Warrior! Warrior! Couple of quick thoughts ...

Again, if you read our game preview story Saturday, you'd know that it's not surprising USF would lose a second game in a row. If you count South Carolina's last two losses, there have been eight teams now that were in the top 10, lost, then lost their next game as well. It's just hard to right the ship this year.

-- USF is still going to be ranked, I think, just because lots of other teams lost as well. USC and Florida, who were ahead in the AP but behind in the BCS, lost to ranked teams, so USF will be below them. But No. 14 Kentucky, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 21 Virginia, No. 24 Penn State and No. 25 Rutgers all lost; I'm not going to stay up to see if Cal loses again, albeit against undefeated Arizona State. You'll see the Bulls somewhere between 20-25, and I think that's probably an accurate ranking.

-- Crazy as it seems, you can't really count USF out of the Big East race yet. The Bulls are technically tied for last with a 1-2 record, but they're only two games out of first. Connecticut still has Rutgers and games at Cincinnati and West Virginia, so there could be two losses there. The Bulls would need a third team they've beaten to finish with two losses for a three-way tie, but that means West Virginia would have to lose again; they still have Louisville (W. Va. scores at least 40 there), Cincinnati and UConn. Of course, these scenarios also require USF to stop losing.

-- Just in case you missed the line from the game story: Offense had five trips that got inside the Connecticut 5-yard line, and came away with 10 points from that. You can't do that and have any expectations of beating a good team. You could say that marching down the field, only to come to a screeching halt at the end zone, is kinda like blocking a punt in the end zone, but letting the other team fall on the loose ball. Either way, you're averaging about two points each time you're inside the 5.

-- We'll probably be hind-sighting the goal-line play calls all week, but I'm still amazed, even with an injury, USF brings in Mo Plancher -- with one carry all season -- for a crucial play on second-and-goal at the 1. Nothing against Plancher, but it'd be like needing a third out with the bases loaded in the ninth and turning to the kid you just called up from Triple-A. He may be great, but he's coming in completely cold. If you're going to go to the bench, heck, give freshman Richard Kelly a shot. He's never carried the ball, but he's 55 pounds heavier than Plancher, which is worth something on the 1-yard line. Or maybe, just maybe, let Grothe -- the guy with 146 rushing yards -- dive forward over your best linemen. He can get 1 yard in two shots, right?

-- Obviously, there are a lot of more important criteria to judge a coach by than how they conduct themselves in the media. UConn coach Randy Edsall's postgame comments Saturday night included an apology: "ABC had me on to talk. I used some language, one word that I shouldn't have used on TV, but you get caught up in the excitement. I apologized." The objectionable word? Hell.

I've got a 7 a.m. flight and have to drop off a correspondent at a bus station before I drop off my rental, so I'm going to sleep. Behave with the comments ...

Comments

The main difference between USF and South Carolina is that S.C. should be in the top twenty. The Bulls are on a downward path back to reality. You don't win National championships with a classless inconsistent QB like. "Him just a widdle warrior"

[cee]

no doubt about it was this game on coach leavitt and the staff he assembled. what another week of horrible game management.. don't even get me started with ford at the goal line. i don't give a damn if he is hurt-- a hurt ford is better than any walk-on, like ben williams, or 1-star, like m. planscher that we have on our roster.

the leavitt-coached defense looked pretty pathetic in the 1st half.. we got no penetration and their running game ran right up us.

COACH LEAVITT-- DO US ALL A FAVOR AND FIRE YOURSELF FOR THE SAKE OF THIS PROGRAM TAKING SOME PRIDE. we should have gotten butch davis when we had the shot. horrible playcalling combined with horrible recruiting.

[eric]

OUR KICKING GAME IS PATHETIC !

GREG, DO YOUR FREAKING JOB AND ASK LEAVITT THE HARD QUESTIONS...

WHY DON'T YOU CHANGE YOUR FIELD GOAL
KICKER ?

ALVARADO SHOULD ONLY BE THE PUNTER,
HE SHOULD NEVER KICK THE BALL OFF THE GROUND AGAIN !

[erwses232]

after the way delbert has kicked, he should never attempt another field goal in his career !

just becuase he can punt, doesn't make him a good kicker !

what about the walk on kicker ?

when are we going to see him kick,
he can't do any worse than dickbert alvarado !

[dabulls79]

I second that,

GIVE THE NEW WALK ON KICKER A CHANCE TO KICK !

[FICHMAN]

delbert has cost us points in every game, it's about time to see a new kicker.

he went 2-6 at auburn, we make those, we win before overtime. now that we are losing you can really see how those missed field goals hurt.

it's time for a change in field goal kickers.

[new walk on kicker]

I'M HAPPY, I SHOULD HAVE A JOB ON MONDAY.

[AL]

It's time to have a bronze statue of the Jim cast...and unveil it at his retirement ceremony in January.

Time to move on Jim.

[nybullsfan]

Ouch that hurt!

Not just to the Bulls, but to the entire Big East. Last year we knocked WVU out of a second BCS bid for the BE, and now we just knocked ourselves out of one for this year. So the BE will only get one BCS bid again. That extra $17m sure would have helped the whole conference.

The BE needs to upgrade its bowl tie-ups. Even if the Bulls win out from here, there's not much to look forward to. The Gator won't be taking a BE team this year, so that leaves the Sun, Pizza, Car Wash, and the Snow in Toronto.

I'm thinking back now to the USF Oracle reporter interviewing the Pizza Bowl guy, saying something to the effect of "What are you doing here? We're too good to play in your bowl." So we may find ourselves passed over by the Pizza Bowl in favor of Louisville. You know - pride before a fall and all that.

USF's too far away for the Sun and Snow bowls, and we have no history of traveling well even as far as Alabama, so it looks like the best shot will be Meineke, if we get invited at all now.

That thud you heard was CJL being tossed under the bus by all the bandwagonners as the jump off the wagon themselves.

Go Bulls! Stay Classy!

[AL]

I'm not a band wagoner, been on board since the start, not jumping off anytime soon. CJL has done a good job of getting the Bulls where they are, but he's not the one who's going to lead us to the promised land...I've been saying that for a number of years.

[cee]

AL, i am with you there.. i've never been a fan of this fool. he is like the Dom Capers of college football.. sure he can build a program, but he is just not a big time coach.. notice how, even with his tough grins and machismo, we are still an undisciplined team?? pretty pathetic. jim tressell doesnt act like some kind of egotrippin' badass on the sideline and he gets his team to go out there and take care of business (e.g.- last night vs. penn st)..

leavitt is just a glorified 1AA coach, nothing more. we need to seriously find a replacement. he under-recruits and chokes in big games big time, and we are getting publicly embarrassed on national television.

[dogsonice]

I hope the coaches learn from those bad calls. Regardless, Jim is still the man and got us to where we are in a hurry. Don't lose the faith in our bulls, they'll bounce back. Go bulls!

[DR]

Al, I think CJL has already lead us to the promise land. He got national exposure this year and that will bring in top recruits. They got a great HS kicker coming in next year so we don't have to watch any more trash on 4th downs. I'm not sure why he still kicks, they should have given the walk on a chance by now.
G.A.- If USF were to lose again and drop out of the Top 25, would they be the first team ever to start the season unranked, move all the way up to #2 and then fall out of the Top 25 again?
It is quite apparent that the voters, coaches and writers, are putting too much weight into the history of a school football program. Michigan started at #5 and weren't that good. Look at USC and Florida, top 5 teams that aren't that good and more. Right now, yes Ohio State is undefeated, but who have they played? Boise State was undefeated last year and barely broke the Top 10, so why don't we hold Ohio State to the same standards? In my opinion Ohio State is barely a Top 10 team, just like last year.
If the NCAA is going to continue to have the BCS rankings instead of a playoff system, why don't they force every division to have conference championships so that every team is on an even playing field?

[DR]

Al, I think CJL has already lead us to the promise land. He got national exposure this year and that will bring in top recruits. They got a great HS kicker coming in next year so we don't have to watch any more trash on 4th downs. I'm not sure why he still kicks, they should have given the walk on a chance by now.
G.A.- If USF were to lose again and drop out of the Top 25, would they be the first team ever to start the season unranked, move all the way up to #2 and then fall out of the Top 25 again?
It is quite apparent that the voters, coaches and writers, are putting too much weight into the history of a school football program. Michigan started at #5 and weren't that good. Look at USC and Florida, top 5 teams that aren't that good and more. Right now, yes Ohio State is undefeated, but who have they played? Boise State was undefeated last year and barely broke the Top 10, so why don't we hold Ohio State to the same standards? In my opinion Ohio State is barely a Top 10 team, just like last year.
If the NCAA is going to continue to have the BCS rankings instead of a playoff system, why don't they force every division to have conference championships so that every team is on an even playing field?

[Al]

"In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." Dr Laurence J Peter

I think Jim is there now.

[DR]

Cee, he chokes in big games? Wow, how soon we forget about Auburn and West Virginia. Yeah, he made some questionable play calls, but what coach doesn't? You call CJL a division I-AA coach but Tressel plays a I-AA schedule. They beat Penn State, wow. Another overrated average team at best from the same weak division, probably the weakest division ever in the history of college football.

[cee]

DR, how about the games that EFFING matter.. ya know, the CONFERENCE GAMES. the teams that know you and are most familiar with you.. the games that ultimately get you to a BCS bowl game.. yes, jim leavitt chokes a fat one every year.. this isnt the first time we choked against UCONN. and this isnt the first year we choked against rutgers. face it, DR, this coach is a freakin clown and he should give it all up.

and yes, i brought up tressel. i guarantee, if you poll every red-blooded, college football fan right now, except for you, they will tell you that they would switch places with ohio state if they were USF right now. face the facts-- tressel gets his boys up for big time games and maintains them atop their conference-- even a #1 rankings. the minute leavitt gets the spotlight, he freezes up like a stupid school boy in his first ever school play.

then again, i guess you like relishing in playing the 'spoiler' role.. you know, the underachieving program that, every now and then, gets the occasional upset against teams like WVU, auburn, or UL a few yrs back.. me- i'm not satisfied with those damn moral victories. i expect more out of my program, and i expect to go to BCS games. go enjoy your 1-AA mediocrity, DR.. the REAL college football fans live here.

[g-man]

Before this season started, I predicted that we would be a top 25 team and crack the top 10 at some point. Well, the Bulls did more than crack the top 10; they rose all the way to No. 2.

The early season success had many of us looking for more than that, but as for myself, they've already exceeded my expectations by far.

I hope they stay in the top 25 today - they should - and the rest of the season.

There's still a slim hope, I suppose, that the Bulls could still take the BEAST championship, but even if they don't, I remain on the bandwagon, where I have been since Day One.

Let's not lose the enthusiasm at Homecoming, folks. If you just jumped on the wagon this year, stay there. There will be great football for many years to come.

Finish strong.
GO BULLS!

[JP]

USf should not be ranked. Your getting beat by teams that suck. Rutgers has 3 losses and UCONN sucks. Welcome back to the cellar. OVER RATED

Just schedule ELON and FAU every week and you'll go undefeated.

[MamaBull]

I love how everyone is ready to throw Leavitt under the bus because of the 2 games lost. Are you kidding! Look what he has done in 11 years. I think there is enough blame to go around with regard to the poor plays. Losing these games hurt but they weren't blow outs. Support the team! GO BULLS !!

[BullBard]

DR, in answer to your question (as well as my opinion) about not having conference champions play each other in a true elimination playoff, the schools that you mentioned as being given the greatest respect with average performance and weak scheduling consider themselves responsible for the great success college football has enjoyed under the current format. Furthermore, I also believe that the NFL does not want the football consumer to choose between meaningless end of regular season football games versus important and intriguing games that are zealously followed by loyal college fans and played by non-overpaid players.

I also believe that if the Bowl Cartel creates a playoff, it will be short-form and severely controlled by their main conference interests; the SEC,Big Ten, PAC-10, etc.. The term "tradition" carries way too much relevance in their mind; just remember that even non-traditional schools can field teams that can beat the "traditionals" if given a fair chance.

GO BULLS!

[Dave W]

11:15- you said the same thing last week, so I'll say the same thing this week- we'll schedule Auburn every week. And JP- since when were we ever in the cellar? We've had 2 losing seasons in our history.

For those claiming choke job- it was, but is it worse than Cal's, USC's, Texas', or the million other teams that have blown winnable games this year? This season is not going to turn out how it could have, but we're far from done in the spotlight. This team will continue to improve.

Unless Leavitt is Jeff Tedford or Tom O'Brian. The USF program as a whole has limitless potential, and I think that Leavitt is good enough to avoid the plateau that Cal and BC (until this year) hit.

[Al]

Since getting into CUSA and then the BE he has not won a single conference title.

His conference record has been at best middle of the road.

The Peter principle has set in.

[mulham]

Anyone who thinks CJL isnt the right coach for USF needs to come to their senses. The bay area in Tampa is full of bandwagon fans. This is pathetic. The same people who say CJL can't get the job done were probably feeling he is the best coach in the world after leading us to victories over Auburn and West VA. People need to calm done. Alot of crazy things have happened this year in college football. Kentucky beat LSU this year, but just lost to Mississippi. BTW, LSU beat Mississippi by almost 45 pts this year. People need to show the coaches and players of USF respect and be appreciative of all the hard work they have put forward. When we start winning, do us a favor and don't get back on the bandwagon. Tampa is a bandwagon city. It happened with the BUCS and it will eventually happen with the Devil Rays. Lots of sports teams have never one anything, yet their fans remain true. We do not have that in Tampa. CJL is the right coach for USF both yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

[Ceeyore]

Oh, well. Bulls probably were never meant to ever win a game in the first place.

[Al]

"CJL is the right coach for USF both yesterday, today, and tomorrow."

Yes, if USF is satisfied with a mediocre football program.

[cee]

mulham, get off this effing blog, you casual fan.. look at the damn records-- you will see that jim leavitt has not won a freaking conference title in his entire existence. he occasionally upsets someone ranked higher and gets all the media praise, then continues to wet the bed against these random programs like uconn, army, kansas, et al. get your facts straight, casual fan.. it is obvious that you started watching USF this year and just read up on our history via wikipedia. this team has been in disarray with it's lack of discipline and thugs on and off the field. let's not even get into the academic troubles the kids that leavitt brings in are having.

leavitt is driving this program into the ground and, if i had a child looking into playing football, Lord knows what leavitt does to coax them into joining this program-- which probably explains why he has to recruit 1 and 2 star athletes.. anyone of higher value usually suffers from off the field problems (like mike ford and his perpetual skipping of classes, which is why he missed the FAU game). leavitt built this hollow house of cards and within 2 weeks, a northeastern big east gust of wind just knocked us over into mediocrity.

[Ari]

Leavitt is without a doubt the right coach for USF, I just think his own personal inexperience is showing.

He doesn't look in control. He looks like he panics and becomes emotional.

I am telling you, his stupid act will not fly when we have a bad season. The only reason Bobby Bowden still has a job is because their is a perception that he is a nice and decent guy. Sharks gather and wait for the jerk to slip up. He should know that.

[Ari]

It is Christmas for cee. He has been waiting since August for this day. Just prodding and limping along. Now he has his chance.

[DAVID]

Very possible that if UCF can win out and USF win out that there might be a rematch in a bowl game, I want some payback for that beating!

[cee]

Ari, i havent been waiting for today.. i've been dreading it because i've known that it is inevitable. i've seen the way this program has been constructed and this has been a long time coming. weakness starts from the top, and at the top is a blonde headed egomaniac who has no regard for the future of our program.

[Adam]

SO Leavitt is 0-4 in conference championships so he should be fired??

You people are ridiculous. I would likely donate money to firegreggregory.com, but Leavitt is a great coach.

I really don't have anything to say about the game, we didn't play well, you are dealing with college kids, they aren't going to be great every week. Even Michigan and USC have two losses this year, UF has 3. If you are ready for Leavitt to be fired, please find a new team, I would rather have 20k real fans at the game than 67k just waiting for adversity to complain about something.

Sickening

[Ari]

I am a true fan. Season tickets to basketball and football.

I am on the record as stating:

Leavitt acted like a total idiot yesterday

Our kicking and special teams could be the worse I have ever seen.

I have been watching this team for 11 years and we commit the penalty after penalty after penalty after penalty.

Amari Jackson sucks anyways.

We have ZERO running game.

The play calling inside the 10 was horrible, but decent everywhere else. Gregory finally realized after the second half that running Grothe is our bread and butter, why did he get away from it inside the 10 yard line? I don't know.

And once again... Amari jackson Delbert Alverado stink.

Shalom

[SRQ Steve]

Very tough game to be at. Fans were very loud even though the stadium only holds 40K.

I think we should run the ball and use 4 downs. We have 3 running backs, and we should use them all to keep running. Never kick. Just keep running the ball.

[DR]

Cee, if you truly think CJL is a bad coach, you chose the right coach to compare him to, Tressel because he's horrible. If ohio State was in the SEC, they wouldn't be a .500 team. Yet, they are somehow atop the polls just like that weak team they had last year. They beat Miami in a championship game that was fixed. Anybody who thinks that 14 second delayed call for a pass interference doesn't know football period. If you think that USF is a dirty program, you're also an idiot. Reggie Bush, Jarrett, Leinart were all paid by USC. Clarrett, form you're favorite team, is a bum, always was in Ohio State. Katzemoyer was the first mentally retarded person to play football at a college level. Go ahead and dog USF for losing to good programs, Ohio State would have 4 losses in the Big East, and laugh at Ohio State when they get slaughtered again by the only good team they play all year in their BCS bowl game.
College football is dirtier than congress. Its a joke.

[cee]

DR, there are a lot of "IF's" in that little statement of yours.. sorry, i only deal with FACTS.. and between tressel and leavitt, there is no comparison. tressel has more conference titles, more overall wins, and a better 1AA record than jim leavitt ever has. he's just an overall better coach. oh, and he recruits the state of florida BETTER than some programs located in the state of florida (namely, our program, USF). so, to correct your statement, IF OSU was in the big east, they sure as hell wouldnt have 2 conference losses because: a) tressel would have done a better recruiting job, b) tressel would have coached up his team a lot better than what leavitt would have done in the past 2 weeks, c) tressel wouldnt have allowed the OC to call a moronic play like a naked bootleg on the goal line..

keep praising leavitt, DR. because the fact of the matter remains-- we are destined for A BOWL GAME NAMED AFTER A PIZZA DELIVERY CHAIN because of him. suck on those breadsticks.

[Ken]

Big rain storm now. I wish the non-USF fans would go somewhere else, and allow the fans of USF to converse here. There are other places for this sort of thing.

[DR]

Cee, get your head out of the sand and do some some jumping jacks to get the sand out between your legs. Ohio State is a joke of a program! They play nobody's in their division all year, and don't even have a championship game either. When they play a quality program form a quality division, they get murdered like they did last year. Florida was the only good team they played last year and the Gators absolutely detroyed them after spotting them 7 points. Tressel gets recruits? Who and what? Are you kidding me?
When I talked about the horrible pass interference call, you didn't even argue against me on the call. You just played lame and said "I only state the facts." That's what loser's say when they have no argument whatsoever.
The only fact in college football is that there has never been a national chapion. The only sport in the NCAA that doesn't have a playoff system. Tennis, soccer, wrestling, and even badminton teams have playoff systems. Auburn went undefeated a couple of years ago and din't win a national championship. College football is a complete joke. They allow sorry teams like ohio State to play nobody all year and get into a "national championship" game. Until the NCAA applies a playoff system of at least 8 teams into the Division I football, like Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III, it deserves no respect. Division I football is a national embarrassment. The so called "national title" game between 2 teams who haven't earned the right to be ther might as well be called the football presidential race.
Cee, you have brought nothing to the table since football has started. You have made predictions every week and so far you would be a horrible baseball player with your, .100 average. I could predict a team will lose every week and eventually I will be right. Make some valid points one time, thats all i ask.

[Ken]

Cee's our rain cloud--don't ask for anything else. It is dark and stormy now--right in his element.

[Ari]

This could be the line of the year on the Greg Auman blog:
-----------------
"keep praising leavitt, DR. because the fact of the matter remains-- we are destined for A BOWL GAME NAMED AFTER A PIZZA DELIVERY CHAIN because of him. suck on those bread sticks."
-----------------

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Yeah -- Cee has got us. It is depressing to even think about going back to the "pizza bowl" to play East Carolina.

I think we should just skip the bowl if that happens again. The Pizza bowl - I say we slice that one up and feed it to the birds. I am sure USF will travle well to the Tire Bowl again. Nothing like New Years Eve in Charlotte.

HA

"Suck on those breadsticks."

HA HA HA HA HA --

[DR]

Who's the joke on Al, those who watch the BS Bowl between 2 teams who haven't earned it or a pizza bowl? There's no difference to me. Ohio State sucks, prove me wrong. The only way you can is with a playoff. Their own division doesn't even have a champinship game. What is their division scared of? There is no benefit from not having a championship game is there? Oh yeah, that's right, there is. Ohio State is a mediocre program at best like they were last year. Their division sucks and Division I is a joke. national Embarrassment. NCAA Football is that trophy they give to every participant who tries, but its more like "sorry we couldn't pay you for being mediocre, better luck next year."

[Oldie Green and Goldie]

I agree with GA 100% about Mosie Plancher carrying the ball at the end. You're right, giving Grothe the ball for three sneaks would have been better. Our new offensive coordinator is questionable I think. We all know the best team doesn't always win the game. We are certainly a better team than our last two losses indicate. A play here and there and we would be 8-0. Then we would still have the national naysayers on our backs. USF has made every game exciting until the last play. That's what I pay my money to see. The coach can't make catches for the players, or keep them from throwing interceptions. Jim Leavitt deserves better treatment. He is learning how to handle the pressure of national attention along with his team. That will bode well for us in the future.

[Tom]

Hey Greg,

You should interview for the Offensive Coordinator position. Can you please ask Greg Gregory what he was thinking about? Why wouldn't the handoff be to Jamar Taylor or B.Williams? Or how about jumping over the pile? I guess he was trying to outsmart the other team and failed miserably.

[G.A.]

I'm not an offensive coordinator. I will say I explained that last drive to my wife Nicole, and her response to second and goal at the 1 was "Why not run and jump over the top three times?"

Again, you can argue that if the bootleg call goes against everything you guys would expect, it makes it a valid option for something the defense wouldn't see coming. Unfortunately, they did see it coming, and then some.