SB Nation - Buffalo Bulls

Clemson - UVA game film review

DrB — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:45:54 -0000

More photos » by Richard Shiro - AP

This week's film review will be focused a little more on the defense and I will cover every offensive series but not in-depth. I see no big or very descriptive plays to pull out this week either, other than their trick plays. See the end for the summarizing thoughts. Please comment and ask questions on what you dont understand, these take a long time to do well. The goal here is to look for both good plays and bad technique. If theres anything that you would like to see or have explained, just ask. (edited with Tigernet videos)

1st play of the game on defense, UVA botches the handoff. That was on the RB, he never secured it.

Offensive drive, Clemson takes the ball on the 24. All zone runs from CJ. Diehl doesn't quite make the mesh point and fumbles, recovered by Austin. He's just not used to getting the ball. 4th and 2 call, shotgun set and Parker looks to throw on a bootleg. There was no one open and he runs it out of bounds. We ran the ball all the way down here, I would've spread the formation out to throw a dropback pass, or run inside.....but running inside seems to be the better call given that CJ ran the ball well. I would've gone for it instead of kicking however.

No points. Turnover at UVA 5.

Defensive drive: Rashawn Jackson pushes 3 guys forward for extra yardage. In a Nickel set, Gilchrist is in the nickelback and is late charging into a gap when the back comes to him, for a 1st down. Maye charges into the correct gap on 3rd down, but misses the tackle, goes for 3yds, but we still force a punt.

2nd CU Drive starts at the UVA 48. Harper gets nothing because McClain can't budge a guy. Deihl made a great block on the isolation play. Ford on a corner route and slipped for 17. Xavier Dye was open on a fly route in the endzone behind him. Parker hits Allen on a seam route for the TD. Parker looked off the FS to keep him still, but the FS should've made this play. Allen gives a salute, to the fans on the Hill and the military/ROTC guys in the endzone. He didnt even look at the UVA guys when he did it. Bullshit penalty. 7-0 CU. 4 plays 48 yards

Penalty forced Clemson to kick from our 30. UVA returns it 34 yards to our 45. Huge penalty from Ron Cherry's stellar crew.

Defensive drive from the CU 45. Can't stop the Wildcat against a terrible run offense. LBs out of position, not attacking gaps. I see a marginal hold on Bowers. Simpson is merely waiting on his blockers on delayed runs. Maye is held by the Guard on a 14 yd Power play to the CU 2, but he took that blocker head-on and shouldn't have. Still, he did try to turn his shoulder into him. McDaniel and Conner got their feet tangled up, and KA got handled by a RB. Weak KA, weak. Sewell walks into the endzone for the TD on a naked bootleg. Ricky Sapp was on that side and should've had containment, as should DeAndre McDaniel. The entire 2nd level bit on the play-action. 7-7, 6 plays 45 yards

Penalty set this up, but UVA had not been much of a Wildcat team that I'd seen earlier. They changed up their schemes on us and the Defense looked totally unprepared for it.

3rd CU drive starts at our 29. CJ takes a zone run for 14. Dalton Freeman forgets to snap the ball and we get a false start. Ford on a jailbreak/ruboff for a first down, then a comeback route for a first down. End of the 1st QTR. PA pass to Spiller on a wheel route for 26. This play was basically the same play we scored with against Georgia Tech earlier, but CJ was lined up at RB and there was play-action. Ford ran a Post to clear the underneath, and Ashe ran a Dig on the backside. CJ takes a zone with orbit motion for the score. 14-7, 6 plays 71 yards.

Defensive drive starts at the UVA 17. Goodman late on a tackle. Thompson and Goodman get penetration but cant run down Sewell. CLEAR holding call on Goodman there to make him a step late, right in front of Cherry. Screen is well played by Conner and Chavis for no gain. Zone Trap for 3 yard gain on Sapp. Sewell is caught by a backside blitz and throws off his back foot to a wide open receiver, Maye's man. Maye gets the late hit, and he deserved it. Another stupid penalty on Maye in consecutive weeks. UVA runs a Hanford Bunch set, Vic Hall is hit on a flanker screen, then throws back once the defense comes over to make the tackle on Hall. He had all the blockers. Overpursuit by the entire defense. Backside should've kept some containment by the End. Next play is an end-around pass to a wide open TE in the corner of the endzone. Nobody picked up the TE on his release after he initially blocked the DE. Secondary again bit on the initial motion. Chancellor went with the right guy, the LBs responsibility is run-first here. I think this is on the Free Safety. 14-14, 7 plays 83 yards

4th CU Drive starts at the CU 39. LB comes untouched around McClain and hits the mesh point, but doesnt know who to tackle. McClain apparently going to the DE with the RT headed to the OLB. I wonder what the hell McClain is thinking, in zone you block head-on when you are covered, you dont zone step right. Borderline late hit on Parker, not called. Marquan Jones catches a bubble, where has he been? Parker threads a needle into triple coverage on Palmer, great throw but a little late. Harper takes two Isolations for good yards. Ford gets an end-around, same play we ran against NC State last week. Good blocks by Palmer and Ellington downfield. Parker throws one away when the rush gets to him, but I thought everyone was covered when I saw it live. He might've been able to thread one in the back of the endzone. McClain again whipped on CJ's subsequent run that gets stopped. Dye can't get a foot down, incomplete. Throw was high. Jackson FG 17-14, 13 plays 57 yards

Antoine McClain is pissing me off. I don't think highly of Walker yet but McClain makes him look like a Pro Bowler.

Defensive drive starts from the 6. UVAs returner cant catch footballs, and didnt all day. Simpson hesitates going into his hole. Bowers holds and controls his blocker. On 3rd & 11 Vic Hall runs a great route and great throw for a 1st. Maye forces the fumble and Chancellor recovers at the 24.

5th CU drive at the 24. Parker blitzed and throws it away. Screen pass batted down, Parker didnt move his feet at all. He finds Ford in the endzone on the next play for 24 yards, deep post route. Parker was behind the LOS by a half yard. 24-14 CU, 3 plays 24 yards

Defensive drive starts from the UVA 20. 1:52 on the clock. They run one play, and let the clock run. On 2nd down we call timeout with 1:05 left. Dabo trying to get more? They run short for the 1st down. They want to run the clock off, but since we cant get off blocks and get tripped, they get 22 yards on one play with 40 seconds left and get a shot for the endzone. Burd drops a pass. Butler playing soft and they get out of bounds on an out/hitch. Conner gets through his hole too late and the back gets the 1st down. Brewer beaten on a return route for 13. Then they finally take their first timeout with 8 secs left. A wheel route to Simpson, Hall not there to help Maye. I think he should be but the post route kept him occupied long enough. Perfect throw and catch. 24-21 9 plays 80 yards

They weren't even trying to score, they wanted to run the clock out. We called timeout at 1:05 on the UVA 27. I know what Dabo is thinking, and don't blame him. We could get a punt return TD or good field position at midfield or better and put this game on ice. He has faith in his defense to stop them, they couldnt.

Halftime

Defense: Caught by tricks and misdirection. I thought we were more disciplined than that, but we overpursued, didnt get off blocks, lost containment on the edges, and had blown coverages by the Safeties. The Cavs deserve credit for doing things that they hadnt all year with trick plays, and they made a great catch at the end of the half. If they'd stuck with their conventional offense, i doubt they'd have scored twice.

UVA 230 yards, 114 passing 116 rushing

Offense: nothing much to complain about other than McClain's missed blocks. Very efficient for Parker, good running game, no drops. Spiller 9 carr, 39 yards, 3 rec 31 yards.

CU 224 yards, 152 passing, 72 rushing

3rd qtr

1st CU drive starts at CU 22. Zone read by Parker for 19. Spiller steps out on a flare route, looks hurt. Parker overthrows a deep post to Ford. Parker misses Spiller underneath, Spiller didnt seem to be looking for the ball to come to him. Parker had to throw it since they were running a twist into the gap, shouldve waited anotehr half second. Punt.

Spiller seemed totally unenthused with being out there after that flare route catch.

D: 3 & out, finally. I knew they wouldnt score again at this point.

2nd CU drive starts from the CU 34. Ellington is in at RB. Sprint-draw PA to Ford for 28 yards. Dye on an out for 13, his foot was down. Ron couldnt screw us. Ellington inside zone with orbit motion for 13, then hard running and good push by the left side for the TD. 31-21 CU 6 plays 66 yards

D: 3 & out. They go back to the Wildcat with Vic Hall, and we manage to jump into the gaps and get free from blocks off the corner. KA sacked Sewell, Conner NAILED Vic Hall within the 5 yd contact zone. Same situation that Maye got called a PI for last week.

3rd CU drive from our 40. Spiller back in. Rendrick bulldozes Dowling for a 1st down, where has that been? Harper 5 tough yards on an Iso. Cloy playing some RG here. Spiller stopped on some zone runs. Parker's pass to Ford in the back of the endzone is tipped by a Robber, or it would've been 6. Jackson FG 34-21, 9 plays 34 yards

D: 3 & out. Sack by Cumbie. End of 3rd quarter. Missed tackle on the completion to Burd, appeared to be McDaniel but Maye got over.

4th CU drive from our 33. 3 & out. Spiller on a sweep for 2, well defended. Taylor tackled shy of 1st down, Spiller knocked for loss on a Power. Looked like the RT in on this play missed Collins, who blew up the play. There were some backups in up front. Punt.

D: 3 & out. Good disciplined pursuit up front, good LB play. Andre Branch has a sack and lets him free, review shows him down. How Ron Cherry missed that I dont know, he was RIGHT behind him, not 3 yards away and looking at his feet. Again the booth ref isnt in on Ron's shenanigans.

5th CU drive from the UVA 40. Spiller zone for 1. Inside guys not moving anyone there. Hairston missed his man on a ruboff screen to Ford. Parker has ample time to find a receiver on 3rd & 4 PA, and doesnt see anyone. There was someone open on the backside but Parker never looked, but to the playside no one was really open. Jackson Missed 52yd FG.

I would've gone for this first down at their 35. I believe we could've made it if it was a little swing pass to Spiller.

Defensive drive from the UVA 35. Sapp is held, and Sewell finds a wheel route to Jones, matched on Gilchrist for 38. Rennie Moore sacks Sewell, intentional grounding call for loss of 17. Sewell is sacked on 3rd & 28, but Conner gets a personal foul on a helmet-to-helmet contact. I think its total bullshit. Conner is coming at Sewell, and he drops just before Conner gets there so it became helmet-chest contact. Conner's head hit Sewells shoulder pad and vice versa. Conner makes up for it by charging up the B gap and making a TFL, Gilchrist knocks a pass down in the seam on good coverage. Chancellor there in coverage on 4th down pass, and knocks it away. Turnover on downs.

6th CU drive, the offensive line has been shifted to more backups the last 3 drives, and thats the primary reason we can't run the football. Lambert doesnt feel like blocking on a screen, but they played it well. Punt.

Defensive drive from the UVA 32. Sapp and Maye finally get Sewell down for a sack after Maye missed him in the backfield, Burd gets a deep cross for a first down to our 41, Chavis misses a sack when he had him cleanly. Campbell and the nickelback both blitz and Campbell brings him down. Campbell knocks the next pass away from Vic Hall. Rennie Moore gets another sack, good jump and technique. Turnover on downs.

Clemson takes a knee. End of game

Summarizing thoughts

Defense didn't blitz as much as I expected early, they were on their heels. In the 2nd half I think we blitzed a little more, but it was predominantly better play by the defensive line getting off blocks and shooting the gaps. LBs played better, particulary Conner. Chancellor was excellent in coverage, and went unmentioned because of it. I knew Steele would shut it down in the 2nd half.

Bowers probably got in on 10-15 plays tops.

Offensively we just executed, theres not much to say. Route running was ok that I saw, blocking was good in the 3rd quarter but fell off in the 4th when we put in the backups. Jacoby Ford had a great day, he pretty much returned every kick and had 100+ yards receiving.

Kyle Parker didnt miss many throws at all, much better day for him in terms of efficiency.

Red zone issues remain.

I was just disappointed we didnt leave the 1st team OL in there to block for CJ and let him break one. I think he lost something after that flare pass, and he looked tired afterwards. The 2nd team had a noticable dropoff.

Special teams was sound, but not spectacular. We hit the EXTRA POINTS, but kickoff coverage was a bit lax a couple times. I'm surprised we didnt recover a kickoff fumble since their returner sucks.

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Links'o Nothing-Good-Happens-In-Tampa Week

CardsFan922 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:10:13 -0000

Every two years, the University of Louisville football teams heads to Tampa to take on the South Florida Bulls with increasingly bad results:

2003: Overtime Loss After Lefors INT

2005: Total WTF game, USF destroys Brohm, Bush, Mario, etc. 45-14. CardsFan922's streak of bad luck watching UofL games at BW3s on Bardstown Road continues (2004 @Marquette, 2004 Renardo Foster tears ACL)

2007: Treat Guy fumbled the opening kick-off for a USF TD and it went down hill from there. This is the only video evidence I could find of the 55-17 beat down:

So bad things seem to happen in South Florida, for some reason.

But the past doesn't matter, and this will be one of the weaker USF teams to welcome us to Tampa. And the Cards defense has quietly put together defensive scores of 13 (Ark. State), 17 (WVU) and 9 (Syracuse) in the last three weeks. Do we have a shot? Will Froman do a Groethe impression? Also, please note that in the simulated season, BJ Daniels was the starting QB. And we win tomorrow 30-3. We here at CardChron headquarters don't know if the fact the season was right about the first means it will be right about the second.

So what do we know about tomorrow?

According to the Courier-Journal, Adam Froman was mentally there even if he wasn't physically 100%, and they almost put Will Stein into the game against Syracuse. The decision not to proved prescient (your move, Heiser) as Froman led them on the winning TD drive:

"You could tell he was a little rusty," Kragthorpe said. "But he made some nice plays for us off the scrambles. He can make some plays with his feet. He'll be fine."

Coaches considered pulling Froman from the game, but as quarterbacks coach Matt Wells said: "He was so into it mentally."

"If he wouldn't have been there mentally, we would have probably made a change, but he wasn't missing anything mentally," Wells said. "I expect him to come back and play at a high, high level this week."

USF's 9th Year Senior Carlton Mitchell (seriously, how long has that guy been there?) will apparently be healthy enough to play tomorrow, says the Trib:

University of South Florida WR Carlton Mitchell (ankle) is probable for Saturday's game against Louisville.

Mitchell missed last week's game at Rutgers after suffering a high ankle sprain against West Virginia on Oct. 30.

"He's going to dress for the game," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "How much he plays depends on how well he feels. He's getting close."

Mitchell, who showed no signs of being limited as he sprinted off the practice field Thursday, leads USF with 29 receptions for 542 yards, four touchdowns and 14 years of eligibility.

Part of that quote is altered from the original. Can you guess which?

That same link summarizes the pre-game story lines in a nutshell: bowl-eligibility on the line, as long as they don't turn the ball over:

he Bulls (6-3, 2-3 Big East) can become bowl eligible with a win against Louisville (4-6, 1-4). On paper, that shouldn't be a problem as USF is an 11 1/2 -point favorite.

Turnovers, however, are the big equalizer. Through nine games, USF has committed 18 turnovers, but half (nine) have come in its three losses.

"You just can't turn the football over," offensive coordinator Mike Canales said. "That's been the demise of us."

USF has won only once since Oct. 3, but in that game (a 30-19 win against WVU), the Bulls were turnover-free.

USF better be careful, or Jim Leavitt will scare the bulls--t out of them at halftime:

The Bulls not only got trampled on the field, but also ESPN's A-team announcing crew had little good to say about the Bulls once the game got out of reach.

Even before the second half started and USF trailing 13-0, ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews provided a glimpse of the atmosphere around the Bulls.

"It was very loud, very intense, and very scary in there," Andrews reported someone told her of Coach Jim Leavitt's halftime speech.

Anyone who would like to volunteer to comfort EA as part of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system please leave your contact information for her in the comments.

So we face a USF team who was just humiliated on national television, who faces Miami in the Game of the Century next week on ABC at 3:30 PM, and we face them in a place we've never beaten them.

Go Cards!

Week Eleven BlogPoll Ballot Draft

T Kyle King — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:41:25 -0000

I’m not going to lie to you: I got home from Saturday night’s win between the hedges at 2:30 in the morning after what had already been a full week and a full weekend, so, this week, I started with the final draft of last week’s BlogPoll ballot and adjusted teams based upon their most recent performances. Accordingly, the up and down arrows have significance in this, the rough draft of my top 25:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Texas
3	Florida
4	Cincinnati
5	TCU	1
6	Boise State	1
7	Oregon	1
8	Ohio State	1
9	Iowa	2
10	Georgia Tech	2
11	Pittsburgh	1
12	LSU	2
13	Wisconsin	6
14	Houston	3
15	Oklahoma State	1
16	Penn State	1
17	Stanford	8
18	North Carolina
19	Virginia Tech
20	Clemson
21	Southern Cal	6
22	Miami (Florida)	9
23	Oregon State
24	California
25	Rutgers
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Arizona (#18), Auburn (#20), South Florida (#21), West Virginia (#22), Utah (#23), Brigham Young (#24).

The Alabama Crimson Tide (10-0) and the Texas Longhorns (10-0) won more convincingly than the Florida Gators (10-0), although all three played on the road and the Sunshine State Saurians faced the toughest test among the top three teams. Nothing that happened on Saturday persuaded me to rearrange these squads, although, of course, the Gators will have their opportunity against the Tide in the Georgia Dome.

The Cincinnati Bearcats (10-0) held off the hard-charging TCU Horned Frogs (10-0) for the fourth spot on the strength of Cincy’s wins over Oregon State and Rutgers, which together trump Texas Christian’s quality win over Clemson. The Frogs get minimal credit for clobbering an overrated Utah club and a BYU outfit that squeaked by winless New Mexico, but their performance against the Utes was enough to leapfrog TCU (sorry) past the Boise St. Broncos (10-0), who remain high on the strength of their season-opening victory but are unable to inch up because their resume otherwise consists of empty calories.

Boise State’s aforementioned season-opening victory, of course, was over the Oregon Ducks (8-2), who inched up a notch after the Ohio St. Buckeyes (9-2) edged the Iowa Hawkeyes (9-2). Because Ohio State won at home in overtime, I moved Jim Tressel’s crew one spot in front of Kirk Ferentz’s bunch.

I’m not any happier than you are about having to rank the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-1) in the top ten, but the Golden Tornado took the place previously held by the Pittsburgh Panthers (9-1) because the Ramblin’ Wreck’s triumphs over Clemson, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech collectively have more heft than Pitt’s wins against Navy, Rutgers, and South Florida. We simply live in a world in which a victory over the Duke Blue Devils on the road counts for more than a victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at home.

It is simply impossible to justify ranking any team in the teens as high as that team is ranked, but it’s just been that kind of year in college football. Giving the LSU Tigers (8-2) the No. 12 ranking after the Bayou Bengals trailed the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at halftime is enough of a stretch, but the Wisconsin Badgers (8-2), Houston Cougars (8-2), Oklahoma St. Cowboys (8-2), and Penn St. Nittany Lions (9-2) either looked good against a bad team, won unconvincingly against a mediocre team, or lost outright. The Cougs remained ahead of the Pokes due to the head-to-head result between the two teams and the fact that the second-best wins carded by each were close contests against Texas Tech at home.

Nos. 17 through 24 are a muddled hodgepodge of 7-3 squads from the ACC and the Pac-10; if you can sort ‘em out, you’re a better man than I am. The Stanford Cardinal---good call, Big Jon!---staked out the top spot among the thrice-beatens by virtue of back-to-back triumphs over Oregon and Southern California. Although their 55-21 home loss to the Cardinal caused the Men of Troy to land four spots behind Stanford, the USC Trojans remained ahead of Cal and Oregon State teams they defeated in October. The Oregon St. Beavers likewise edged the California Golden Bears because the former beat the latter at Berkeley on November 7.

A similar logic applied to the Atlantic Coast Conference clubs. Despite ugly losses to Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Virginia, the North Carolina Tar Heels rode last weekend’s win over the previously 13th-ranked Miami Hurricanes to a No. 18 ranking, one slot above the Virginia Tech Hokies. UNC beat VPI by a field goal on October 29. Both the 19th-ranked Gobblers and the 20th-ranked Clemson Tigers notched victories over the 22nd-ranked ‘Canes, with the latter winning by a little and the former winning by a lot.

Finally, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-2) found their way into the poll following a 31-0 throttling of the South Florida Bulls, whom I had in the top 25 at the time. Thursday evening’s Rutgers-USF tilt was among the weeknight fare I took in last week, along with Tuesday’s Buffalo-Ohio (Ohio) affair, Wednesday’s Central Michigan-Toledo outing, and Friday’s Cincinnati-West Virginia matchup. Parenting duties on Saturday kept me away from my television---I told you it was a full weekend!---so I saw only snippets of the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh and Florida-South Carolina contests at the praise-winning Tent City tailgate before I attended the Georgia-Auburn game. On Sunday night, just for good measure, I watched the East Carolina-Tulsa tussle.

As always, this is a draft ballot and I have until Wednesday morning to make corrections. Feel free to point out inconsistencies, argue for alternative placements, defend omitted teams, or otherwise offer feedback and constructive criticisms of my top 25. Like Frasier Crane, I’m listening.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Paulus & Co. Go Back To Work

Sean Keeley — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:21:20 -0000

More photos » by Kevin Rivoli - AP

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Greg Paulus is still your starting quarterback. You might not like it, you might be fine with it or you might have already moved on to basketball season and no longer care but...what is, is. And Paulus will try to atone for the last two weeks when the Orange take on Akron this Saturday.

Akron already spent the past weekend playing football in Upstate New York. And if the end result is any indication, Syracuse should be able to secure their fourth win of the season. Notice the use of "should" there...we're not at the making promises stage just yet.

Down 14-7 with 4:34 left in the third, Akron fought back to overtake Buffalo in the fourth quarter and take a 17-14 lead late. However Buffalo's Mario Henry’s 1-yard touchdown with 5:59 left gave Buffalo a 21-17 lead that they never relinquished and the Bulls dropped the Zips to 1-5 on the year. Akron's lone win came against 1-AA Morgan State in the 2nd week of the season.

The Zips and the Orange also have a shared opponent, Penn State. The Nittany dropped Akron 31-7 in the first game of the season.

Getting back to Paulus, nothing has changed for Doug Marrone in the last week. Greg's still his guy. At least until Greg proves that he's not.

"I mean I'm evaluating, constantly evaluating, someone that plays for our football team to a point where if I think that I'm (not) putting (the team) in a position to win, I have to replace him," Marrone said. "So I know, I understand where everyone's coming from as far as when we talk about the quarterback position, but, Greg's our starting quarterback."

Doug lays off the "tremendous" and the "standpoint" but package does make a triumphant return to the proceedings:

"We go into each game with packages for both," Marrone said. "Then it's just a matter of how the game's going, whether or not they come across. Some games, Ryan, if you talk about 100 percent, he may have 5 percent, 7 percent, as high as 17 percent of what the package is. If it's working for us, if it's something we need to do to win, we'll stay with that package."

Donnie's got some quick updates on injuries and such. Center Jim McKenzie missed last week's game with a hand injury. He was seen in the stands with a humongous cast on his hand, which, confirms that. Ryan Bartholomew will get the nod at starting center for the 2nd straight game. Nick Speller and Cody Catalina should be back in action as both recovered from injuries.

E.J. Carter remains suspended for breaking an undisclosed team rule. Marrone refuses to comment on the specifics, at least not until Carter is reinstated, which Marrone alluded to happening at some point.

After the Orange take on Akron, they'll have to prepare for the mighty Cincinnati Bearcats on October 31st. The time for that game has officially been set and it's a nooner. The good news is that, thanks largly to the fact that Cincy is ranked so high, the game will be televised on ESPNU. Tony Pike remains day-to-day so the Orange will have to wait a long time before knowing if they'll line up against him by then.

A Syracuse Football Fan's Weekend Agenda

Sean Keeley — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:17:14 -0000

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Admit it, you don't know what to do with yourself this weekend. Your Saturday's revolve solely around the existence of and interest in a Syracuse football game. That fact alone makes you a sad, sad creature. So on a weekend where there is no event for which you can invest your life energy...what the hell are you supposed to do with yourself? Go to Midnight Madness? Pffft...basketball is for December.

I'm here to help.

Friday night - It's Stull! It's Savage! It's Big East Football on ESPN!

Pittsburgh and Rutgers are both on Syracuse's upcoming schedule and we'll find out a lot about both of these teams when they tangle in primetime Friday night. The Panthers are looking for revenge or redemption or recompense or restitution depending on who you talk to. Chances are the weather won't be too kind in Piscataway so you might want to just watch this one from the comfort of your living room.

That or you could watch Lobstermen. Either/or.

Saturday - Watch UConn Athletes Commit Felonies

Nothing new, I know. This one seems like a normal, everyday match-up of future SU opponents, but as any good Louisville fan will tell you...UConn has committed highway robbery the last two years in this game. The winner of this one is irrelevant though I suppose we're all rooting for the Cardinals. Certainly can't be rooting for the Huskies, now can we?

Saturday - Spend Your Day In Sunny Buffalo

When you think warm and inviting, think Buffalo, NY. Okay, that might not be accurate. But it will give you the chance to watch Syracuse's next opponent, Akron, in action. The 1-4 Zips are starting a three-week road trip and will take on the 2-4 Buffalo Bulls on Saturday at 3:30pm EST. It's a great chance to do some advance scouting for the rest of us, plus you can point and laugh at Turner Gill as he continues to realize how his window of opportunity has practically sealed shut.

Sunday - Rent Milk on DVD or Blu-Ray

It won awards, right? And Gus Van Sant, you know? EW's Own Gleiberman says "[An] incisive and stirring dramatization of Harvey Milk's heroic life and violent death." Thanks for the spoiler alert. Dick.

Week 6 MAC Power Rankings

Mike Breese — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:24:51 -0000

Rank	Team	Comments
1 (-)		CMU absolutely dominated EMU on homecoming winning 56-8 against the pesky Eagles. LeFevour accounted for 6 TDs, half on the ground and half through the air. The 5-1 Chips are starting to get a healthy amount of top-25 votes. Next up: Potential game of the year @ rival Western Michigan.
2 (-)		The bye week made the Huskies look good as the team they beat up on the week before in Western Michigan beat up on the Toledo Rockets badly. Up next: @ Toledo
3 (-)		Weren't too impressive beating the Zips 19-7 on the heels of 2 Matt Rogers INTs and a blocked punt. Akron actually outgained the Bobcats 346-292 yds. Up next: The offensively terrible Miami OH Redhawks at home.
4 (+1)		Temple was on par with Ball State this weekend, but three Cardinal fumbles and two interceptions by Jaiquawn Jarrett put the Cherry & White over the top. The Owls controlled the clock with freshman RB Bernard Pierce running for 125 yds and 2 TDs. Up next: Army at home.
5 (+1)		The Broncos must have been pissed they were a homecoming opponent for the 2nd straight week as they went in to Toledo and opened up a can. WMU showed how much of a force they can be in this conference. Up next: A potentially season-changing game against CMU at home.
6 (+1)		The Bulls beat up on Gardner Webb at home in a much needed break of a game. Up next: A must-win home game against the Akron Zips.
7 (-3)		I predicted that WMU would bounce back against the Rockets and it wasn't even close. UT is severely limited on defense and their offense didn't show up either. Up next: The always dangerous NIU Huskies at home.
8 (+1)		BG got the victory they were so-seeking against Kent State on the road. This game was decided in the final seconds, even though the Falcons out-gained the Flashes by over 200 yds. Up next: Battle of the Birds @ Ball State.
9 (-1)		The ship is sinking fast in Akron. The pink slip for J.D. Brookhart may be coming. Up next: Road trip to the champs in Buffalo. That one could get ugly.
10 (-)		Yardage against Temple was about equal, but the 'Hard-luck Cards' turned the ball over 5x. Up next: Home against a BGSU team, where they can hopefully salvage their first victory.
11 (+2)		I'll give them one thing: They're not as bad as EMU or Miami. Up next: @ EMU
12 (-1)		The defense is kinda good as it gave up only 16 pts to Northwestern, but the offense is horrible. Zac Dysert threw 3 INTs and got knocked to the turf an absurd amount of times. Up next: @ Ohio
13 (-1)		Ron English is up a creek without a paddle. Up next: Kent State at home to salvage some dignity.

Week 5 MAC Power Rankings

Mike Breese — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:40:22 -0000

I do these every week for the MAC Roundtable, but don't disclose my rankings because A. I am busy...or am I lazy? It's a fine line. B. It's hard to tell how good these teams are, so it was pretty much a crapshoot (Last week I had Temple #2) and C. It's a bye week, so I can do whatever I want. Now with a conference game or 2 down by each team, we can actually get some sort of clarity about these teams that comprise the Mid-American Conference. Commence.

Rank	Team	Comments
1		The Flying C gets the top spot yet again surviving a lightning storm and the thundering debut of Buffalo RB Ike Nduka. The Bulls are still the champs and the Chips went on the road to Buffalo and took care of business. Up next: CM hosts in-state rival Eastern Michigan, which should provide more of a challenge than one may think.
2		The Huskies bounced back nicely from their terrible loss to Idaho with a dominating 38-3 victory over West rival Western Michigan. It wasn't even close by any sense of the word with great performances all-around. Up next: The dreaded Bye Week.
3		My preseason choice to win the MAC East has been sneaking up on people lately. They just beat BGSU on the road and stuck with both UConn & Tennessee in their only losses. Up next: Third straight road game against the pesky Akron Zips.
4		Toledo just squeaked by Ball State, but that game shouldn't have been that close. They outgained the Cardinals 479-310 yds, but turned the ball over 3x. Their offense is consistently scary. Their defense? Not so much. Up next: Rockets host a dazed & confused Western Michigan team.
5		Don't look now, but the Owls are 2-0 in the MAC so far! Sure Al Golden still hasn't beaten a team with a winning record, but who is going to have a winning record in the gauntlet that is the MAC East? Nobody. I don't know too much about this team, but they look good so far. Up next: Hosting a winded Ball State team.
6		Oh Broncos. That sure wasn't a typical Cubit performance on the road against Northern. Disappointing all-around and Hiller threw 3 INTs to seal their fate. Up next: Road trip to the defense-free Toledo Rockets.
7		Still the champs,but keep shooting themselves in the foot game after game with turnovers or whatever else hampering this team. Still dangerous, but wounded not to mention the injuries are starting to pile up. The bright spot: IKE NDUKA. James Starks who? Up next: Gardner-Webb at home? OK.
8		The bye week this past weekend couldn't have happened at a better time. This team is at a serious crossroads. After serious locker room problems, this team can either bond together or fall flat on their faces. Up next: A pivotal home game against the Ohio Bobcats.
9		Reminds me a lot of Buffalo with the bad luck, but the Clawfense can't run the ball at all and it is seriously hampering the Falcons. Up next: A scary road matchup @ Kent State.
10		The Cardinals needed a win badly and Toledo was the team to do it against at home. They forced the turnovers, but couldn't stop the big late plays by the Rockets. It's a long, long road for BSU after this heartbreaking defeat. Up next: On the road against a hot Temple team.
11		I like this team to make some strides in the next few weeks with Haywood taking charge suspending guys and the fact that he benched INT King Raudabaugh for Freshman QB Zac Dysert. That last name makes me hungy. Up next: Nerd bowl @ Northwestern.
12		Even though Andy Schmitt is out for the season, people forget that Kyle McMahon has had his share of playing time these past couple years at the QB position. Up next: @ CMU.
13		There's just nothing that excites me about this Golden Flash team. It is notable that Freshman QB Spencer Keith is the starter this week for Giorgio Morgan though. Up next: BG Falcons at home.

What do you think?

The Preview Part 2: South Florida's Defense v. Florida State's Offense- with Prediction

FSUncensored — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:25:04 -0000

So you read my take on USF's offense against Florida State's defense. One slight addendum to that preview. I know some people on the Western Kentucky team that USF beat. Central Arkansas beat Western Kentucky 28-7 IN WESTERN KENTUCKY. They said that Tennessee's offensive line was much better than USF's offensive line, and that USF's offensive line wasn't much better than that of Central Arkansas. Now let's flip the script. The 'Noles have one of the best offenses in the nation. Against Ranked opponents this season, Florida State is averaging over 450 yards and 44 points. They are talented and smooth. I'll do this like I did the previous installment. Breaking down their defense and what FSU will do to attack it. Finally, I'll have a quick look at the special teams and make a prediction.

This summer I wrote:

Strategy: The Bulls are a 4-3 base team and they do not hesitate to bring an 8th defender into the box to help with run support. They aren't blitz crazy nor are they uber-conservative.

Coach: The Bulls' Defensive Coordinator is Joe Tresey who took over for Wally Burnham after Burnham took the Iowa State job. Tresey was at Cincinatti before this and is highly thought of in some coaching circles and he can be very aggressive. Additionally, HC Jim Leavitt is a defensive minded coach and has a lot of input with his favored unit.

2008

Bulls' Defense Overall Run Defense Pass Defense

Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) Per Drive, better explanation at link.
39th

S&P+ Defense (National) Per play, better explanation at link. 38th 10th 78th

S&P+ Defense Conference Games Only 3rd 2nd 6th

If you are curious as to what these numbers mean, click on the links. Just know that they are widely accepted by professional gamblers and other people who study the game for their living as the best and most consistent measures of performance.

Front 7

USF's defensive line is the best in the Big East. Phil Steele calls them the 6th best defensive line in the nation. Simply put, they are loaded.

USF loses Defensive End Jarriett Buie and his 5 sacks (all in Big East play). He was a solid contributor and started all 13 games for the Bulls. The only other loss is Sampson Genus, a defensive tackle who is now competing for a spot at center.

At right end is Super Senior George Selvie, a 6'4" 250lb terror who passed up the NFL draft to return to the Bulls. He's a two-time All-American and a favorite to win multiple national awards. As a three year starter (37 games) he has 186 tackles, 60 for loss, and over 20 sacks. He was hampered by injury last year, but when healthy, he's in the conversation for the best defensive end in America. Selvie is just one of the elite pass rushers Florida State Freshman All America Offensive Tackle Andrew Datko will face this year as the 'Noles confront America's toughest schedule.

At the other end position (replacing Buie) are senior Aaron Harris and junior Craig Marshall, along with Jason Pierre-Paul. Harris is a tweener at 6'4" 265lbs and has played defensive tackle for some of his career. He's a more natural end and everyone in USFs program raves about him. He had an excellent sophomore season and is considered the front runner to man the strongside end position by many. Craig Marshall is more of a pass rushing specialist at 6'5 260 and needs to refine his game, particularly by getting in the weight room. He did play in every game last season and had 4.5 tackles for loss. If he makes improvements this offseason, he could overtake Harris. Even if he doesn't start, he will play a lot of snaps for the Bulls. The real wild card here is Paul-Pierre, a stud JUCO transfer (top JUCO defensive lineman in the country). Pierre-Paul stands 6' 5" 265 and some believe he will take the starting spot, mostly based off his impressive film, frame, and recruiting profile. David Bedford had a nice spring game and should also contend for playing time.

At Nose Guard the Bulls have juniorTerrell McClain. At 6'3" and 306lbs, he earned playing time as a freshman and continues to dominate for USF. Both strong and quick, FSU fans should compare him to Moses McCray. McClain should expect to be 1st team Big East in his second season as a starter.

At the other tackle is Rs.Fr. Cory Grissom (6'2" 289lbs), who hurt his ankle early in the season and missed the rest of the season. He has great quickness and athleticism, but is obviously quite raw. Backing him up is 5' 11" 267lb Sophomore Keith McCaskill. He has a good wingspan and is very quick.

NOTE: There is a chance Harris will play tackle not end, so keep that in mind. The coaches are hoping that Grissom can get the job done at tackle, but if he can't or if some of the other ends blow up, Harris could end up back at tackle.

All in all, this is an excellent defensive line with multiple players who could eventually play in the NFL.

.

Linebacker

The departed: USF lost First Team all-Big East Strongside 'backer Tyrone McKenzie, who led the team in tackles (116) and tackles for loss (14.5), to go with a sack, a pick, and eight pass breakups. He is the only significant loss.

USF will still have a strong linebacker corps, and it starts with Senior middle linebacker Kion Wilson, an 11 game starter as a junior at 6'2" 235. He is the big hitter who started 11 games a year ago. His backup will be Michael Lanaris, 6'1" 230 and one of the better linebackers in Florida coming from 2007.

Senior Chris Robinson is currently projected to replace the departed McKenzie on the strong side. At 6'3" 240lbs, he is an decent force player who had a good spring. Some USF fans aren't pleased with him, however, and wonder if he will ever put it all together. A former defensive end, he's an excellent blitzer but also has limited range and is the guy the Bulls pull when facing a 3, 4, or 5 wideout set. Also competing for the job is JUCO stud JaQuan Williams. Phil Steele projects Williams to start at one of the outside backer spots, but I'm not sure on that. Needless to say, he is talented. Sam Barrington and Armando Sanchez also factor in here, but their roles are undetermined right now.

At weakside linebacker, the Bulls will plug in 6' 0" 230lb junior Sabbath Joseph, who played in ever game last season, but not as a starter. He's excellent in coverage but is a bit on the small side and can struggle getting off blocks. Backing him up will be 6' 3", 222lb Senior Donte Spires. He was an excellent JUCO recruit who played well in 2007 and was ineligible last year (academics- redshirt). Don't be surprised if he starts.

Overall this is a decent linebacker corps. None would start for Florida State, Miami, or UF, but they are good.

Lack of Sacks

One thing that was really puzzling to me was USF's lack of sacks. The disparity in their run and pass defense was huge, as they were 10th against the run and 78th against the pass. The Bulls had only 23 sacks in 401 passing plays (sack rate of 6.1%). Part of the reason was Selvie being banged up, but other players also must step up. If they don't, look for the Bulls to blitz more.

I was pretty accurate here. Let's discuss the changes

Along the defensive line, Pierre Paul is starting at left end. The other starters are of course Selvie, McClain, and Grissom. I haven't been particularly impressed with Grissom and he could be exploited. This is still a talented defensive line, but they haven't played quite as well as I expected. The decision to start Pierre-Paul could make them more stout against the run (he started last game and is expected to start Saturday.) He's a very talented player who wanted to play for FSU but was turned away by the lazy defensive coaching staff. At this point, I don't expect to see DT McClain make 1st team All-Big East, but 2nd team is possible. Harris is the backup to Grissom.

At linebacker, it is exactly the same. I will note two things. First, Jacquian Williams, the backup strong side backer is really quick and plays some rush end on passing downs. He's # 57. Second, these guys like to run around a lot, but for their size, they should be better at taking on and shedding blocks. WKU did a nice job getting them blocked on the 2nd level.

As far as the lack of sacks, well, that hasn't really been remedied. USF has played two horrible D1-AA teams, and WKU, a provisional 1A school in Western Kentucky who lost to Central Arkansas 28-7, AT HOME. This year they have 5 sacks on 72 opponent pass plays, a sack on 6.9% of pass plays faced. That'd be good over a season, but that is ridiculously poor against the people they faced. FSU's offensive line is great in pass protection, having allowed only 4 sacks on 108 pass plays. That's a great % of 3.6. And that was against two nationally ranked teams. USF is going to need someone other than Selvie to step up.

FSU has the most athletic offensive line in the country. They can block USF's front 7. I am pretty confident in that. Now, USF's defensive line is much much better than BYU's so it won't be the complete domination we saw in Provo Utah. Their tackles aren't as good as Miami's but their defensive ends are better. That's fine. I'd much much much much rather play against good ends than good tackles.

Before we talk more strategy, let's have a look at USF's Secondary. Over summer, I wrote:

Secondary

Having that extreme dedication to stopping the run does cost USF, however, as their 78th ranked pass defense indicates. USF asks a lot of it's defensive backs (probably too much). That approach could prove interesting this year.

The Departed: USF loses strong safety Carlton Williams, who was their defensive player of the year with his 56 tackles and 3 interceptions. Williams played well for the Bulls, but he wasn't an elite talent and will not be playing pro ball. They also lost one-year starter Tyller Roberts at cornerback, and underrated safety Louis Gachette.

What they're working with:

At boundary corner, USF returns Senior Jerome Murphy. The 6'1" 190lb Murply had an amazing 67 tackles from his corner position to go with his 7 pass breakups and 2 interceptions. He is lightning quick and a coach favorite and should compete for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team all-conference honors. His backup is redshirt freshman George Baker.

At field corner will probably be sophomores Quenton Washington and Tyson Butler. Both are average talents who will be tested early and often. They have potential but must work on their consistency.

USF played over half their 2008 snaps in a Nickel formation (5 defensive backs), so the nickel corner position is vital to their defense (or it was last year). The loser of the Washington/ Butler competition will square off against redshirt freshman Jon Lejiste. The field and nickel corner spots are big unknowns for the bulls team and depth could be an issue (though not against FSU, because USF shouldn't suffer much attrition prior to the 'Nole game due to their pathetic opening schedule).

The bulls have a stud in Free safety Nate Allen. He's 6' 2" 205lbs and a serious NFL prospect. Allen will be counted on to be the leader of this group. He had 53 tackles last year, but the bulls would like to be able to use him in more of a centerfield role. Of course, that will depend on their ability to stop the run without over-committing their defensive backs to the run game, similar to how FSU wasn't able to showcase Myron Rolle because the 'Noles needed him to help with their run defense. Allen is a candidate for the Thorpe award.

After starting South Florida's bowl game in December, the sophomore Jerrell Young will take on the starting job at strong safety. Like Allen, he's also 6'2" 205lbs and is a huge hitter. Young has a lot of talent but must put it together quickly. USF wants to have allen focus more on the pass and use Young as their 8th defender against the run.

Consistency is really the name of the game for the Bulls secondary. The new defensive coordinator likes to be very aggressive, and that should work because this secondary is already hyper-aggressive. It could hurt the Bulls, however, when teams hit them deep with double moves.

There are some major changes here. The bulls suffered a major injury to promising sophomore safety Jerrell Young (broken arm). As I noted, he was expected to be their top run defender from the secondary. That necessitated some moves. Murphy was such a good tackler that they decided to move him from his Boundary corner spot to strong safety to replace Jerrell Young. He'll be okay there. But other positions are up in the air.

The Bulls are playing more 4-3 and less 4-2-5 this year, and that was a wise decision in the Spring, though they couldn't have done it in anticipation of Young's injury. It was just preference. The corner positions will be filled with Freshman Webster, Baker, and sophomore Washington (who has been injured with an ankle but is expected back. Butler is also in the mix. Interestingly, when they go to their nickel look, they will put Murphy at Nickel corner and then insert promising redshirt frosh John Lejiste in Murphy's vacated strong safety spot. I am not impressed with the corners for USF- they are both freshmen, but the safety tandem is impressive.

As much as I would like to see FSU spread out the Bulls, I really don't expect them to. I would like to match FSU's 3rd and 4th wideout against 3 redshirt or true freshmen corners for USF. But I don't think it will happen. QB Christian Ponder is in a knee brace and multiple commenter's have noted that he has been limping around campus all week. I have to be honest here- Early this week, I expected E.J. Manuel to start. Ponder's legs are a big part of his game and the Noles offense, but he is also an excellent passer. Everyone expects FSU to shoot Ponder up and start him. There won't be a lot of 4-wide, because Ponder likes to run out of that set so often. He is under strict orders not to run, but the guy will be so amped when they shoot him up, and it's his nature to run. I hope he can avoid further injury.

Also note: he banged up the knee in the 2nd quarter against BYU. It wasn't the result of him being in with a 24 point lead.

What I do expect to see is more like the Denver Broncos or USC. Under center, with 1RB, 1TE, and 3WR's, or 2TE, 2WR's. I really don't want to see a lot of I-Formation. Using the two-tight end set could cause USF some serious problems. Selvie likes to play very wide, and the tight end to his side could force him to make difficult choices.

FSU can run out of both the sets I mentioned. They can also use some 3WR 1TE 1RB Shotgun. WIth the 3WR look, the Bubble Screen option will be available should USF decide not to account for the slot receiver. Here's an example, see the yellow circle to indicate the empty space.

Their linebacker must account for the slot receiver if they stay in their 4-3 base defense. If they get out of that 4-3 base defense, FSU will rip them over and over again with the run. The key will be for their linebacker to split the difference, that is, play far enough out to discourage FSU from throwing the bubble, but not too far as to take himself out of position against the run.

I like FSU to come out and establish the run. It should work. However, because USF's defense is decent, they will probably get some tackles for loss. FSU won't be able to stay out of long down and distance situations the entire game. They will continue to control the ball and keep the defense off the field, however.

While USF has not shown to be a blitz heavy team this season, their DC does have that tendency and FSU needs to be aware of that (they are). I anticipate USF getting frustrated against the run and doing several thigns against which FSU should be able to take advantage. First, they will probably send some run blitzes (different from pass blitzes). To counteract this, look for FSU to bring back the screens over the middle to Fortson and Goodman. These middle screens are highly effective because FSU's offensive line is so athletic, allowing them to block faster players in the open field. Someone once said that the only new thing in football in the past 30 years is the middle screen, as it basically allows the offense to run a kickoff return from scrimmage.

The other thing they will do is stack the box. Murphy (strong safety, but a converted corner) will come up into the box, particularly against the 2TE formations. They will play Allen (free safety) very deep when they do this. While putting more men in the box is effective for stopping the run, it also has a disadvantage: long runs. The reason for this is simply geometry. A player closer to the line doesn't have the angle to catch a player if he breaks a run. He also has less reaction time. If anyone watches the SEA@SF game last weekend, you saw Frank Gore break two 80+ yard runs against the Seahawk defense because he cleared the first wave of defenders and had only one safety to beat, not two, because Seattle played 8 and sometimes even NINE! men in the box.

Additionally, I look for more play-action this week. Getting the ball out of Ponder's hands will be important, because we don't want him taking shots, but another way is to use play-action to make the defense think run before they start rushing the passer. That could put USF in a bind. Their corners are 5'11", 5'11", and 5'10". Everyone lies in media guides, so I am guessing at least one of those kids is really 5'9". Jarmon Fortson is a legit 6'3" and is a beast for a freshman to handle. If FSU can freeze USF on play action, they have an opportunity for a huge play. Ponder must remember to look off Free Safety Nate Allen, who is a legit NFL 2nd round type safety.

Over Summer I wrote:

Can the Bulls improve on their 2008 defense? It really depends. Most likely USF will take a step back in run defense and improve somewhat in pass defense. Their 2008 disparity (10th and 78th) was silly and unlikely to happen again. They will be better if their front 7 can stop the run without much help and their front 4 can generate a solid pass rush. If they continue to throw everything at the run and hang their defensive backs out to dry, however, they could have a rough year, depending on whether the corners can handle their responsibilities. I look for USF's defense to again be top 40 nationally (39th last year), with a run defense in the top 25 and a pass defense that climbs back into the top half nationally. They should have a top 4 defense in the Big East. If the Bulls are to have a shot at winning in Tallahassee, they must have a great defensive performance, selling out for the run grabbing a few turnovers.

It is so tough to judge what USF has done this year. I generally agree with what the above said, except I don't know about their run defense as much now. They will probably be more conservative because of their freshmen corners.

Finally, special teams.

USF has a huge kicker problem. Last season they were 71st in the nation in terms of points earned and points expected from their kicking game. They had solved the problem, but their solution broke his back falling of a Busch Gardens ride. So it's going to be a freshman walk-on or Delbert Alvarado who is just terrible.

1 Florida State 0.107

2 Syracuse 0.086

5 UCLA 0.052

8 Miami 0.045

10 Wisconsin 0.038

11 LSU 0.037

16 North Carolina State 0.021

23 Texas 0.016

29 Pittsburgh 0.012

37 Duke 0.008

44 Florida 0.004

48 Clemson 0.001

51 Virginia Tech 0

52 Vanderbilt -0.002

53 Maryland -0.002

56 BYU -0.004

57 North Carolina -0.005

61 USC -0.006

70 Georgia Tech -0.012

71 South Florida -0.012

83 Rutgers -0.021

93 Virginia -0.029

94 Wake Forest -0.029

106 Boston College -0.044

120 Auburn -0.093

USF should go for every 4th down if at all possible.

Both teams have very good return units and poor kick and punt coverage units.

I expect FSU to get 34 points. FSU should start fast, then USF will adjust and counterpunch and catch up, then FSU has to throw their counters and the offense should be enough to put pressure on USF's offense and force them into mistakes. While I think the potential for a blowout is definitely there, it will only happen if FSU gets a bit early lead. I just don't think the offense goes for 50+, because USF is a decent defense, and because Ponder running and the threat of Ponder running is a decent part of FSU's offense.

34-27 Noles is my pick.

Offensive Player of the game: Andrew Datko.

Defensive Player of the game: NIgel Bradham (must play really well).

South Florida Bulls @ Florida State Seminoles Preview: can the Noles avoid the Bulls' horns?

FSUncensored — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:30:37 -0000

This is part 1. Here is part 2: http://www.tomahawknation.com/2009/9/25/1054873/the-preview-part-2-south-floridas

For the first time ever, the South Florida Bulls will take on the Florida State Seminoles. Gametime is Noon. The game is on ESPNU.

I'm scared of this game. Not because I think USF is good, but because I think the Seminoles are in a bad spot. Riding high off their 54-28 win over #7 ranked BYU, FSU is banged up. Really banged up. They are without DT Moses McCray and DT Justin Mincey. Their only healthy defensive tackles are undersized senior Kendrick Stewart, promising freshman Jacobbi McDaniel- who has a bum MCL, and the high on energy but low on effectiveness Budd Thacker. Additionally, both rovers, senior Corey Mangum and freshman Nick Moody are banged up. Additionally, FSU's lame duck defensive ends coach, Jody Allen, continues to hold a grudge and insists on starting the worst starter in my lifetime (both '85)- walk on defensive end Craig Yarborough.

There are also some situational factors in this game. USF has played the worst schedule in the country, and it is not close. The Bulls faced two 1-AA teams and Western Kentucky, a team that either is or should still be a probational 1A team (easily the worst team in 1A). So making a read on their current in-season performance is a bit tough. I did watch their games, or what I could find of them, so I'll do my best.

I was asked to describe my thoughts on this game, and in a sentence, I said that I thought FSU was a much better team than USF, but that I didn't like the matchup. I just have a bad feeling about this game.

But is it more than a feeling? Let's start with USF's offense against Florida State's defense. Over the summer, I wrote this comprehensive preview of USF's offense.

The Bulls went 8-5 in 2008. They were perfect in the non-conference, with wins over two terrible defensive teams in Kansas and NC State, and an overtime victory against UCF. In the worst BCS conference, however, they were just 2-5, and their two wins came over UConn and Syracuse. To say that USF feasted on bad teams would be an understatement. Yet voters, who often see nothing but a team's record and not the competition they face, had the Bulls as high as #10 at one point. They would lose 4 of 5 down the stretch to finish unranked. This season, as I noted above, they are unranked and have played a terrible schedule.

The Bulls were just 4-5 against BCS conference teams and 2-4 against teams ranked inside the Fremeau Efficiency Index Top 40. Put another way:

Wins	S/ F+	Losses	S/ F +
UT Martin	NR	Pittsburgh	17
@ UCF	NR	@ Louisville	74
KAN	33	@ Cincinatti	19
FIU	NR	Rutgers	24
NCST (w.o their QB)	47	@ WVU	49
Syracuse	90
UConn	26
Memphis	NR

S/ F is a combination of S&P + and FEI, the two widely recognized advanced metrics for evaluating college football teams. The quality of their opponents in wins was far less than that of their opponents in losses.

This year, the Bulls schedule around the 'Noles game looks like this:

2009 schedule:
Sept. 5 Wofford
Sept. 12 @ Western Kentucky
Sept. 19 Charleston Southern
Sept. 26 @ Florida State
Oct. 3 @ Syracuse

The Bulls have a very easy schedule before facing Florida State. They essentially play three 1-AA teams (W. Kentucky is a provisional 1A school, the worst team in 1A). This can help and hurt a team. Having a month of pre-season assures that the Bulls will be able to work out some kinks, ~~and that they will be healthy (starters playing fewer minutes in blowouts means less opportunity for injury)~~. It can also hurt, however, because FSU will be the Bulls' first test of the season. 'Nole fans saw this phenomena last year when they lost to Wake Forest after opening the season with two 1AA cupcakes.

Based on their talent an performance, the Bulls were probably a top 25 team last season, though they were too high early and probably too low late. They did have three close losses in Big East play, and close wins or losses are a great indicator of a team being lucky or unlucky.

Last season, the Bulls Offense looked something like this:

Fremeau Efficiency Index: 48th
Varsity Numbers (aka BeyondTheBoxScore at RockMNation.com, the brainchild of Bill Connelly) S&P+ (measure of ball movement and explosiveness): 21st (34th rushing, 16th passing)
Forget the fact that South Florida led the Big East in total offense and finished second in scoring. It did most of its damage against lesser opponents, while failing to score more than 20 points in the final five regular season games.
In conference play, the Bulls had the 6th best offense (of 8 Big East teams), with the 4th best ground game and the 5th best passing attack. Only UConn and Syracuse were worse (though they were a lot worse).
USF had an unsustainably high success rate on passing downs (2nd and 8+, 3rd/4th and 5+) http://footballoutsiders.com/varsity-numbers/2009/varsity-numbers-2008-offensive-buffet As the article discusses, USF was really goot at converting 3rd and long, compared to their other talents. That's just not realisticly sustainable. What team is consistently better on 3rd and long than 3rd and 4?
USF averaged less than 350 yards and less than 5.4 yards per play in conference games. (For reference, 400 yard games equal out to about 6.2 yards per play over 65 plays in an average game).

The Bulls run a spread scheme under new Coordinator Mike Canales, featuring a heavy dose of the zone read game. It's 4-wide, pretty much all the time. They will go into trips as well, which gives FSU fits. They force the opposing defense to account for the QB's legs. Canales was the Bulls' passing game coordinator last year and stepped into the OC role after Greg Gregory took another job.

Quarterback

Here's what I wrote about Grothe:

Matt Grothe has led the Bulls in rushing in each of the past three seasons. He's also a big risk taker who often struggles to read defenses, possibly because of his 5'11" stature. He's tossed up 42 picks over three years, while throwing 47 TD's. He's been consistent in his erratic nature, throwing 14 INT's each year. More troubling, however, for Bulls fans was the way he ended the Big East season: Against Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers, UConn, and WVU, Grothe threw 11 Interceptions and just three touchdowns, while being sacked 13 times.

There's more:

Matt Grothe Games QB Rating Yards/ Attempt TD INT

All Games 13 136 7.7 18 14

v. Conference 7 119 7.1 7 12

v. Non-Conference 6 156 8.4 11 2

v. Winning 6 109 6.5 4 10

v. Non-Winning 7 162 8.8 14 4

4 TD 10 INT against Bowl teams? That's not impressive, and really, none of Grothe's passing numbers stand out. He is a dangerous runner, of course. And FSU has been ripped by teams utilizing the mobile quarterback over the past two seasons, particularly out of the shotgun, as USF does. In fact, Grothe had 117 rushes for 828 yards, which is 7.1 yards per carry. Simply put, Grothe is a playmaker with his legs. He runs the zone read play quite well and making him one-dimensional is a primary goal for any team facing USF.

If he stays healthy, Grothe will surpass Pat White for the conference record in Total Offense, but I have to wonder how much of that record is due solely to playing time? Almost any 4-year starter with mobility would have a shot at the record.

So obviously I didn't think Grothe was that good. He tore his ACL and his career is over. His backup is Redshirt Freshman B.J. Daniels, a highly recruited kid out of Tallahassee Florida. FSU wanted him as an athlete, because they already had E.J. Manuel as their only QB in the recruiting class. This kid has a great arm. It is a total cannon. But he's not entirely accurate and lacks touch. Kinda one of those kids who rifles everything. He is a physical beast. USF calls him 6'1 or 6'2" in various media guides, but he's somewhere between 5'11" and 6'2". About 215lbs. Fast as heck. USF's offense isn't particularly complicated, and I expect that it is about to get simpler, but it is the exact design of offense that makes Mickey Andrews look washed up and incompetent. Daniels scares the heck out of me because he is a much better physical talent than Grothe, who I didn't think was all that good. He reminds me of a combination of NC State's Russel Wilson, and Oregon's Jeremiah Masoli. USF runs the zone read play as their base run play. Here's the video:

Here's a diagram:

That's the one where the QB in the shotgun reads the backside defensive end. The line blocks away from him. If the end stays at home to keep the QB in check, the QB will hand the ball off because they have the numerical advantage. If the end "crashes down", the QB will keep the ball. As linked above, FSU does not do well against this at all. This stuff is the number one weakness of FSU's defense. By far. And this defense is banged up, undisciplined, and unsurprisingly not well coached by a disinterested and fractured defensive coaching staff. I would choose to run this against FSU even if I didn't have the personnel to do so. That is exactly what Boston College did to beat FSU last season with their terrible offense.

So how do you stop this? FSU's defensive coaches have no idea. Good defensive line play helps. Someone must win their one-on-one matchup. Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com has some ideas here.

Now, I know we rip on Craig Yarborough quite often. The kid tries hard, but he is a bad player. That said, his discipline could be somewhat of an asset in this game for the Noles. In order to beat the zone read, a team must have a plan, and everyone must follow the plan. I'm not talking about "everyone go out and make plays" stuff, that's not a plan. Yarborough can help by simply following his assignment here, even if he doesn't physically do it all that well. This is particularly important when he is the read defender on the backside. In Chris Brown's piece linked above, in the 2nd photo, think of Yarborough as the "E" (end) crashing down, and Nigel Bradham as the scraping linebacker. There's an opportunity here for Bradham to have a huge game here.

The zone read is difficult to stop. FSU must have a good gameplan and must change up their looks. I do not have much confidence in FSU to do that. However, I do think FSU has some advantages here. FSU's linebackers are very fast and better than most in coverage. That will allow FSU to stay in a base defense or a nickel defense against USF's 4 wide receiver look. Many teams are forced to use 6 defensive backs against USF's look, but because of FSU's linebackers, the Noles can use only 5 defensive backs. Obviously when trying to stop the run, linebackers are better than defensive backs.

Running Backs

This summer, I wrote:

Mike Ford is a special talent and a likely NFL back. He was a Five-Star recruit coming out of high school but had terrible grades and had to go to through the preparatory school route. Last season, Ford battled numerous injury issues and had a disappointing year. In 2007, however, he was excellent.

2008 2007

Opponent Att Yards Avg. Opponent Att Yards Avg.

Tenn.-Martin 15 61 4.1 Elon 6 83 13.8

@ UCF Did Not Play @ 15 Auburn 21 74 3.5

Kansas 1 3 3.0 North Carolina 6 13 2.2

@ Florida Int'l 14 24 1.7 6 West Virginia 5 42 8.4

@ North Carolina St. 11 64 5.8 @ Fla. Atlantic Did Not Play

Pittsburgh 14 73 5.2 UCF 8 39 4.9

Syracuse 11 51 4.6 @ Rutgers 4 9 2.3

@ Louisville 5 13 2.6 @ Connecticut 7 27 3.9

@ 17 Cincinnati Did Not Play 17 Cincinnati 7 13 1.9

Rutgers 1 2 2.0 @ Syracuse 28 134 4.8

Connecticut 8 20 2.5 Louisville 24 140 5.8

@ 23 West Virginia 14 62 4.4 @ Pittsburgh 16 63 3.9

+ Memphis 8 34 4.3 + 23 Oregon 6 8 1.3

Totals 102 407 4.0 Totals 138 645 4.7

This year, he's apparently lost 20lbs, making him 6'2" 210 rather than the 230 he played at last season. He is apparently quicker and now healthy. You can bet that USF will not risk injuring him against their cupcake schedule before they play FSU.

Canales has been vocal about trying to throw the ball to the backs more often, but Ford has not shown great hands. He may catch a few more now that he is at a better weight, but he's really not that type of back.

Mo Plancher represents another option to carry the ball. At 5'9" and 200lbs, he has surprising quicks, gaining 330 yards on 69 carries last year.

Jamar Taylor is an ex fullback type who tried to carry the load for USF into the bowl season, rushing for 300 yards on 62 carries. He has the savvy and knows the offense well, so he is often asked to handle blitz pickup duties on 3rd downs.

Richard Kelly is a very versatile back for the Bulls. At 6' 0" and 250lbs, he is a receiving threat out of the backfield and also an excellent blocker. Think of him as USF's H-Back.

USF is very deep at the running back position

A few updates here. Ford was suspended for the first two games. He is now back. Plancher has been their best runner. The stuff about throwing to their backs is dubious at best, unless they've been saving it for this game, which is possible, because their backs have accounted for two receptions in three games. Also, Jamar Taylor is out for this game. I expect to see a lot of Ford/Plancher.

Wide Receiver

This summer, I wrote:

Who Left:

Name Yr Pos Rec. Yards Avg. TD Rec./G Yards/G Note

Taurus Johnson SR WR 38 498 13.1 6 2.9 38 Led team in TD's, 2nd in Yards & Cathes

Marcus Edwards SR WR 19 259 13.6 0 1.5 20 31 Career Starts

Cedric Hill SR TE 16 194 12.1 2 1.2 15 2nd Team Big East

Who Returns:

Name Yr Pos Rec. Yards Avg. TD Rec./G Yards/G

Jessie Hester SR WR 54 579 10.7 3 4.2 45

Carlton Mitchell JR WR 28 405 14.5 1 2.2 31

A.J. Love JR WR 30 354 11.8 2 2.3 27

Dontavia Bogan JR WR 26 354 13.6 1 2 27

Ben Busbee SR TE 7 99 14.1 2 0.5 8

Patrick Richardson SO WR 7 68 9.7 0 0.8 8

Trent Pupello JR TE 2 26 13.0 0 0.2 3

The bulls really spread the ball around to a number of receivers and they are really, really deep at this position.

Jessie Hester, is the son of former Florida State great Jessie Hester (1981-84) and is the Bulls best wideout. He was named Offensive MVP for 2008 after leading the the team with 54 receptions. He's been named to a few pre-season All-Big East teams. At 6' 0" 180lbs, he's not a burner but has enough speed to get open and runs very nice routes.

Carlton Mitchell is a 6'4" 215lb Junior who missed a good chunk of 2008 due to injury. When healthy he can be a redzone threat and is very strong and he had a great freshman season. Though he is a Junior, Mitchell is very raw. He's one of the best athletes on the team. FSU fans might compare him to Jarmon Fortson.

Dontavia Bogan at 6'1" 185lbs is an explosive threat who had a good spring. One of several bigtime breakout candidates. Excellent athlete.

A.J. Love was the Bulls' deep threat before injuring his knee in the Bowl game. He is expected back for Fall and is making progress with his rehab. It's anyone's guess as to whether he regains his pre-injury form.

6' 2", 180lb junior Ed Alcin had a very nice spring and could really surprise this year. Some USF fans believe he is the 2nd best wideout on the team, which is saying something considering his lack of playing time in his first two seasons.

Theo Wilson could also catch a few balls for the 'bulls.

The Bulls must replace Hill at tight end and will look to Andrew Ketchel who came on strong towards the end of the season and he started the bowl game. At 6'5" 240, he's the best pass-catcher of the tight ends. Senior workout freak Ben Busbee is primarily a blocking tight end, but he can catch a few balls as well.

Updates: Hester has a bum ankle and will either miss this game or be very limited. Mitchell and Bogan are now their best wideouts. They look to Mitchell a lot and I believe he is the fastest player on the field come Saturday. Love and Wilson get a few balls as well. This group is the polar opposite of BYU. They are very fast and very big. But they are undisciplined and don't run good routes. Hester was the only one who had good receiver and not just athlete skills.

Because they are pretty raw, USF tries to throw little short routes to get the ball in the hands of their playmakers in space. They throw deep jump balls (again, big tall fast athletes). They throw crossing routes. Their approach is to try and limit the number of routes they run which require precision.

As much as I fawned over Wilson above, there are some obvious difficulties for him. Besides having no game experience, Wilson almost assuredly doesn't have a good relationship with his wideouts. He didn't get as many snaps as Grothe in practice because he was the 2nd team guy. His timing with them can't be great. FSU must force USF to complete precise routes, particularly in the intermediate level. Those require touch, timing, and familiarity between QB & WR.

How will FSU do this? They need to play some zone defense. I would suggest cover-3. I like the cover-3 look because it takes away the deep ball, you can account for at least one flat, and still have 6 defenders in the box against the run. Hopefully by running a lot of cover-3, FSU will force USF to run passable routes and make their correct sight adjustments. USF will need to sit down in the voids in the zone and from watching them, they really don't do that well. I am not sure defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews will do this, however, because he is very stubborn and has been badly outschemed for the better part of this decade. Next year, FSU will have a decent defensive staff. For now though, we wait and hope.

Offensive Line

This is clearly the weak link for the 2009 Bulls. USF must replace four Senior starters in Left tackle Ryan Schmidt, center Jake Griffin, right guard Matt Huners and right tackle Marc Dile . Dile and Huners were 2nd team ALL-Big-East players, and the departed quartet accounted for 118 starts (Dile had 36). The Bulls have a major issue here and will have a very tough time replacing those four.

That's not to say that the departed players were great- they weren't. The 'Bulls allowed 7.1% sacks (7.1% of passing plays ended in sacks), which is horrible. They were a lot better than the current crop and at least had some chemistry, however, something this new group will not have in 2009.

Worse yet, the Bulls were counting on help from the JUCO ranks and at least one big player simply won't be in Tampa this year. They expected JUCO transfer (and former 'Nole) Daron Rose to come in and start at one of the tackle spots. Rose didn't qualify, however, and will not be playing for the Bulls. Additionally, JUCO Tackle Carlos Savala is also ineligible. The Bulls really needed one of them to come in and take over a tackle position.

This off-season has been a disaster for the offensive line, and Head Coach Leavit said that none of the players were good enough to play on his OLine.

One position is definitely set. Junior right guard Zach Hermann is 6'3" 304lbs and made 13 starts as a freshman and 6 last year before injury struck. Herman is a pure run blocker and is the typical tough guard.

At the other guard spot might be 6' 4", 292-pound sophomore Chaz Hine. He didn't play much last year, but is a blue collar guy who could earn the job despite not being very talented.

The center position will hinge on a number of factors. At 6' 5" and 285lbs junior center Jacob Sims has the ability to play a lot of positions. The bulls are also considering him at tackle, but make no mistake, they want him at center. He'll play tackle if the potential tackles struggle. He had off-season finger surgery, but is expected to start somewhere on the line this year, either at Right Tackle, Left Guard, or Center.

At center, there's an experiment going on with former defensive tackle Sampson Genus who is one of the strongest players on the roster. He has looked good according to some reports. If Genus doesn't work out at center (and he's the better athlete but needs a lot of work), the Bulls will turn to 6' 2" 304lb Soph Kevin McCaskill. He's almost running even with Genus and was part of the big class the Bulls brought in after 2007.

The other tackle spot a complete mystery. One possibility is RsFr Jatavious Jackson, a decent recruit at 6' 4" 270lbs. He's very green and undersized at this point. RsFr OT Mark Popek is 6'7" 305 and got a lot of work in spring with Sims out due to injury (remember that the coaches want Sims at center but will move him back to tackle if need be). He's talented but young and inconsistent. He could challenge Sims for one of the tackle spots and USF hopes he wins so that Sims can play center. Pushing Jackson at left tackle is 6' 4" 314lb Soph Jeremiah Warren, who is already struggling in the classroom but does have a good bit of talent.

And don't count out Jamar Bass who is apparently looking reall good for the Bulls (at Left tackle).

The bottom line here is that the Bulls offensive line is very unsettled and even when it does settle, it will not be very talented. None of the bulls linemen are getting any press for an All-Conference selection. This group is definitely set up to run block, which is good considering that the Bulls run more than 60% of the time, but they will likely struggle in pass protection.Right now, their projected depth chart is this

Current projected lineup

LT Jeremiah Warren
LG Chaz Hine
C Sampson Genus
RG Zach Hermann
RT: Jake Sims

Warren is a sophomore who had 3 career starts (all this year). He is starting because Bass is inconsistent. Hine is also a sophomore with only these 3 games as experience. Genus is the strongest player on the roster and could present some trouble. He's a beast:

Genus is huge at "314" lbs (he is at least 320). But skinny ankles, no? He's also inexperienced. Right Guard Hermann is a decent player but a cheap shot artist. Sims is nothing special.

Because USF's offensive line isn't very good (being honest here, they didn't impress me, though FSU's beat up defensive line could make them look solid), USF does some things to limit their exposure. one of those is the quick game.

A few notes here. First, they ran this from two-tight singleback, which they don't often run. They've run this play 7 or 8 times from what I've seen. Opportunity here for the Noles to get a pick-6, but they must balance that with the obvious counter to this, which would be a double move.

These guys don't work well as a team in the run game. There will be gaps where FSU can get penetration and stop the run for loss. That's important because FSU wants to make USF one-dimensional.

They've given up 3 sacks in 77 pass plays (3.9%), against by far the worst competition in the country. FSU, in comparison, against good competition, has given up 4 sacks in 108 pass plays (3.6%). This USF line is average at best. To attack the passing game FSU needs to play coverage, and not rush Daniels aggressively. The ends must not lose contain or attempt dumb spin moves. Just a light, straight rush, like Bama did to Tyrod Taylor. Once they lull Daniels into a sense of false confidence in the pocket, they must attack him via the DELAYED blitz. Delayed is the key. USF's offensive linemen will look to help each other out with the initial rushers, and there should be gaps open for Dekoda Watson to run though, as he did last season against Miami. With contain established, and a free rusher coming in untouched, USF could have some trouble, particularly if their back doesn't pick up the blitz well. What FSU can't do is telegraph the blitz, like they usually do with little success. Make this kid sit in the pocket and read a defense, finding his wideouts in traffic. He can't have that good of a relationship with them yet.

Bottom Line

Last summer, I wrote:

USF's offense will probably struggle this year, particularly against good teams as they did last season. There is a lot of optimism at the quarterback and skill positions, but I wonder if prognosticators are making the common media error of overlooking line play. If the Bulls are to have a top 50 offense, they must be able to establish the run. Despite the new coordinator's background being more pass-happy than USF has seen in recent years, he must stick to the run and play low-risk football, catering to the defense which should be this team's strength. The Bulls have talked about making more big plays this year, but big plays typically happen because a team is vastly superior to their opponent, or because the defense is cheating to stop something (like the run) and are burned by something else (play action pass). If USF can't consistently put itself in better situations this year, like 3rd and 4 instead of 3rd and 8, Grothe will be the same old Grothe- taking too many risks and forcing too many passes. If the offensive line gets it together, the Bulls could have a pretty decent offense as the skill position players are there, but that is a huge if. This is still a team that couldn't get to 350 yards per game in the lousy Big East. Expect a regression from South Florida's offense and a more conservative gameplan as the season rolls along.

Now add in "they have a very talented but completely inexperienced quarterback." Despite the fact that USF has been prepping for this game forever, their offense will stay pretty simple. Still, FSU has a way of making rookie quarterbacks look like heisman trophy favorites. Additionally, I worry because USF has some guys from that Norm Chow NC State team that gave Mickey and FSU fits. Yes, that was the game in which FSU made Daniel Evans look great, to say nothing of Phillip RIvers.

I predict USF to score 27 points.

Wannstache Week: Mixed Signals

Akula Wolf — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:15:02 -0000

More photos » by Joe Giblin - AP

Why, yes, it is magnificent. Thank you for noticing. (AP Photo/Joe Giblin)

Browse more photos »

Wannstedt discusses NC State.

By the sound of it, Pittsburgh's front seven will be every bit as tough to deal with as South Carolina's, if not moreso. The Panthers return a pair of defensive ends that combined for 13 sacks and 26 TFLs in 2008. NC State, meanwhile, will be protecting Russell Wilson's blind side with a freshman left tackle. That's just a tad worrisome. They return one of their two starting interior linemen from a year ago and generally appear to have depth to burn across the DL. And despite losing linebacker and 2008 Big East Defensive POY Scott Mckillop, Pittsburgh looks pretty well stocked at that position. MLB Adam Gunn already has five sacks despite missing the Navy game on Saturday (he's expected to play against NC State).

None of Pittsburgh's opponents have been able to establish anything on the ground, and that includes those tricky Midshipmen, who were limited to 129 yards on 46 carries. They put Navy in a bunch of 2nd-and-long and 3rd-and-long situations, their talented defensive line was able to tee off, and the results for Navy were predictably disastrous.

But then there is the matter of Buffalo, the only decent passing team Pittsburgh has seen all season, which found all kinds of success through the air despite a similar inability to run the football. Pitt's secondary is experienced but nonetheless appears to be the weak link, and they're playing without their most talented safety, Andrew Taglianetti.

Given enough time, the opportunities should be there for Russell Wilson, with or without Owen Spencer. The difference between a Pittsburgh defense that looks vulnerable and a defense that looks impenetrable comes down to consistent pass protection. We're about to find out if two weeks' worth of warmups did the offensive line any good.

Bulls' Defense	Overall	Run Defense	Pass Defense
Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) Per Drive, better explanation at link.	39th
S&P+ Defense (National) Per play, better explanation at link.	38th	10th	78th
S&P+ Defense Conference Games Only	3rd	2nd	6th

1	Florida State	0.107
2	Syracuse	0.086
5	UCLA	0.052
8	Miami	0.045
10	Wisconsin	0.038
11	LSU	0.037
16	North Carolina State	0.021
23	Texas	0.016
29	Pittsburgh	0.012
37	Duke	0.008
44	Florida	0.004
48	Clemson	0.001
51	Virginia Tech	0
52	Vanderbilt	-0.002
53	Maryland	-0.002
56	BYU	-0.004
57	North Carolina	-0.005
61	USC	-0.006
70	Georgia Tech	-0.012
71	South Florida	-0.012
83	Rutgers	-0.021
93	Virginia	-0.029
94	Wake Forest	-0.029
106	Boston College	-0.044
120	Auburn	-0.093

Matt Grothe	Games	QB Rating	Yards/ Attempt	TD	INT
All Games	13	136	7.7	18	14
v. Conference	7	119	7.1	7	12
v. Non-Conference	6	156	8.4	11	2
v. Winning	6	109	6.5	4	10
v. Non-Winning	7	162	8.8	14	4

2008				2007
Opponent	Att	Yards	Avg.	Opponent	Att	Yards	Avg.
Tenn.-Martin	15	61	4.1	Elon	6	83	13.8
@ UCF	Did	Not	Play	@ 15 Auburn	21	74	3.5
Kansas	1	3	3.0	North Carolina	6	13	2.2
@ Florida Int'l	14	24	1.7	6 West Virginia	5	42	8.4
@ North Carolina St.	11	64	5.8	@ Fla. Atlantic	Did	Not	Play
Pittsburgh	14	73	5.2	UCF	8	39	4.9
Syracuse	11	51	4.6	@ Rutgers	4	9	2.3
@ Louisville	5	13	2.6	@ Connecticut	7	27	3.9
@ 17 Cincinnati	Did	Not	Play	17 Cincinnati	7	13	1.9
Rutgers	1	2	2.0	@ Syracuse	28	134	4.8
Connecticut	8	20	2.5	Louisville	24	140	5.8
@ 23 West Virginia	14	62	4.4	@ Pittsburgh	16	63	3.9
+ Memphis	8	34	4.3	+ 23 Oregon	6	8	1.3
Totals	102	407	4.0	Totals	138	645	4.7

Name	Yr	Pos	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD	Rec./G	Yards/G	Note
Taurus Johnson	SR	WR	38	498	13.1	6	2.9	38	Led team in TD's, 2nd in Yards & Cathes
Marcus Edwards	SR	WR	19	259	13.6	0	1.5	20	31 Career Starts
Cedric Hill	SR	TE	16	194	12.1	2	1.2	15	2nd Team Big East