Bulls ready defense for nation's No. 1 rusher

Hard to believe that in last year's USF loss to Connecticut, running back Donald Brown had one carry for 1 yard -- it was teammate Andre Dixon who went off for 167 yards in the Huskies' 22-15 win.

And as much as we've focused on USF quarterback Matt Grothe's sprained ankle this week, the larger issue for the game is how the Bulls will be able to contain Brown, who comes in leading the nation with 153 rushing yards per game. For all its struggles, USF is ranked fifth nationally in rushing defense, giving up just 89 yards per game, so at least statistically, the Bulls are a good match for Brown. Then again, Louisville had the nation's No. 2 rush defense when it faced Connecticut, and Brown went for 190 yards on 33 carries.

-- I'm almost disappointed I've gone this deep into UConn week without linking to the blog of Huskies d-lineman Ted Lunn, titled "Thoughts From A Fat White Guy." Funny stuff, with a disarming mix of praise and potshots -- he writes that Grothe made Cincinnati's Connor Barwin look like a "great white joke" on his big run against the Bearcats. (Barwin, of course, also deflected a pass that was intercepted, so we'll call it a push). He writes that the height and speed of USF's receivers will be a "tremendous challenge" to the UConn secondary. That reminds me that UConn corner Jasper Howard is a Miami Edison kid, like Marc Dile and Brouce Mompremier -- I wrote about him as a high school junior, when he was called "Little Jackie" at Edison, a reference for former USF receiver Jackie Chambers.

-- The Hartford Courant reports that Connecticut has been preparing for Sunday's game by practicing indoors and cranking temperatures up into the 70s. Shouldn't be nearly that warm, with Weather.com putting gametime temperatures in the high 50s on Sunday night. The Huskies won't confuse that with home, where temperatures weren't expected to rise above freezing today.

-- USF has done some minor roster tweaking in anticipation of seniors playing their final home game Sunday night. Turns out some of the walk-ons aren't the class we'd thought they were. Fullback Mike Padilla -- who's gotten in for four carries for 10 yards -- has been listed as a junior, but is actually in his last year of eligibility. Padilla shared the Green and Gold Pride Award, honoring the team's top walk-on, with Ben Williams in 2006. There's good news on a special-teams ace, as defensive back Cameron Perkins, who has five tackles and deflected the punt that Theo Wilson returned for a touchdown in the opener, will be back for another season. He'd been listed as a senior but did not play last season, so he has one more year. And for those of you scoring at home, walk-on Kenneth Luberice, who works on the punt team, is actually a junior and not a redshirt freshman -- had spent two years on campus before he made the team.

-- USF volleyball as expected made a quick exit at the Big East tournament in Pittsburgh, getting swept in three games in Thursday's opening round. Good week for the Bulls' Marcela Gurgel, who earned first-team All-Big East honors and made into Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd.

Comments

Hey Hernando, that sounds good--I'll take a win any way we can get one. We need it--badly.

[Hernando]

My unscientific stab in the dark is USF winning over UConn tonight 24-23 a la Syracuse/Notre Dame last night. Senior night, last home game, good effort, remembering USF beat Syracuse...stuff happens.

[DELdaBULL]

Also piling up yards against UCF, FIU, Kansas and the rest of the non BEAST schedule is meaningless if you cannot move the ball against your conference opponents.
All of our non conference foes could not run the ball if their lives where on the line. Then you get into conference play and even a team like Rutgers who has no real run game to speak of can get yards on the ground whenever they feel like it (to the tune of 127 I think).
We have a major leap to make when it comes to conference play.
I am hopeful for somehow getting to five conference wins next year. Don't ask me how, that is why the coaches get paid so much money (relative to the average working stiff).

[G.A.]

Norb, I'm told kickoff is officially 8:17, so no real need to be there at exactly 8 tonight ...

[G.A.]

Del, by yards per game, USF is still the Big East's top offense by 24 yards a game. Of course, yards don't always translate to points, or wins.

[G.A.]

Thanks, Jena. Fixed that. Again, just getting incorrect information.

[Norb]

GA:

ESPN doesn't show coverage beginning until 8:15pm, does that mean the game has been pushed back another 15 minutes? I'll be at the game, just wondering if I have another 15 minutes to spare with kids before heading down.

[Jena]

Mike Padilla is a graduating senior and doesn't have another year...he started in 2004 at USF.

[DELdaBULL]

USF 27
CONN 20

Since there is no pressure to win we might actually do it.

Donald rushes for 123

USF stats are fibbers GA. Louisville, Pitt, and RU ran it right down our throats.
Do we still have the 'number one offense in the Big East'. If we do that is another statistical lie.

[G.A.]

Wow. Can't remember the last time I had three predictions on here and all were USF losses -- and the closest one is 14 points.

I imagine there will be a lot of proud Bulls fans on here Monday if USF wins, but nobody's calling much here beforehand ...

[RR]

UConn 45, USF 2

[Chalko]

UConn 42 USF 24

Grothe, 3 Ints

[Marty]

UConn 27, USF 13