Bulls escape UCF with overtime thriller

Sorry for the lack of updates there -- a wild finish here in Orlando ... here's the game story for Sunday's paper. More to come ...

ORLANDO -- For all the excitement, this was exactly why USF doesn't want to play Central Florida anymore. One year after crushing the Knights by 52 points, the Bulls escaped Saturday night, winning by an inch or two.

For all the fun quotes in the newspapers, for all the rivalry between fans, the No. 17 Bulls barely averted disaster Saturday night, needing overtime to escape with a 31-24 win against an unranked Knights team motivated to make the most of their last shot at knocking off the Bulls.

USF (2-0) led 24-10 with four minutes to play, but the Knights got an interception from linebacker Bruce Miller, then two touchdown passes from Michael Greco in a span of 66 seconds. USF's Delbert Alvarado missed a last-minute field goal to win, sending the game into overtime.

There, quarterback Matt Grothe capped a huge night, threading a pass between two defenders on third-and-10 for a 25-yard touchdown to receiver Taurus Johnson. The defense, so stingy for three quarters, came back for one last stop to seal the win in overtime. It was so thrilling that the Bulls lost count of their body parts.

"When the defense made that stop, I was down on all four knees just praying, saying 'Thank God we won the game,'" said Johnson, who finished with a career-high 143 yards on six catches.

The Knights (1-1), who had hurt themselves with penalties all night, saved the worst for last, false-starting on a fourth-and-1 from the 16-yard line. Greco, who threw touchdowns to Corey Rabazinski and Rocky Ross in the final four minutes to force overtime, scrambled and made a move for the 15 but was stood up by linebackers Brouce Mompremier and Tyrone McKenzie. After a measurement, the referee held high a single hand, his two fingers showing how close the Knights had come. Instead, they fell to 0-18 all-time against ranked teams and 0-4 against the Bulls.

"I'm just glad I got up on him and he didn't get there first," Mompremier said. "I'm just happy to have a win. That's it. I can't think about nothing else but the win right now."

UCF got a huge night from cornerback Joe Burnett, who scored on a 91-yard kickoff return in the first quarter and set up two other scores with long punt returns.

The win improved USF to 7-0 all-time in overtime games and was eerily similar to last year's second game, an overtime road win at Auburn in which the Bulls won despite kicking problems. Against UCF, Alvarado had a 46-yard attempt blocked, and with a chance to put the Bulls ahead with 15 seconds left in regulation, his 42-yarder missed wide left. USF coach Jim Leavitt suggested a change might be coming there: "We have to try something different," he said.

The kicking woes among other special-teams woes and Grothe's interceptions made the game far closer than Leavitt or the Bulls wanted.

"We made a lot of mistakes, and we didn't use our judgment with three minutes to go in the game," Leavitt said. "We had the game under control with (four) minutes to go. ... We have to make better decisions, because we put our defense in such a tough position."

Grothe also carried the Bulls offense, as he has for much of the past two seasons. He threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns, including two to tight end Cedric Hill in the third quarter to lift USF out of a 10-10 tie at halftime. Two years ago, in his first road start in the Citrus Bowl, he rallied USF to victory over UCF, throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns.

Now the Bulls can move on to No. 14 Kansas at home on Friday night. That Saturday's game -- and the four-game series with Central Florida -- are over is a welcome relief for the Bulls.

"To beat a team four times in a row is pretty tough to do," Leavitt said. "Especially against Central Florida; they are a very good football team. ... I am proud of our players. I am proud of their fight."

Comments

[Don Corleone]

Oops! I think UCF just got another penalty.

[702JV]

A few things....At what point do we wake up and make a change at the FG kicker position??????

When do we grow up and make play calls that will allow us to compete with the top programs????

With our depth at the RB position, why can't we can't run against UCF. What will happen against the big programs???? I do not care that Ford did not play.

[Amanda]

In the 5 years that I have been following the Bulls program, I have not questioned Leavitt's coaching decisions but last year and now this year, I am starting to question some things... Why did he stick with Alvarado after his horrible performance against Auburn? Why did he underplay Mike Ford so much last year?

Ford being hurt is not something he can control, but he can see there are problems and fix them. Hopefully he does.

[Jerome]

One question and then a follow up depending on the answer: Is Coach Leavitt still the special teams coach? If so, why in the world doesn't he hire a coach to specialize on special teams? It is consistently one of the weakest parts of our team and I can't count the number of games where special teams either cost us the game or made it much closer than it ever needed to be. I know he's stubborn and that's one of the things I like about him. But at some point he has to realize that special teams is a weakness for us and we can do better.

[702JV]

Amanda, I can't agree with you more

[Dan]

Greg and other fellow Bull fans, you have to help me out with this one. There are 2 plays tonight that I am seriously scratching my head at. When USF was up 14 with 3 mins left why is the offensive cord. calling for a passing play when everyone in the world knows USF should just run out the clock? Instead Grothe throws an interception which leads to a UCF touchdown. Then on the final drive in the 4th quarter, with 15 some odd seconds left, USF is hit with a penalty which pushes Alvarado back. With one timeout remaining, why wouldnt USF try to run a play, somewhere up the middle to gain a few more yards for Delbert and or run a play to keep it in the center of the field so when hes kicking a field goal, he is straight on? Instead, they are pushed back with the penalty, Delbert is on the left hashmark and Delbert is as Delbert does, wide left. I was totally questioning the play calling tonight. And last question Greg, where was Ben Williams tonight?

If Kansas gets the hands on the tapes of todays game, watch out next week. Each play should be a pass right over the middle.

Oh and a final note, Troy Percival sucks! Go Bulls!

[THE FANS]

WE NEED A NEW KICKER!

[Sarasota Ralph]

Surely at a school that has such a great soccer program we can find someone who can kick a football accurately!

[Joe]

It looked to me like CJL didn't know that we had another timeout left. We took our timeout, but then they had that whole issue as to what the clock actually ran down to. I'm not sure if that means we never had to call ours because there was already an official timeout or not.

If we knew we had the timeout, we should have at least tried one more running play, if nothing else to get the ball to the center of the field so Delbert had a chance.

We really do need a new kicker though

[Jerryd]

Alvarado, starts another year as bad as the last. He may have a great leg...but he can't get it through the uprights when the Bulls need it. He is not a clutch player....time to move on. Thank goodness for the rest of the team, or we would have lost this one. We need better game management near the end but Grothe made up for his late game interception with the game winning pass in OT. Congrats to the entire team...you deserved that WIN!

[RR]

Can't believe we're at September '08 and still screaming for a new kicker!!

What's it going to take for coach Leavitt to see what the rest of the world can see?

#25 is NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER going to be a kicker that can help this team. He only hurts it.

If coach Leavitt REFUSES to acknowledge the plain truth about this, we need to take a serious look at his ability to lead this team objectively.

[jose]

i was praying that USF choked last night and they almost did. i really could care less about the UCF / USF thing, but USF is so full of arrogant punks that think they are more special than they really are. didnt USF lose like 5 out of last 6 and BLOWN OUT of a bowl game. USF will win some games here and there, but will never have the discipline to make a serious run. too many bad kids, too many penalities, too much arrogance

[Ken]

Good morning everyone. Well, I'm still pleased we won, but disapapointed that it was so close. Seemed to me that we got on them early offensively and held them definsively==we won the first quarter and all was well. We coasted. They scored to tie it at halftime. Bad news. The team pulled it together and swatted them down again in the third quarter--we won that both offensively and defensively (as we did the first quarter), and then we coasted again. Oops, they score twice at the end of the fourth to tie. We pull it together for five minutes of OT and win. Why the coasting when we think we're up? If we played hard for 60 minutes, we wouldn't have needed the OT 5 minutes (regardless of the play calling toward the end of regulation or Alvarado's kicking, which has been pretty awful so far this year).

[RGR]

Well after following college football for 26 years, being an alumnni and supporting this program since it's inception (season ticket holder since day 1) a lot of lessons were so clear to me yesterday and nobody on the coaching staff, athletic dept want to admit what is going to be said. First, did any of our alumni take a look at the supporting facilities around the stadium. FIRST CLASS! An indoor football training facility? For a conference USA team? I do not think their stadium is any way better than RJS. I love our amenities and quality of stadium, but, the surrounding supporting structures shows what an embaressment ours are! Next, this is simple, hire a special teams coach, no discussion needed on this point. Next, this one is a secret that every internal coach, and former player knows, Canales should be the off coord. Gregory needs to be fired on monday and replaced by Canales. Talk to former off players in the last year and you will get the truth. What the Bulls were doing with 8 and 5 minutes on the clock, throwing the football when all you needed to do was to run the ball, and the clock which we were doing effectively. Shame on the Bulls for celebrating a so called victory that we never should have had. I am so disgusted, embaressed and shocked this morning. Play like this on friday night and we show everyone what we really are.

[Orlando Loves the Bulls]

UCF has a bunch of thugs on their football team.
That punk should have been ejected from the game for that cheap shot on the punt!

[AnhVu Nguyen]

I am glad that we won but I have the same concerns that I had last year.

1. Our kicker will more games for us than win for us
2. Despite the constant advertisement that the Bulls have a bunch of good running backs, Ford is the only one that can run against good teams. He needs to get 90% of the carries.
3. I saw Grothe actually throw the ball away instead of taking a sack or throwing an interception but his interception late in the game showed that he still has last year's tendencies
4. Greg Gregory continues to call bad games, up by 14 with success in throwing the ball, he tries to run the clock and let UCF defense get back in the game

All of these problems sound familiar, fix them or we are in for another 9-4 season which would be really disappointing with the current shape of the Big East!

[Anhvu Nguyen]

Fix #1 above

Our kicker will lose more games for us than win for us

[gary]

If there is not a better option at kicker, we really should be pooch punting or going for it on 4th down. unfortunately it is not just the kicker as we've had to many blocked field goals as well. I think Leavitt has gone too far trying to show trust and confidence in the kicker. The TEAM suffers when he attempts field goals in big games. More than just 3 points, they have to deal with huge emotional swings every time he misses/is blocked.

[gary]

"2. Despite the constant advertisement that the Bulls have a bunch of good running backs, Ford is the only one that can run against good teams. He needs to get 90% of the carries."

Plancher and Kelly played very well last night. We do not give enough carries to the RB's period.

[K2]

Windshields do not consider bugs to be rivals.

CLASSIC SHELTON!

[DELdaBULL]

Glad we won. Glad it's over. Can we find a kicker? Now! Why did we stop giving the ball to Kelly and Mo?
Kansas next!

[Don Corleone]

Watching the game again, I have a few observations. USF dominated the game except for the last few minutes. The Bulls had what it took to pull out the game in OT with Matt “Money” Grothe hitting Taurus “Big Play” Johnson.
Passing: Grothe torched an all-senior and supposedly ranked #5 secondary all night long for 346 yds and 3 scores. The Bulls had receivers coming open all night long. TJ and Hill stood out and Love made a rookie mistake on a route that cost us a pick.
Rushing: Against a defense that stacked the box all night long, and USF averaged almost 4 yards a carry. Third and fourth stringers Plancher & Kelly average 5.6 and 4.9 respectively.
Defense: The defense was absolutely stifling. The offense and special teams put this unit in short field situations late, but overall they have been dominant. Teams have decided that they will not due anymore than 3 step drop, or roll out away from Selvie. The line needs to keep contain because UCF’s longest play from scrimmage was a Greco scramble. If teams want to run three yard outs and very shallow drag patterns, our defense will punish them after the catch. Forget running against this D, teams have average 2.4 yards a carry.
Special teams: Oi-vay! Coverage team was abysmal, but Burnett has been an excellent return man for four years. Our KO return needs improvement. TJ & Bogan were tiptoeing into contact. I would love to see Theo Wilson returning kicks. The punt return was foiled by shorter punts with good hang time. Alvarado was a strong leg, but he out-kicked his coverage several times including the last punt. He should try to kick toward the boundaries instead of putting it right down the middle. I would like to see either Bonani or Teachey kick FG’s, or just start going for it on fourth down.
Overall: Matty & Co. definitely loosened up a few defenses with their performance last night of 500 plus yards. We need to focus on ball security and special teams, if we make teams drive the length of field all night we won’t be giving up many points. It took opponents 117 minutes to crack the end zone against this defense, and that was on a short field after a turnover. The poor coverage set up a second score after the offense failed to burn any clock. Give credit to UCF they played their hearts out, and they deserve all the respect due a valiant, vanquished foe.

P.S. Rocky Ross, “They didn’t win, we lost…” Apparently, football games in his mind last three minutes, not sixty.

[K2???]

Hey K2 - Not a very good analogy. Windshields take care of bugs at first strike. They don't have to go into OT.

[Reality]

I will take you all back a few years, but if Pat Julimiste doesn't get hurt, Grothe doesnt play as a redshirt freshman...........so we need thje rapping kicker to hurt himself. So for once, Delbert, break a leg!

[BullBard]

ucf players, coaches and o'liar clearly despised USF for their success against them and were not concerned about breaking the rules in their attempt to win. The number and severity of penalties committed in plain view of the officials especially attest to that as proof.

The broadcast by ESPN2 was very pro ucf and attempted to feed off the enmity shown, their broadcast duo made me sick. The mute button is definitely a great feature on any remote control.

Good riddance ucf, beating you four straight years was the result of our feet kicking your butts. If you would like this to continue annually I would not mind at all. Just lobby your state representative to have the Florida legislature require ALL Division 1-A state universities to force their respective football programs to play eachother at home and away to make it fair for each fanbase.

Yeah right, like that will happen.

GO BULLS!

Nice post Don Corleone -

Reading alot of these posts you would think we were 0-2 not 2-0.

Get ready cause Kansas is coming to town.

[Steve]

was anyone else not impressed by the stadium? There were some nice things about it... The aisles were roomie and I like the effect of the crowd, but other than it sucked...I'd rather have RayJay and when the time comes actually make an investment in a real stadium that doesn't look like it belongs at a giant Japanese steakhouse...

[Jordan]

Reality, that is incorrect. Grothe was planned to play the second half of that game; Julmiste hurt or not.

[to stadium critics]

You guys are so ridiculous slamming UCF's new stadium. It is gorgeous and, might I mention, at least THEY have one.

[Dan]

I'm suprised that stadium didnt come tumbling down after that game. Sorry to say but that stadium is quite cheesy. When they said Bright House Networks Stadium, I thought they were talking about where the Phillies play their spring training baseball in Clearwater. I'd pick Ray J anytime of the year rather than that dumpster UCF calls a field, not to mention my little league has those same bleachers around the field.

[SailingBull]

Hey Greg,

Just like I said, WVa gets blanked by ECU and OU doubles Cinci's score ;)

Wow, I was off on this weekend.

[Sandro]

I am happy that we did win the game last night, but we can't play stupid and expect to continue winning. Our offensive coordinator put the game on the line for us last night by calling a passing play with 3 minutes to go and being up 14 points. There was no need for that.
Next, after the game was tied and we were driving down the field and we let the whole game depend on Alvarado. He has not made a clutch kick since he has been with USF. We put our season on the line with somebody who is undependable. We had time to make one or two more first downs and make the field goal much more manageable then a 42 yard field goal attempt.
I just hope our coaches will learn something from this and not continue putting the games one the line when we it should have been a much easier win.
I hate all Florida schools except USF, but I have to give credit to UCF for playing a great game. USF just has to many playmakers and that's why we won the game last night.
I hope this will be a wake up call before the game against Kansas on Friday. It should be a great game in front of a sell out crowd and hopefully we will win and go to 3-0 for the year.

GO BULLS !!!

[Tad]

To stadium critics,

Good point, and it shows what a "great" stadium with the ESPN camera crew looking like the Blair Witch Project.

[VOR]

Greg, If I recall correctly, isn't USF at it's maximum in the quantity of coaches that the NCAA allows them to have? Isn't that the reason that JL coaches the special teams?

MY coments:
Have never watched a game where the cameras shake as fans jump to the music. ESPN will have to come up with a special camera when the televise there.

No pressure on the QB! Other than Selvie, who was double & triple teamed all night, where was the pass rush?

Our DB's were exposed. They have a lot of work to do to get ready for Kansas. Their QB will kill our secondary.

I just hope we did not show our true defensive package (LB's blitzing?)

One word for the offense. SCREEN PLAY!

On the kicker, perhaps the other kickers are worse than Delbert?

Other than that we are 2-0 and a win is a win. You partially made up for last year.

PS thank you Big East officials.

[cg]

Knew it was going to be tough, adios UCF.

[Tad]

Anybody checking the Sentinel? Biachi is getting ripped! He's still delusional in comparing USF/UCF game w/ UF/FSU. Guess he'll have to find some other school to start a rivelry with. Maybe Rice or Tulane are interested.

4-0=owned!

Leavitt made some very bad decisions. Throwing the ball late giving UCF a free timeout when they should have burned another 40 seconds and not taking a shot from the 20 with 15 seconds left in regulation. Horrible clock management. The Bulls escaped and Leavitt showed the flash of a second tier coach. Better to be lucky than good.

[who cares]

why do all UCF fans point out the Bulls don't have their own stadium? How long did it take for UCF to get their own on campus stadium? I think they started playing football in 1979, so thats 28 years. Maybe by that time the Bulls will have one of their own...

[USFisawannabeprogram]

if it was not for all the UCF yellow flags they would have one the game. It truly shows that the Bulls have a wanna be program that will never be able to compete with UF, FSU and Miami on a long term basis. Stop thinking you are more than a crappy commuter school without a stadium. GO BUCS!!!!!!!

[Al]

While I like USF's level of talent this year, clearly good enough, to win the conference, the coaching decisions are very suspect as they were last year in each of the four losses. When considering how anemic UCF's offense was (excluding the last 3 minutes), why do we call a play that has Grothe passing up the middle in our own end of the field when we're up two touchdowns in the 4th quarter? Giving their offense a short field was exactly what they needed for a chance to win. Considering that Joe Burnett returning punts and kickoffs was by far UCF's best offensive weapon why did we continue to kick the ball to him? Another disturbing trend that showed itself again last night was the way the Bulls wasted so much time on their final drive in regulation. How about the coaches having Grothe call two plays in the huddle or better yet, actually having an idea for how to attack the defense on the upcoming two or three plays. It looks like don't start thinking about what play to call until the play clock starts ticking. Gregory is not doing the job as offensive coordinator and there is an obvious lack of coaching with our special teams. This coaching staff needs to get much better if we're going to beat any of the quality teams on the schedule.

[keith]

exactly, Al.

i felt the 4th quarter was about 15 minutes (real time) too long.

leavitt has to know when to take the air out of the ball.

a 3 and out while either running the clock or having UCF burn their timeouts was the call to make.

[UCF Stinks]

If UCF has such great fans, why did half the stadium leave when it was 24-10 with 10 minutes left? I hope all you UCF fans that left early are ashamed of yourselves.

[UCF Stinks]

USF 500 Total Yards, UCF 200 Total yards. USF dominated this game. The only reason it was close was because UCF played excellent special teams.

[UCF Stinks]

Hey Rocky Ross, I would understand your comments if the game wasn't so one sided. The longest UCF scoring drive was a thirty yard drive for a field goal and two thirty yard drives for the last two touchdowns. You need to go say thanks to your special teams, b/c there was no way you were driving the length of the field against the USF Defense (See 200 yards of total offense). I thought the UCF special teams severly outplayed USF, but to say that UCF lost the game, USF didn't win it, thats a bunch of sour grapes. Go look at the stats Rocky! You were lucky to even be in the game. It took USF making every stupid mistake possible and playing horrible special teams for you to even be in the game.

[Adam]

Greg- I'm sure you won't get to all of these, I'd like to see an injury report coming out though.

I noticed Selvie didn't look right all night, maybe he was cramping up, but it looked like he was trying to stretch a lot, and possibly limping a bit.

Also, I am guessing Hester got hurt? I can't imagine that he wouldn't be on the field in OT if available.

I won't rip on the stadium, great atmosphere for the knights, though I would rather play in Ray Jay than have a duplicate of that. My big gripe was the playing surface. I know ray jay is top notch, but that field was horrible. I kind of wonder if it wasn't intentional to slow us down.

While our defense has looked good, I have some concerns about our secondary. If we don't get more pressure on Reesing, he is going to pick us apart. Receivers were easily getting open.

...by the way, I hate the nickle defense.

[Dr. Rob Ritter]

I am telling everybody again, the worst off. co-ord in the BCS, horrific play calling in the last 8 minutes, terrible special teams play. The most inconsistent kicker leads to BIG problems against good football teams. Does not matter how good an offense is, or how dominating a defense is, the items mentioned above will bring it all down. I am not anti-USF, I LOVE THE BULLS, without addressing these issues we will have another disappointing, mediocre year. Period.

[UCF Stinks]

USF 4 wins UCF 0 wins.

UCF student and youngs fans were the most obnoxious fans in the world. I remember the first time they came to RayJay with a 14 game losing streak, all they did was flick USF fans off and try to start fights, which is exactly what I experienced yesterday. I guess it is true only the low class collegians attend UCF.

I know this is true b/c I'm a high school teacher and I know of 8 students this past year that were denied by USF, but were accepted at UCF. What a low class university UCF is. By the way I love your high school stadium. Are you guys clas 3A or 4A?

[is it Golden Knights or Knights? Pick a name!]

I guess UCF fans can't read a box score. USF 500 total yards UCF 200. Can't blame that on penalties. Also USF had numerous penalties too, which amounted to about 70 yards. It wasn't quite as bad as UCF, but then again USF isn't dumb enough to run over a kick returner before he even receives the punt. Once again the low intelligence level of the UCF students, fans, and alumni rears its ugly head. Maybe you should stop crying about the refs and find an offense that can drive further than 30 yards at a time. I'm amazed at how great you think you are when it took USF making numerous mistakes just to allow you to be in the game.

Good luck playing SMU, Rice, Memphis, UAB, and the rest of the bottom of the barrel CUSA. Thank God CUSA has East Carolina.

[Amanda]

Awesome comment Tad, between the camera shaking and random flags getting in front of the camera, it seemed like the game was being filmed by high school students.

As for the commentators, they were clearly rooting for UCF. I heard one guy say several times "That's a bad call if you asked me" and I had to keep yelling "But you aren't wearing a striped shirt, are you??" It's not the Big East's fault that UCF players cannot conduct themselves respectfully and instead let this "rivalry" get to them so much. That's one reason why they are in the C-USA and we are where we are...class.

[to UCF stinks]

I highly doubt you are a high school teacher. My son just graduated from a Tampa high school and all of his teachers and counselor always said to keep USF in mind for a back up. It is incredibly difficult to get into UCF and UF. A lot of his friends applied to USF as a back up with their 1st pick UCF or UF and had to go to USF because they were denied at their 1st pick. Give me a break.

[Mark]

bullbard's comment, "The broadcast by ESPN2 was very pro ucf and attempted to feed off the enmity shown, their broadcast duo made me sick. The mute button is definitely a great feature on any remote control." SO TRUE!!! Did anybody notice that two years ago on cbs sports. They did the same thing then. That whole game was a UCF commercial. USF need to learn how to play the game. If theirs a next time, we need to out bid them for more pub. And also, they love to accuse USF of having thugs on the team. Wow!! Georgie O'Liar ordered out hits on our players. I guess Mickey Mouse U. has turned into Thug U.

[Dave W]

Don't get me started on academics now. That's an argument you won't win against me.

On admissions statistics- UCF and USF are very similar. USF rejects 51% of applicants, UCF rejects 54% or so. The similarity continues through SAT scores and what not. When it comes to prestige up north, neither school is respected. I'm at Pitt Law now, and most non-football fans have never heard of either school. The direction in our names, the state affiliation, and the fact that it's in a state not known for education are three strikes against both of our schools.

The only area of difference is that USF has a far superior med school (and that is because UCF Med is so new). We're better at scientific research, UCF is better at humanities.

There isn't a real quantifiable difference between our schools. That's what makes it a natural rivalry. Don't delude yourselves into thinking that UCF is more prestigious than USF. Nationally, both of our schools are viewed poorly. It's changing, but UF still isn't mentioned with Michigan or Virginia, as it should.

The only real difference is that our football team is better than yours. On a football blog, that matters. When applying to law school, no one gives a crap.

[Dave W]

Where'd my comment go? I just wrote about the similarities between our academic reputations?

Anyways, our med school is better than theirs (because UCF med isn't even up and running yet).

Statistically, we're almost the same. There is nothing to brag about from either school.

I'm at Pitt Law now, and outside football, no one has ever heard of either school, except to that their dumb cousin went there. Nationally, neither school is well-respected.

I was going to throw in that our Honors College has a slightly higher average SAT, again, that is due to the med school as the 7-year med program attracts a lot of really good students. Looking at Blake on that one...

[Dave W]

Hey, I found my previous comment!

[steve oneal]

After all is said and done, WE WON THE GAME! Next week at home in front of sold out crowd, I believe the Bulls will show up and make us proud. GO BULLS!

[Taurean]

Being in Japan, I couldnt even watch the game. I was refreshing the ESPN mobile page on my cell phone and got incredibly nervous when I saw a 14-point lead shrink to a one tochdown lead and eventually into overtime. Im glad we pulled this game off, but next week we`re playing a legitimate BCS contender.

Even without watching the game, two things seem clear: Alvarado should dumped as our kicker and our OC made some bad calls late in the game.

Let`s hope that playing in a packed stadium at Raymond James will be enough to lead us to a victory over a very, very tough Kansas team. With Pitt losing, WVU getting stomped by East Carolina, we`re now the gem of the Big East and we`d damn well better show up this Friday!

[Don Corleone]

You can watch the replay of the game on catch-47 from 7-9pm.

[Ken]

Taurean, the stadium will be packed and loud. Our players seem to me to have a history of playing to what they think is the level of the opposition--not really up for UCF, but they'll be up for KU.

Adam, I agree with all of that, but you're mistaken in saying that UCF leads USF in the humanities--no way is that true (I'm thinking English, history, philosophy, religious studies, communication, etc.--the depts are all better at USF).

[Bull Alumn]

Ok people, before we start ripping UCF's stadium, here is a couple of interesting things I found out while attending the game Sat with a friend who is a UCF alumn. The stadium was built as part of what they call the UCF Master Plan, which included the building of all their new facilities on campus. This plan was put in place about 10 years ago. It was to seek private funds from Alumn and area businesses and private donors to build that stadium, which also includes the ability to expand it to 65,000 in the next 5-8 years. It seems to me UCF did an excellent job, and are not even close to completing the plan, as they have a ton of land to continue to grow their campus. We haven't heard of any such plan from the higher ups at USF that would even come close to what UCF is doing. Not sure about the UCF fans being unruly, I sat on the 50 on the Bulls side, and everyone was nice to me. I saw a lot of people having a good time, as is the case at any college game. Was impressed by the tailgate scene, reminded me of FSU, friendly, clean atmosphere, and on-campus, with beautiful surroundings, heck, they even had a couple bars right on campus. I think we need to get rolling on building a stadium, RJS is nice, but we pay the Glazers over $180,000 per game to use it, get next to nothing off of concessions, and barely anything off of merchandise, while UCF is making 100% off of everything. It's this money that helps increase recruiting budgets and helps other atheltic teams on campus. My friend told me that their budgets have increased by over 50% in the last, due to such revenue, and about 20% higher than USF's, if this trend continues, we could have some serious problems competing down the road. Time to look at the big picture people.

[Bulliever]

Bull Alum,

1) USF I believe has a master plan, but it involves all the athletics dept. Not just football. And using money from Alumni and the private sector as well!

2) UCF's football program is almost 30 years old...Ours just completed its 11th year...So, we have grown and gone a long way quickly.

3) We should not expect to see a stadium until we have consistently sold out our season tix and we also have too many fans that want to go to the games...Once we have exceeded 65K consistently, and "we need to add onto" this stadium, Now you are talking...

4) UCF has a beautiful campus...I did like the bars and restaraunts on the street, BUT THE PLACE WAS TRASHED!!!
IT WAS A MESS...I was disgusted with how the students and alumni could not keep their campus clean. We could not believe it so we have the pix to prove it!

5) The young fans we not nice,
running around screaming things I didnot want my kids to hear...

6)The stadium was no better than a junior college stadium. I tried even to re-watch the game and the cameras were shaking so bad I had trouble watching the play...and the flags that kept interfering witht he camera...Looked very cheesy.

7) I personally would not want to "digress". We have kids and love the club level access and it much easier to take our kids to the games because of the club level access than hanging out in bleacher seating...I am glad it was not raining...becuase not sure if our little family would have been able to tolerate it!

8) And the heat index...Even at 7:00pm it was so hot in there...There was no breeze or anything that could cool you off.

9) Logistics were AWEFUL! We drive into Tampa from every game in Port Charlotte...So we are so far happy with the communte and the traffic situation ...we had to walk back to our car took us over 45 minutes and altleast 1/2 hour just to get back to our hotel only 1.1 mile away from the stadium...There were NO bathrooms...No where for my kids to use the bathroom when we tailgated outside a parking facility...Not really tailgating is it...Very Sad.

10) If and when we plan a stadium, as an alumn there is no hell in way that I put my money into anything that I was just saw...We need to use this stadium as model of what NOT to do!

[FYI]

Average SAT score incoming freshmen for fall 2007 UCF - 1218
Average SAT score incoming freshman for fall 2007 USF - 1148

To Bulliever: Although I have to agree with traffic and parking...and I'll even through in the heat index...I definitely disagree with the cleanliness of the campus. The campus is probably the most beautiful I've been on, and I've been on many. It is thoughtfully cared for. On the several occasions I've been there, you couldn't find the slightest bit of trash on the ground. I am sure on game day it can get a little crazy...and fans (visiting included) can get a little careless. But I can assure you by noon the next day, the campus is back to its pristine condition. My son attends UCF in Aerospace Engineering (which USF doesn't offer). My husband and I are actually jealous of my son's life there on campus. We kid with him and say we sent him to a spa. Did you see their gym/pool area? It could be a 5 star resort. My son decided not to bring his car with him this semester. He literally never has to leave campus...classes, restaurants, work, entertainment is all there. USF will never be able to compete with the possibilities for the future of UCF. I predict UCF's medical program will blow by USF's in a few years. The campuses...you just can compare them for 2 reasons. 1) location...USF is in the middle of the ghetto. 2) the campus isn't large enough for expansion.

UCF was chosen to host the Odyssey of the Mind state competition last year, which we attended with my younger son. And were also the hosts for the Florida State Science Fair...also attended with our son. Mark my word...UCF is only going to continue to get better and better and that includes their athletics. The possibilities are endless.

[steve oneal]

I would think that USF and ucf are about equal in academics. But this is a sports blog and even though it was close this LAST game, USF football is head and shoulders above ucf. I thought the stadium was ok, but would not be suitable for USF. I see no reason to help ucf by playing them in football. When and IF you ever get in equal conference and your program gets to the level of USF, call us.

[steve oneal]

Oh yea,FYI USF has already hosted Odyssey of Mind state competition more than once years ago. I guess ucf is behind us again.

[Bulliever]

I am so sick and tired of the UCF fans getting here on our blogs and telling us how great they will "maybe" be...

As for our ghetto...at least it is clean and has not been trashed by UCF fans, students and alumni...

I am very proud to be a USF alumni, everywhere I saw us Bulls hanging out, I also saw us picking up "ALL" of our stuff, including garbage when we left.

GO BULLS!

P.S. Good job on recycling the tin men!

[Bulliever]

I am so sick and tired of the UCF fans getting here on our blogs and telling us how great they will "maybe" be...

As for our ghetto...at least it is clean and has not been trashed by UCF fans, students and alumni...

I am very proud to be a USF alumni, everywhere I saw us Bulls hanging out, I also saw us picking up "ALL" of our stuff, including garbage when we left.

GO BULLS!

P.S. Good job on recycling the tin men!

Bet if USF could get a real deal on University Mall site they would grab it for future use...possibly for a football stadium. USF I am sure has explored building stadium. Anyone know where they would consider building...NE corner of campus? Also, I am tired of folks like that UCF mom, who used to live in gated community up in New Tampa, blasting USF being near Suitcase City. To me, people like her are plain out and out bigoted racists.

[more unprofessionalism, what a surprise]

"BUT THE PLACE WAS TRASHED!!!
IT WAS A MESS...I was disgusted with how the students and alumni could not keep their campus clean. We could not believe it so we have the pix to prove it!"

i wonder if you're the bullsfan we passed walking into the game who was going on and on about what a mess the greens/commons area was and how UCF can't take care of their campus. very loudly, i might add.

it was pretty funny. my 11 year old turned around and said, "duh, lady - it's a huge college TAILgate party" but you were so busy yakking about it that i don't think you heard him.

and on the way out of the game, all the trash was gone. and my son again commented, "i hope that silly lady sees this"

he's right -- it's seriously silly that you even bother bringing up a trashed tailgate area as your form of "attack" toward UCF.

whatever floats your bitter boat, i guess.

"I am so sick and tired of the UCF fans getting here on our blogs and telling us how great they will "maybe" be..."

of course you are, of course. we understand.

but see, there's this little thing in the constitution called 'freedom of speech'.

you might want to read up on it sometime, in between your gargage commentaries.

[more unprofessionalism, what a surprise]

"When and IF you ever get in equal conference and your program gets to the level of USF, call us."

i wouldn't count on it after this fiasco of USF's leaderships' very public unprofessional condescension and dimsmissive digs.

[more unprofessionalism, what a surprise]

"There were NO bathrooms...No where for my kids to use the bathroom when we tailgated outside a parking facility...Not really tailgating is it...Very Sad."

there were porta potties all over the place. and we even shared a secret inside restroom with some bulls fans tailgating next to us. we also gave them some food.

though later i wished we hadn't because two of the more drunk guys started calling UCF kids walking by "f-cking hom-os" -- screaming it right in front of my 11 year old.

anyhoo - maybe you were so busy complaining and being pissy no one wanted to bother being nice to you and tell you where the bathrooms were...

[steve oneal]

Hey DUMB@SS, I think it's spelled garBage. I thought it might have been a typo, but you are such an excellent and fast typer. Speaking of "bitter", is that why it's just you and your kid, no hubby?

[more unprofessionalism, what a surprise]

"Hey DUMB@SS, I think it's spelled garBage. I thought it might have been a typo, but you are such an excellent and fast typer. Speaking of "bitter", is that why it's just you and your kid, no hubby?"

it *was* a typo, obv. anyone who reads my posts can make up their own mind whether i know how to spell, stevie.

see -- if you misspell a word once, it's a typo. if you misspell it twice, as in...oh, i dunno..."lieing" instead of "lying" then you could feel justified in calling me a "dumba$$".

yes, i've been married for 20 years, how 'bout you.

[steve oneal]

30 yrs of marriage to a beautiful woman and 2 lovely daughters. And I feel justified calling you a dumb@ss because you are one, whether you can spell or not. You come on USF sports blog and criticize USF. You are ignorant and refuse to accept when you are wrong. I am truly shocked that such a bitter B@@CH as you have been married 20 years.

[more unprofessionalism, what a surprise]

"And I feel justified calling you a dumb@ss because you are one, whether you can spell or not."

uh huh.

"You come on USF sports blog and criticize USF."

well now, that's just UNHEARD of around here, isn't it. you certainly have never seen THAT before.

and no USFers EVER go to the knight blogs and sentinel articles to insult or instigate.

EVER!

"You are ignorant and refuse to accept when you are wrong."

that's cause - so far, i am not wrong about anything i've brought up.

"I am truly shocked that such a bitter B@@CH as you have been married 20 years."

sigh - i guess it's just cause i'm so ignorant AND bitter, huh?

thanks for being such a shining example of the USF fanbase, stevie.

in all honesty, after reading comments on this blog for a couple of days now, i can see why no one has even bothered to comment on the author's statement below. sheer denial.

though i wouldn't call the newspaper quotes from the coaches and players "fun", i'd call them unprofessional.

fwiw, it's my understanding that the UCF team did not know that this was going to be the last game with USF, so that wasn't their motivation.

((i could be wrong, but i seem to recall reading a quote by GOL where he mentions that.))

as for all of the petty stuff about the stadium, i suppose those most stadium-centric insulting USFers will look back on this one day when they get their own stadium and see what it really means to a school, alumni and students alike -- why it's such an important part of the program.

thanks for your honesty, author:

-----------------------

"For all the excitement, this was exactly why USF doesn't want to play Central Florida anymore. One year after crushing the Knights by 52 points, the Bulls escaped Saturday night, winning by an inch or two.

For all the fun quotes in the newspapers, for all the rivalry between fans, the No. 17 Bulls barely averted disaster Saturday night, needing overtime to escape with a 31-24 win against an unranked Knights team motivated to make the most of their last shot at knocking off the Bulls."

[steve oneal]

If ucf players did not know this was last game with USF that would make them pretty stupid. I don't think there players are stupid. They read the paper and blogs They knew this was last game in the series. If you think that they didn't, that makes you stupid. I think that statement by O'Leary was just another lie. After all he is a "PROFESSIONAL" liar. Don't have to take my word for it, just ask Notre Dame. I do hope ucf wins more games to help our strenth of schedule ranking. Good night. Have fun in CUSA. Have to get ready for Kansas. GO BULLS!