Live blog: USF up 17-16 on Cards at halftime

Greetings from Raymond James Stadium, where we'll be blogging live throughout today's USF-Louisville game. USF jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but Louisville answered with 16 points in the second quarter, taking the lead on a 60-yard punt return by Trent Guy for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked.

USF got the lead back on the final play of the half, as Eric Schwartz hit a 22-yard field goal after the Bulls failed to get in the end zone after getting to the 2-yard line with 25 seconds left.

The Bulls had marched 80 yards for touchdowns on each of their first two drives, with quarterback B.J. Daniels connecting with receiver Dontavia Bogan for a 16-yard score and Mo Plancher getting a 2-yard score. In two drives, the Bulls have more yards than they totaled at Rutgers last week.

 Keep checking back for updates and notes ...

WR Mitchell won't play for Bulls vs. Louisville

USF will go without top receiver Carlton MItchell for today's home game against Louisville, as the junior isn't dressed out in pregame warmups and will miss a second game due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in USF's win against West Virginia three weeks ago.

Not too many other notables among those not dressed -- defensive tackle Leslie Stirrups, who has played sparingly, is not, and that's telling because just about anybody can dress for a home game -- lots of walk-ons dressed today. So either Stirrups has an injury we're not aware of, or there's a message being sent.

Louisville will be without starting quarterback Adam Froman due to lingering injuries, so junior Justin Burke will get the start today.

No, QB Daniels didn't play hoops Friday night

First e-mail I got came in just before midnight, asking why USF would allow quarterback B.J. Daniels to play for the Bulls basketball team -- for just five minutes, in South Carolina -- the night before a noon football game against Louisville.

The easy answer? He didn't. Due to some kind of coding error, the box score at ESPN.com showed Daniels -- who played sparingly as a walk-on guard last season -- had played five minutes in the Bulls' loss to South Carolina. His page at ESPN.com still shows him playing, missing one shot and grabbing a rebound.

If you check the box score on USF's site, you can breathe easier, knowing Daniels didn't play and was bunkered down in a Tampa hotel with his football teammates. Jim Leavitt might let him play basketball after football season, but doing so the night before a game is another matter.

If anything, Daniels has been impressively focused on football. He didn't even attend USF's basketball home opener against Virginia on Monday, saying he was busy studying film of Louisville after football practice. Remember, the opportunity to play both sports was one of the reasons he chose USF, so he's still sincerely interested in playing basketball after football season is over, even though he's unlikely to play a significant role on Stan Heath's team.

Just a reminder, we'll be live-blogging throughout the USF-Louisville game, so check back ...

Fans can bring school supplies to USF-Louisville

USF is paying tribute to active and veteran military members during Saturday's football game against Louisville, and the Bulls are taking an active role in helping a worthy cause overseas.

USF athletics is asking fans to help take part in the "Schools Supplies for Afghan Children" drive, with dropoff points at both the north and south ends of Raymond James Stadium. Fans are asked to bring new or gently used pens, pencils, crayons, spiral notebooks, markers, erasers, chalk, coloring books, pencil sharpeners, children's scissors and construction paper.

The school supplies drive was the idea of Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Rex Temple, whose wife Liisa is an adjunct professor at USF. Temple is currently deployed in Afghanistan, and USF will have a special guest at the game in Army SPC Christopher "Kit" Lowe, who served with Temple in Afghanistan until August, when he was badly injured in battle. Lowe, who hopes to attend graduate school at USF, was awarded the Purple Heart for his efforts in Afghanistan and is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

For more information on the school supplies drive, visit Temple's blog at afghanistanmylasttour.com. You can read more about Lowe in this story from his hometown of Savannah, Ga.

As part of the military appreciation game, active and veteran military members can purchase lower bowl tickets for $10 with a military ID.

Bulls offense hopes to rebound vs. Louisville

Again, we're delving into the future, managing to give you tomorrow's newspaper story today. Here's our advance story for USF-Louisville at noon on Saturday, focusing on the Bulls' offense, which hopes to collect itself after a dismal 159-yard effort at Rutgers and the first regular-season shutout in USF's 13 years.

Bulls commitment Shaw in Tampa tonight

Quick update on two high school running backs who have committed to USF for 2010 -- first, DeSoto County's Marcus Shaw, the Bulls' latest commitment and a prolific runner, will be in Tampa tonight for a playoff game against Robinson.

As he mentioned on Thursday's chat, Shaw has put up scary numbers this season -- 2,361 yards and 27 touchdowns, averaging 11 yards per carry. This Naples News story has more about Shaw's ridiculous 344-yard game on eight carries against Estero last month -- touchdowns of 72, 44, 80, 40 and 68 yards. The newspaper points out that Shaw didn't play in the second half, and if he had, he could have challenged the state's single-game rushing record of 501 yards.

USF's other running back commitment, Lake City Columbia's Tiger Powell, is also in the state playofs tonight, at home against Tallahassee Leon. Powell's running backs coach, former USF back Quinton Callum, said Powell remains committed to USF, despite continued efforts from schools like Tennessee and Clemson.

Callum mentioned another wrinkle -- USF made a scholarship offer Tuesday to Columbia receiver Jamaal Montague, a 6-foot-1, 190 pound senior who has 15 touchdown receptions. USF is ahead of most major schools in offering Montague, who also has offers from schools like Middle Tennessee State and Florida International. Just another name to remember as recruiting cranks up after the season ...

Police inquiry shows turmoil among USF guards

TAMPA – A lengthy police investigation into the April burglary of a former USF basketball player’s apartment resulted in no charges being filed, but the interviews from a 23-page police report show a Bulls backcourt awkwardly fractured, with players admitting to stealing from teammates, staking out each other’s apartments and accusing others in a larger theft.

Reserve guard Gaby Belardo had already announced he was transferring from the Bulls when property estimated at $7,760 -– including two TVs, a laptop, video games and $2,000 worth of clothes -– was taken from his Tampa apartment. Suspecting three of his USF teammates, he called USF coach Stan Heath instead of calling police, and the coach called a team meeting.

"I truly believe that the team is not involved," coach Stan Heath told police in a May interview. "I have talked to several players in depth, and no one seems to have any information. I also searched the room of each player, looking for Gaby’s things, but we didn’t find anything."

Big wins for USF soccer, men's basketball

It's been a successful night for USF athletics, as men's soccer earned a 2-1 victory over Stetson in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and men's basketball earned its second road win of the season, beating Davidson, 65-58.

Men's soccer now advances to Sunday's second round, where it faces a difficult task, playing at top-seeded Akron, which is 20-0-0 this season. More to come shortly from men's basketball, where the Bulls (3-0) now face the winner of tonight's South Carolina-La Salle game at 9:30 p.m. on Friday. Dominique Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who also got 21 points (including 15-for-16 on free throws) from forward Gus Gilchrist.

Bulls forward Grant sitting out season

USF senior power forward Porche Grant, the Bulls' top rebounder last season, will miss the 2009-10 season with what the school announced as "personal reasons."

Grant, who was expected to compete for a starting position, will remain with the team and has a redshirt year available, which would allow her to return to the Bulls in 2010-11 for her final year of eligibility. Grant had been suspended from USF's first two games for an unspecified violation of NCAA rules, which was said to be unrelated to her "personal reasons."

Grant averaged 6.2 points off the bench last season, along with a team-best 7.7 rebounds. The Bulls are off to a 1-2 start after losing at Wake Forest on Wednesday night. Grant's absence leaves the Bulls thinner in the post, with seniors Jessica Lawson and Melissa Dalembert but no proven depth beyond those two starters. Freshman Tahira Johnson is likely to step up as the No. 3 post player in Grant's absence.

Today: Chat live with Greg Auman, 12:30 p.m.

Want to grouse about USF's lopsided loss to Rutgers? Talk about this week's game against Louisville? Speculate about bowl possibilities? Join Times beat reporter Greg Auman for a live chat today, starting at 12:30 p.m. In the meantime, feel free to leave a question for Greg in the "Comments'' area below.