That was a nice season the Bulls had once

[USF backup quarterback Grant Gregory scrambles but later fumbles on the play against Rutgers. Willie J. Allen Jr. | Times]
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I might write a full requiem for the season later, but all I'm going to say before diving headfirst into the world of torts is that this season is now officially a failure.

Going into the game, we still had a chance to get the most wins in school history. We still have a chance to match the past two seasons. But we have a losing record in the Big East in a season in which we were the clear favorite following a perfect non-conference schedule.

Wally Burnham, Greg Gregory, Mike Simmonds, and one of the D-line coaches all need to go. The Big East has obviously figured Wally out. Gregory can't figure the Big East out. Simmonds can't get a senior-filled line to do anything (we're terrible in both pass protection and run blocking). The D-line isn't poorly coached, but the time has come to use one of the spots on a special teams coordinator, which may be extraordinary, but is clearly necessary. I'm not sure which coaches are responsible for which recruits, so we might want to hold off on firing 4 guys at once, but I guarantee there are some younger position coaches at bigger schools or young coordinators at D-1AA schools that would love a shot to coordinate in the Big East (especially considering we're one of the 3 most talented teams).

The problem is that we grew too fast. Expectations mushroomed unfairly. But (unrealistic?) expectations are no excuse. The team looked like they gave up in the second half, which is different from when they don't try for 3 quarters of a game. I haven't seen the team give up since the Sun Bowl  last season and then back to 2006 against Louisville. The program is still on the rise- look at the list of recruits that ESPN shows as considering us. Eugene Smith is gone, which stinks (even more so because he picked WVU), but there are plenty of guys considering USF that never have before, like Ryne Giddens of Armwood.

Next year will be Matt Grothe's last. He's the guy that single-handedly accelerated the growth of the program. Matt, it's on you to save this season and prevent the same thing from happening next year.

Also, CFN predicted us to go 7-5. They might be right, which would be the first time in history they actually got something about USF correct. 

Fire Leavitt? Not so fast

So the chatter on the message boards and GA's blog is that people want coach Jim Leavitt fired.

Yes, the same man who built the program from scratch and into a consistent top-35 team.

BC, Clemson, Texas Tech, and Cal have all recently gone through stretches of continuous "very-goodness." Two of these teams made rash decisions with their coaches. BC appears to have gotten lucky with Jeff Jagodzinski (sorry for the spelling). Texas Tech and Cal have grumbled about their coach, despite being higher than they have ever been in the recent past (not so much this year for Cal, but last year). Many other more historical programs, like Minnesota, Illinois, Syracuse, Pitt, Nebraska, Miami, and Florida State have all been passed by USF in terms of on-field results.

Leavitt is making it in a system that promotes elitism and oligarchy. College football does not like the USFs and Boise States of the world. For USF to rise, an established program necessarily must fall. USF rose, many fell. Leavitt is the primary reason for that.

Leavitt is terrible at special teams and discipline (in the penalty sense. Our players have largely been staying out of trouble, which is more than programs like Penn State, Iowa, or Virginia can say). Leavitt is a pretty mediocre decision maker. Never goes for it when he should. Calls two timeouts in the third quarter while on defense. Hired Mike Simmonds. And Greg Gregory (and I would like to point out that the USF offense is still one of the 30 best in the nation).

Find me a coach without a flaw. Even USC, UF, and Oklahoma lose head-scratchers. Before yesterday, Mike Leach made some of the dumbest personnel and play-calling decisions in history.

USF was extremely lucky to get Leavitt and will be extremely lucky to retain him. This program was not supposed to rise so quickly (if at all). Does that make him immune from criticism? Absolutely not. Does one season of disappointment mean he should be fired (anyone who claims to have expected better than 9-4 last year can wash their mouth out with soap, because they're lying)? Absolutely not.

So the goals for this season have not been met. Let's use 2008 Texas Tech as an example of why fan bases shouldn't get too hot and bothered by stringing together 4 winning seasons. Eventually, things will click. Anyone expecting USF to turn into one of the major powerhouse programs on an annual basis needs to take a look at history. It ain't happening. But a Big East championship every few years is a reasonable goal. I thought this would be the first year. It wasn't. But Matt Grothe will be back, as will many other good players, coupled with the most sought-after recruits we've ever had.

Things are still looking up for USF. And a 10-win season is still possible (probable, though? No.).

Perspective people, perspective. Unless you want us to turn into UCF-west.

Jim Leavitt photo by Al Behrman | AP 

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

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...