kick return and knocking that guy's helmet 15 yards in the air.

Sorry, Nate Allen, SJ Green, Pat St. Louis, Brouce Mompremier, Walt Walker, Santiago Gramatica, and Amarri Jackson. 

Thoughts? It'd be nice to get the same level of comments I got after the Rays thing, but this time, relate it to football.

5 reasons to not chant about Rays at USF game

So I was in Florida from 2 pm on Friday until 6:30 am on Sunday. That's called a whirlwind. I saw a bunch of my friends and my family. I went to Mr. Dunderbak's (my favorite place on earth). I saw the Red Sox win Game 6 (not in person, of course. I have a budget...). And oh yeah, there was a football game.

The team played extremely well-- actually, Grothe played extremely well and everyone else came along for the ride. I looked it up on ESPN.com to prove what I had suspected- the Syracuse game was the best statistical game in Grothe's career outside of the UT-Martin game in which he had 8 attempts. Simply put, he was great. The offensive balance was perfect, and the defense was dominant in the second half.

But like I said in my earlier post -- the one where I said Curtis Brinkley scared me -- the defense struggles stopping good running backs. If Brinkley can run for 100 on USF, then what will Louisville's three-headed monster do this week? I fully expect Louisville to rush for over 150 yards against us. The defense is just too soft to take on strong running backs.

So outside of that complaint, I think that Marcus Edwards' fumble was the only negative, and it wasn't even an important play.

Did Cameron Dantley remind anyone of another great groundhog QB? Like, Pat Julmiste? I really thought that Syracuse somehow had Julmiste at QB in the second half. Pass after pass at a wide-open receiver's feet. Fond memories there- it truly was a homecoming...

So my main comment is on the idiotic Rays "fans" that were at the game. I guarantee that I have been to more Rays games than 99% of the people now wearing Rays hats. I was in the 200 level in the band corner, and a bunch of morons started chanting "Red Sox Suck" at me. They kept at it for the entire game and I was tempted to get a security guard due to one particularly moronic fellow (frat boy- won't mention the frat).

There are several problems with chanting about the Rays at a USF football game. In the interest of education, I'll provide those of you with a list reminding you to shut up until you've actually been to a game or can name 10 players.

1) We're at a football game. Not baseball. There's a difference. But since you've never been to a Rays game, you may not know the difference between the two sports.

2) The Red Sox (and the Yankees, Dodgers, Reds, and most other teams) have a longer connection to the state of Florida. The Ted Williams museum is in Hernando. They've trained in the area for 60 years. And they've been a winning team for more than one season. Remember all of those kids in (Chicago) Bulls jerseys growing up? I grew up in a region without an NBA team (well, Cleveland had one, and technically, it's closer to Erie than Pittsburgh, but Erie is without question a Pittsburgh satellite). So those kids picked a winning team. A lot of people growing up in Florida didn't have a good team to root for, so they picked a winner or enormously popular team. Nothing wrong with that.

3) You should ask where a fan is coming from. I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and have spent almost every summer in my life in New England. 

4) Where were you in the regular season? Look at this attendance chart. The Rays were good well before last week.

5) You're at a college football game. I cannot stress this enough. Pay attention to the game. This is (or should be) part of the Respect-a-Bull campaign. Don't worry about whoever is in your section. Worry about the game. And don't taunt people WHO ARE ON YOUR SIDE! I cannot stress this enough.

Every time Tampa starts winning in something, the city goes overboard and acts like they've supported a team for years, when in fact, every major team had terrible attendance until a miracle season. Even USF, which has always been good, was ignored. So were the Lightning and Bucs (but, like the Rays, they were comically bad for a long time). So Tampa, as a fan from a real sports city, don't taunt until you understand what you're taunting for (and can actually back it up with some knowledge. I can't tell you how many Rays fans didn't know a thing about baseball, let alone the history between the Rays and Sox).

I guess this is my most fan-oriented post. What is happening with the Rays is exactly what happened with USF last season. What were the complaints we heard last year? Too many USF fans running their mouths on message boards and not understanding how college football fan-dom works. And where are those fans now that USF isn't #2? Attendance is 6,000 below last season. The instant the Rays struggle next April or May, all of these fake fans will disappear (and it can't happen quick enough).

For the record, I wore my Red Sox hat today just I like do everyday. And I wore a USF shirt all over the Pitt campus the day after. Why? Because I'm a real fan. I learn and care about my teams. So if I have any readers (apparently there are like 5 or 6 you poisoning your mind with my very dangerous thoughts), please comment on the perfect-weathered nature of Tampa (they aren't even fair-weathered fans, otherwise a top-20 college team would be drawing 55,000 to 60,000 instead of the 45,000 that were there Sunday. I know the attendance was announced at 51,000, but that was grossly inflated).

Back to football for a second: I'm worried about the Louisville running game, the hostile environment, and the penchant for showing up flat for unranked, but dangerous, opponents. It sounds like Danny Verpaele's star-crossed career is over, which is too bad. He was great as a freshman, but injuries and his suspension prevented him from becoming a star.

I also wanted to comment on recruiting- anyone notice that ESPN absolutely loves our class, Rivals likes it, and Scout hates it? It just shows how stupid the star system is. In looking at the offers that our commits have right now, this is the best class yet. I think everyone of the high school players had an SEC offer or big ACC offer. I would like to see a JUCO offensive tackle, because we're losing a lot on the line this year and it seems like depth could be a big issue going forward. And I don't know if Victor Marc is actually QB- none of the services sound like he is. And, my big sticking point this year- a big (250+) MLB to stuff some runs. I don't care if he is used exclusively against Pitt and UCONN, but we need a guy like that.

I should have gone to bed half an hour ago. Now I'm all riled up...

AP photo

View more, share yours

A green and gold night

Jessica Schmidt and Destiny Ramsey were ready for the beads to fly during the Homecoming Parade on Friday.

Matt Parrado showed his Bulls spirit Friday night.

Share your homecoming photos with Bulls Pit. E-mail them to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit: include your name and some info about the photo, then view your pics in our Bulls gallery.

You also can join tampabay.com's Community Photo Gallery and build your own galleries.

Photos by Shannon Breen | tbt*

Were you there? Share your pics

Quarterback Matt Grothe threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as USF topped Syracuse 45-13 this afternoon.

Share your scene photos with Bulls Pit. E-mail them to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit: include your name and some info about the photo, then view your pics in our Bulls gallery.

You also can join tampabay.com's Community Photo Gallery and build your own galleries.

AP photo

Syracuse's Otto has 'street cred issue'

Fox Sports.com ranks the top 10 worst  college mascots and Syracuse's Otto the Orange ranked #3.

Here's what the site says about Otto:

"When your athletics department's Web site describes Otto as "beloved especially by the under-six crowd," there's a street-cred issue here -- Barney the purple dinosaur is beloved too, but no one wants him as a team mascot. Thank goodness the school had the good sense to pick "Otto" over the other choice, "Opie."

Poor Otto.

The best mascots were ranked too (Florida State's Chief Osceola was #4).

What they're saying in Syracuse

Orange Football says "It's going to be a scorcher. "Bottoms up on the Gatorades. It's hot and sunny on the Gulf Coast, which means, sweating and cramping on Saturday."

Yup, forecast shows it will be in the low 80s. Going to feel like middle of July coming from New York fall.

Orange Football asks What to do about Matt Grothe? "We've got to contain. This guy can throw the heck out of the football," said coach Greg Robinson. "We're going to have to disrupt him. He's going to get out sometime. I'm talking to myself - you've got to be careful not to overreact. He is creative at making plays. I've seen Flutie and a bunch of those types. He has that knack about him. If you worry so much about containing him and you let him sit in that pocket, this guy can eat you up. There's a fine line."

The Daily Orange:   "Understand this: Life in Florida is slow. Early-bird special slow. Family cookout slow. Relaxed. Except when it comes to football".

Show us what's happening on campus

Bulls Pit wants to see what's happening on campus during Homecoming Week. Share your pics! E-mail your faves to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit: Include your name and some info about the photo.

And make to look for the tbt* crew during Friday's parade -- they'll be throwing lots of beads!

tbt* photo

How can USF win 6 in a row?

More proof that college football is a sickening business: Gene Wojciechowski writes that JoePa deserves a new deal. Just a few months ago, ESPN chronicled the myriad problems that Penn State has had off the field. It's not even fair to compare FreeShoesUniversity to the current Penn State mess. JoePa has no control over that program, but now that they are winning, apparently all is forgiven. Unless they lose.

Let's view both Paterno and Bobby Bowden for what they are: coaching legends who define their universities and espouse the virtues of college football while allowing an astonishing amount of players to demonstrate contempt for academics, their university, and the law. But the character flaws inherent in both programs are wiped away by winning. When each coach is losing, however, all of a sudden national writers call for their heads. Enough of the double-standard. If you want a coach who preaches the morality of his program, then hold him to that standard in good times and bad. If you want a coach that just wants to win, baby, then you have no right to complain about players running wild (like at Iowa).

Just needed to get that out there.

So I'm watching the Red Sox and Rays play a late-evening game. It's just so quintessentially American I can't help but put off my work (not to mention thrilled that I'll actually get some sleep because this one should be over by midnight).

I'm reasonably sure that USF is the subject of this blog, so let me address it. First off, I'll be in Florida on Friday, so that'll be fun (though the weather has been great up here the past few days). Second, the season isn't over. There are 6 games left, and all 6 are must-win games. Pitt will not win out, that's a guarantee. Nor will WVU. 5-2 probably will win the conference, so the opportunity for our first BCS game is there.

So how can USF win 6 in a row? Coaching and motivation. Burnham cannot stop strong running backs- that's become a fact over the past 2 seasons. Thus the onus is on him to stop Curtis Brinkley, Donald Brown, the Louisville trio, and even Jourdan Brooks. In fact, of the remaining opponents, I think we have the best shot to stop Noel Devine. On the motivation issue, Mike Simmonds needs to get the o-line to maintain a high level of energy, something they've done exactly twice this season (Kansas and NC State). If the team comes out flat again like in the Pitt game, this team is in trouble. Based on last year, that seems extremely unlikely.

A good start would be to run up the score on Syracuse. Somehow, though, I have a really bad feeling that the team won't get the message until the second half.

I don't mean to sound overly pessimistic, but the problems that were manifested on last year's team have repeated themselves this year. Hopefully the extra week will give the coaches a chance to address the only two real flaws on that team.

And by the way, since I'm coming down to Florida, Ray Jay better be rocking when I'm there...

Do we have worst special teams in top 25?

I can’t stress it enough, and if Coach Leavitt is listening, I hope he makes the most of this bye week. It is still hard to swallow the fact that we lost to Pittsburgh, but as I said before, it is time to move on and make this a great season when it’s all said and done.

This is a week to correct a lot of the wrongs. I don’t care if Leavitt needs to go get students from campus to throw deep passes down the sideline over and over again. We need to find an answer at the cornerback position. If our corners can’t be trusted to play, man, it really puts a lot of stress on all the other talent that our defense has. It won’t take long for other teams to realize that all they need to do is a five- or seven-step drop and just heave it up in the air, kind of the way Gino Torretta won a Heisman Trophy.

Am I wrong with this thinking? Am I alone? I know it is hard to come down on these players, but when I can point out a complete weakness it can’t be good. I am just a season ticket holder.

Do we have the worst special teams in the top 25? I have not looked into the numbers, but I would guess that we are pretty close to the worst in the top 25. I feel horrible as a fan, due to the fact we continue to lose games because of our special teams. How many times can you continue having a defender come around the edge and block a punt? Again, I am not a coach, but how does this not get corrected. It is not enough to say that we work on it everyday in practice. We have talented players, I have to look at the coaches. This is completely unacceptable, and until it is corrected we will continue to lose important games.

Well I hope that a week off will fix some of our problems, because if they don’t we can kiss our season goodBYE, goodBYE, goodBYE.

-- Brian Taylor

Photo by Daniel Wallace | Times

Will free food help fill soccer stadium?

The men's soccer team is taking on Big East opponent Louisville in a nationally televised game on Fox Soccer at 8 on Friday. Ouch, they've got the same starting time as Rays vs. Red Sox in the ALCS.

Clearly they are anxious to see fans there with this offer: Free food pre-game and free t-shirts while supplies last.

I was public enemy No. 3 during Pitt game

I'm in law school. I have stuff to do. I've forgotten what sleep was like. Anyone who reminds me gets one in the face. The point is, I'm justifiably late. If anyone is interested in my more academic side, I'm now writing for the prestigious news organization at Pitt Law, JURIST. Check it out if you're interested in no-nonsense, legal news. No fluff, no exaggeration, no hyperbole, and none of the other stuff that plagues our news.

Anyone else notice the sweet irony that House GOP members found a $700-billion bill too expensive, but were largely in favor of the $850-billion version with subsidies for, inter alia, children's arrows and racetracks. They even decided to pay Reggie Bush twice what USC paid him. Just remember: It's a bank bailout bill!

I know what you're thinking -- economy, schmonomy -- get to the football! Well, some guys tried to serve me some crow on my preview column, but what they didn't realize was that I GO TO THE SCHOOL THAT JUST BEAT USF. I watched the end in the most popular bar on campus -- my table had me, in USF gear, one guy in WVU gear, and another in Penn State gear. So I was public enemy NO. 3, even after the Hester TD. But trust me, I've taken more than my fair share of guff (yea, I said guff).

All I can really add is that Pitt beat us in the exact same fashion as Cincy, UCONN, Rutgers, and Oregon: big, strong running backs. I've been harping on this point for months on GA's blog, and no one listened. Well, are you listening now? I even said Shady would get over 100. What I didn't realize was that Stull would suddenly turn into a competent QB. Amazing.

Anyway, Shady, Ray Rice, Stewart, and Andre Dixon now all have one thing in common: they can run over tiny defenses. Look at the size of USF's LBs and tell me you didn't see the running game coming. Even with a healthy Mompremier, USF had no chance to take out a RB that is the same size as your MLB. T-Mac was all over the field, but he was making his tackles after Shady was already 4/5 yards past the line of scrimmage.

What surprised me was how bored the team looked from the outset. As always, the problem on offense has been motivation. This was yet another instance of offensive indifference (for the record, they've been pretty sloppy in 2/3 of the games this year).

Tim Keown wrote a good column on Page 2 today about pessimistic fans. While I am always going to be pessimistic, I do remember that we lost to Army at homecoming in 2004. We've come a long way, but it still is extremely frustrating when the same two flaws are painfully evident in the past 5 losses. It seems like the team doesn't learn from past mistakes. Burnham can stop speedy runners, yes, but the big guys pound his defenses. However he does it, he needs to plug the gaps with some big bodies.

***

And look for the Red Sox to take the series with the Rays. Sorry, but even with all the injuries, the Sox are too potent up and down the lineup for the Rays to stick with them over 7 (trust me, I've looked at about every stat possible from the 18 head-to-head games, and I can proudly say that I'm making this call solely based on homerism. The Rays actually match up quite well). The only thing I can honestly say is that if you get a chance to see Jon Lester in person, you have to take it. He's surreal.

And I'm less than 10 days out from a nice Florida respite (that cost me way too much)!

Any typos are the solely the fault of an extreme lack of sleep...

Stull photo by Getty Images

Was that Obama on campus?

Looked that way, but it was Tomas Diaz outside USF's Sun Dome before Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's speech this morning.

Were you there? Share your pics: e-mail them to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit; include your name and photo info. Then view the photos in our community photo gallery.

Photo by Michael Weimar | Times

Video: Grothe breaks off an escape artist run

Matt Grothe breaks off an escape artist run.

Courtesy of MattGrothe.com

Know these Bulls fans?

A Bulls fan submitted some photos and asked to be alerted when they were published. But he didn't leave a name or contact info. Anybody recognize these fans?

How about these 2 with Rocky? Let them know their photos made it to Bulls Pit!

Share your scene photos with Bulls Pit. E-mail them to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit: include your name and some info about the photo, then view your pics in our Bulls gallery.

You also can join tampabay.com's Community Photo Gallery and build your own galleries.

A Pitt-a-bull performance

I must say that I was sickened by what I witnessed on Thursday night. After such a sports high with the Rays winning, I thought for sure that the Bulls would carry myself and thousands of others through with another win. It was difficult to sit through that game.

I don’t want to make this to long, so here it is....

I hope that coach Jim Leavitt openly admits that the amount of penalties will not be tolerated in the future. There were way too many "stupid" penalties. There are times in a tough game where penalties will be called, but we looked lethargic out there. There almost appeared as if there was no desire to play hard.

Secondly, I must give props to the Pitt defensive coordinator. He must have spent at least a few minutes watching film of our current DB’s. I have witnessed a lot of football, and I honestly don’t remember a DB being picked on so blatantly. I really felt bad for our DB’s, um I won’t mention a name, #6 (maybe), as I watched from my seats.

Last, I must end on a positive note. Our mindframe must switch gears immediately. The season is not over. Yes, the Cinderella team of the year dream is officially over. There is ZERO chance of reaching the top of the mountain in the eyes of the national media, but again, the season is not over.

We must regroup and come back strong. We must win the Big East. I feel that anything less would be a disappointment. I expect our coaching staff to have these kids ready in two weeks. I left the game in a bad mood, and Friday was not much better, but it is now Friday evening and I am coming around slowly.

I hope that others feel the same way and continue to back this home team. They need us to show up and cheer. LET'S GO BULLS...

-- Brian Taylor

View more tbt* photos

Share yours

UT students charged with car robberies at USF game

Four young men, two identified as University of Tampa students, were arrested Thursday night during the USF game in conjunction with several car burglaries in the parking lot, according to arrest affidavits from the Hillsborough County Jail.

At about 9:30 p.m., police responded to reports of several people casing cars in the Raymond James Stadium Lot 14. They found four men: William Wise, 20, No. 703 2901 Dale Mabry Highway, Matthew Falzo, 19, No. 1437 401 W Kennedy, Eric Gross, 20, 401 No. 1644 W Kennedy, and Benjamin Howley, 20, No. 1006 2901 Dale Mabry Highway.

Police said Howley and Gross broke into a 2008 two-door Honda and a 2001 four-door Buick parked in Lot 14. About $200 worth of items were taken from the Honda and $450 from the Buick, and about $300 damage was done to the Buick's interior console, according to the arrest affidavit. Howley was reportedly found in possession of some of the stolen property, including an iPod and cash. They were confronted by police for underage drinking, and Gross admitted to breaking into at least three cars with Howley.

Wise and Falzo were also reportedly found in the parking lot with a black UT backpack full of stolen electronics and Suboxone pills -- a medication meant to wean people off opioid dependence, police said. Both admitted to burglaries after police apprehended them for underage drinking.

Gross and Falzo told police they are UT students. Howley said he works for OAS Advertising, and Wise said he was unemployed.

Gross and Howley were each charged with two counts of car burglary, one count of grand theft and one count of petty theft. Falzo was charged with possession of a narcotic, three counts of car burglary, two counts of grand theft and two counts of petty theft. Wise was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, underage alcohol possession, three counts of car burglary, two counts of grand theft and two counts of petty theft. They were all taken to the Hillsborough County Jail.

Any damage to your car? Share your parking lot tales.

Kim Wilmath, Times staff writer

Green & gold pics from Pitt game

The Bulls suffered their first loss this season, but fans still had fun.

Share your scene photos with Bulls Pit. E-mail them to submit@tampabay.com. Make sure to take credit: include your name and some info about the photo, then view your pics in our Bulls gallery.

You also can join tampabay.com's Community Photo Gallery and build your own galleries.

The Big Beast crown race starts tomorrow night!

The Big Beast race starts tomorrow between the Pitt Panthers vs. USF Bulls, I'm more excited for the game than I am for the Rays being on the playoffs. Seriously, I'm not looking forward to Rays playoff baseball since I'm hardcore and diehard Red Sox fan but I'm looking forward to the gridiron night game between Panthers and the Bulls.

The Bulls debut their top ten ranking for the first time  on the season and the Panthers come after a victory over Syracuse. The game should be more interesting than the Rays- White Sox game earlier in the day since the Rays should not lose to the lowly White Sox.

I expect to see a USF team hungry and ready to fight and show the world that they truly belong in the top ten and show the nation what the USF Bulls are capable of. Since certain coach namely Dave Wannstach is coming to town tomorrow, I wanted to ask the readers if you had any ideas for signs for the games. I was thinking sporting a fake mustache and bringing a fake Wannstach Superbowl trophy.

So does anybody have any ideas for the signs tomorrow night?

 

THE WANNSTACH IS IN TOWN!!!

Go Bulls!!

Rays or Bulls or both?

Are you torn between having tickets for both Game 1 of the playoffs and Bulls vs. Panthers? If you're going to both games tomorrow, let us know. We'd like to hear about your day from the Trop to Raymond James -- and see photos.

E-mail me to let me know your plans.

-- Karen McAllister, tampabay.com