Links today, USF-Rutgers live blog tonight

Greetings from New Jersey, where it's about 50 degrees and drizzly in Newark, a hazy gray that could give way to a cold, wet night in Piscataway tonight when USF and Rutgers meet on ESPN.

We will live-blog from the game tonight, as we have all season, so be sure to check back here at 7:15 or so to get the last updates before kickoff.

Lots of good links to share -- the more I read on this game, the more I wonder if getting Rutgers freshman QB Tom Savage to make mistakes is the key to the game. Savage only has one interception all season, and Rutgers has just seven turnovers in eight games -- fourth-lowest total in I-A football. It's the same challenge USF faced against Cincinnati, which still has just four turnovers this season. The Bulls have to force mistakes from a team that doesn't make many of them -- that's the first step toward a USF win tonight. Links ...

-- SI.com has a good Kion Wilson feature from Aditi Kinkhabwala, including a nugget of news that the man who shot and killed Wilson's brother Herbie was sentenced to life in prison this week.

-- Weird to link to myself on another site, but the Star-Ledger's Brendan Prunty e-mailed me five questions about USF and he's kindly posted my answers. Same kind of things you'd read here, if I were to e-mail myself five questions and then answer them, but less awkward.

-- We'll have more on this week's signees for USF, but softball picked up a big local signing in Pinellas Park lefty Sara Nevins, who committed to the Bulls two years ago. Here's our story from Times writer Bryan Burns.

-- We've had lots of fun stories with families split between USF and its opponents this season, and there's another one tonight -- Rutgers sophomore cornerback David Rowe is the brother of USF baseball player James Rowe, as the Asbury Park Press wrote this week.

-- Will Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe make it to next week's USF game? The consensus from Rivals.com is that he's the next head coach to be fired, following two guys who lost to USF in the past year at Memphis and Western Kentucky.

-- ESPN.com blogger Brian Bennett's mailbag this week has some good information about Notre Dame and the Gator Bowl.

-- Here's the game-day report from the Star-Ledger from the Rutgers side of the game.

-- Voting ends Friday as fans can make their pick for the Lowe's Senior Class Award, for which USF's Zak Boggs is a finalist in men's soccer. Boggs has the lead with 25 percent of the vote, but his lead is only 1 percent with one day remaining ...

Comments

[David Weber]

Yeah, I wasn't sure on Rutgers. But they will certainly at least split Syracuse or Louisville, so they'll make it. I would guarantee it for us, too, except that nothing is assured with USF after last year's Louisville game.

I also called Rowe a freshman. I didn't realize he was a sophomore- I thought he had redshirted.

The games on Friday and Saturday night should be some of the best offense all year. Thanks for reading guys, I appreciate it!

[Ken]

Right, we had two I-AA games forced on us; they volunteered. I love those predictions (esp. the USF, Cinc, and Pitt wins [and the ND loss]). Besides our winning, we want the top teams to keep winning, too.

Good job, David. I enjoyed it.

[Jupiter Bull]

Good stuff, David. Don't like the Queen's prediction, but like your's (maybe a bit optimistic). I may have missed it, but you cited that USF, at 6-2, needs another win to be bowl eligible, since it beat two I-AA teams...same thing is true for Rutgers. Of course, they stole our FIU game, so we had to take on that I-AA team...not cool.

Here's my pix:
USF 24, Rutgers 20
Cinci 38, WVU 27
Pitt 38, ND 31
Lville 24, Cuse 17

[David Weber]

http://thesignalcaller.com/?p=2966

Hey everyone, my preview is up at The Signal Caller. Let me know what you think!

[NYC BULL]

I'll be headed down to the game myself this evening. I'm wondering what the coldest game USF has ever won is. Cold and rainy supports Rutgers' home field advantage just as hot and humid support USF's.