South Florida (6-2, 2-2 Big East) at Rutgers (6-2, 1-2 Big East)
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. TV: ESPN
68:00 before Kickoff: The Jackson 5′s playing on the PA system and the South Florida Bull is showing off some pretty fancy dance moves along the west sideline. It’s not raining. Ooh, the students are filing in and they’re putting on TV shirts that I believe they’re pulling up from under their seats. The plan is to have them spell out R-U in red and white. Mike Vorkunov, Class of 09, is sitting next to me. I asked him how much faith he has that his former classmates are going to pull this off. He said, “Not much.”
53:29 before Kickoff: USF sports information director Chris Freet just told us Carlton Mitchell didn’t even make the flight up here. The 6-foot-4 junior wideout is the Bulls’ primary deep threat. He has a team-high 29 catches for a team-high 542 yards and there was a little bit of hope his high ankle sprain could see a miraculous recovery. Not so much. His absence doesn’t necessarily put a massive damper on what South Florida wants to do in the passing game: Dontavia Bogan (16 catches for 246 yards) and A.J. Love (14 for 220) could fill the void. The bigger loss, though, may be Mitchell’s voice. It was Mitchell who approached USF coach Jim Leavitt after Pitt pounded the Bulls – and kicked off the seemingly-annual talk about an October swoon. Mitchell asked to address the team, Leavitt admitted this week that that was rare, but he let him, and then Mitchell basically told his teammates, If you don’t want to be here, leave. A few days later, South Florida upset West Virginia.
43:26 before Kickoff: Wow, Jim Leavitt and Greg Schiano were just looking awfully chummy on the 40-yard line. No kidding, they were talking for a good five minutes. They were even smiling. Wouldn’t I love to know what they were saying. Coming in, the popular story’s been the bad blood between these two programs. In December of 2004, months before South Florida was set to officially begin play in the Big East, Greg slapped a huge billboard, with a picture of the Scarlet Knights’ then 27 Floridians and the words “Season’s Greeting” right on Tampa’s main thoroughfare. This past January, Rutgers persuaded FIU to back out of a scheduled October game it had with South Florida to instead come play at Rutgers, leaving South Florida to scramble for an opponent and Leavitt to say, “I don’t think that’s the way things should go in a conference.” Guess they worked it out.
27:18 before Kickoff: Thirteen NFL scouts are listed on the press box seating chart. I haven’t actually one over and done a head count myself. I don’t know if there’s a way to do that unobtrusively.
One would think Rutgers would like to run tonight, and limit the number of times BJ Daniels touches the ball. And Rutgers did run decently a year ago on South Florida, with Joe Martinek getting 98 yards on 21 carries. But their last time out, the Bulls held West Virginia superstar Noel Devine to 42 measly yards. And Rutgers has only managed 174 yards TOTAL in three Big East games. Schiano hinted at some schematic changes in the run blocking… let’s see if that sticks.
19:59 before Kickoff: There’s a cow in the press box. Or, more accurately, a guy in a cow suit in the press box.
12:51 before Kickoff: Hi rutgersguy! The R-U thing has actually worked. It’s even looking pretty sharp. I just pointed it out to Mike, who said he wouldn’t have put money on it working. I have to say, I’m impressed. Y’all will have to tell me how it looks on TV.
7:15 before Kickoff: The gametime temperature was announced as 51 degrees and the wind as 18 mph (coming from the Northeast, if you care). That’s not cold enough to explain all these empty seats. We are talking about huge swaths of empty stadium. Maybe people are caught in traffic.
5:01 before Kickoff: USF middle linebacker Kion Wilson is going to wear 10 instead of his 42. Various Bulls have taken a turn at wearing the no. 10 this year in honor of Keeley Dorsey, who died during an off-season workout in January of 2006. The Bulls have done it this year because it would’ve been Dorsey’s senior season.
2:29 before Kickoff: Rutgers has a new entry. The band jumped and the fans waved towels. Long snapper Andrew DePaola had the axe. South Florida’s coming out to the Chicago Bulls’ song. Woah, Jim Leavitt can run. Greg Schiano said South Florida is the fastest team in the league and I’m guessing that includes the fastest coach. The refs just called the captains of the two teams back – they forgot to shake hands after the coin toss.
10:48 left in the 1st Quarter: Rutgers fans better put Jerome Murphy on their Christmas card list. The USF game captain did a dumb, dumb, dumb thing after the game’s second snap. Rutgers ran for a yard on first down and then four on second down. And then, when Tim Brown was already out of bounds on that second run, Murphy hit him. Fifteen-yard penalty, drive still alive and then six plays later, Murphy’s replacement (you think Leavitt was letting him stay in?) misses a tackle and Mohammed Sanu’s in the end zone on a 25-yard catch-and-run. Rutgers 7, South Florida 0.
7:03 left in the 1st Quarter: That’s 15 straight games that Rutgers has forced a turnover. Very good job by Brandon Jonesin keeping his eye on the ball. Good job by South Florida’s defense in letting Rutgers get only a field goal out of a 41-yard field. Rutgers 10, South Florida 0.
Kordell Young’s fanny pack (It’s actually a hand-warmer, I know, but it looks like a fanny pack so that’s what I’ll call it) fell off after his first run. He couldn’t snap it back on, so he tossed it on the field, right next to Tom Savage. It stayed on the field, while I was yelling about someone tripping, for the next two drives.
6:43 left in the 1st Quarter: Woah, scary moment. Devin McCourty went down, slapped the field and then was holding his head as the trainers tried moving his leg. He’s given EVERYTHING to this team this year (how about 111 plays against UConn?) when he can be thinking about his future and the NFL and resting his body. I bet he had that scary, What if, moment there. He walked off the field, though, so hopefully it was just getting the wind knocked out of him. Yep, that was just McCourty tackling Daniels on the next play. Sheesh, not even a play off?
End of the 1st Quarter: That’s two straight TOs Rutgers got and that’s three points the Scarlet Knights pulled out of it. Rutgers started on the Bulls’ 41 after Brandon Jones’ interception and then on the Bulls’ 21 after Faron Hornes muffed the punt (did he not feel Devin McCourty standing right over him as the ball came down?). Teddy Dellaganna failing to catch that field goal snap was not good. The snap looked fine from here.
12:59 left in the 2nd Quarter: South Florida had six turnovers against Rutgers last year. The Bulls are at three already. South Florida really looked ready to shake after that pick and then the 37-yard completion to Love put the Bulls on the Rutgers 25. And then Daniels pulled the Mike Vick one-handed thing and Antonio Lowery hit him hard enough to knock the ball loose.
Antonio and I actually talked about just that earlier this week. He was telling me about going to watch Mike Vick in the Orange Bowl when he was little (his uncle held the down marker sticks there) and how Daniels so looks like him. I said, “Yeah, but isn’t that one-handed thing dangerous? Doesn’t it make him more susceptible to fumbling?” Antonio said, “He’s so fast, someone has to get to him first.” Ironic, right?
7:00 left in the 2nd Quarter: That was just plain absurd. It was like Daniels thought he was supposed to be throwing to the guy in red. Turnover count’s at 4. Daniels had four total in South Florida’s two losses. He has three of the Bulls’ four today.
5:30 left in the 2nd Quarter: Uh-oh, Kordell Young is down and flexing his knee. It looked like Nate Allen punched his helmet off from this angle; thank goodness his head was okay.Kordell’s another kid you have to really, really hope is okay.
2:28 left in the 2nd Quarter: That’s SIX blocked kicks by Devin McCourty in his career. SIX. Rutgers takes over at the USF 23 and if they don’t score a touchdown from here, it’ll be hard to say which coach is more riled up. Leavitt over his team’s four TOs and one blocked punt or Schiano over his team’s getting 10 lousy points off of that.
Halftime: South Florida can’t possibly play any worse. The Bulls have as many first downs as turnovers (four), they had a punt blocked and they’re only down 13-0.
11:01 left in the 3rd Quarter: The internet was down here in the RU press box. Jason Pierre-Paul was hurt on the play before the punt. There are people in Rutgers jerseys on the USF sideline. That doesn’t seem very fair.
Hi section 117 and shrbnd. Are you actually out there, in section 117? How does the crowd feel to you? The windows stay entirely closed in here and so the towel-waving looks cool, but it’s hard to get a true feel for the crowd’s energy unless it’s really going.
7:12 left in the 3rd Quarter: The Rutgers folks just announced attendance as 48,057. Since I get in trouble every time I discuss the actual attendance, I’ll leave it at this: Not everyone who paid for a ticket – or was comped a ticket - is here.
7:05 left in the 3rd Quarter: “He’s stupid, he’s absolutely stupid,” said a nameless gentleman on my right. “He’s over-coaching here,” said another nameless gentleman, also on my right. Sanu takes the run, two point conversion is good and “Good call,” said the second nameless gentleman. Beautiful throw by Savage, great catch by Tim Brown and solid two-point conversion. Rutgers 21, South Florida 0.
6:03 left in the 3rd Quarter: It’s official, South Florida has not looked this bad all year. Two interceptions, one fumble, one muffed away punt, two other muffed kicks and a blocked punt. Incidentally, the Bulls have never – in 13 years – been shut out in the regular season.
2:30 left in the 3rd Quarter: Can that be a 42-yard sack? Holy cow, I thought Antonio Lowery was going to drag Daniels all the way to the end zone!
End of the 3rd Quarter: The time of possession isn’t updated yet, but it’s roughly South Florida 18 minutes, Rutgers 27. Good call, shrbnd, the USF defense *does* look gassed.
Meanwhile, Governor-elect Chris Christie is apparently here. He’s not a man who blends in; I’ll look for him.
13:51 left in the 4th Quarter: One more time: In 13 years of football, South Florida has been shut out exactly one. That was the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl, in a 14-0 loss to N.C. State. In 13 years of regular season play, South Florida has been shut out NEVER.
13:24 left in the 4th Quarter: For those of you who aren’t regularly here, there’s this kid who does a serious air guitar to Bon Jovi. They show him on the mega-screen every game and the last time we were here, the crowd booed when the cameraman panned away from him. Well, the sound guys tried to throw him a loop here – they’re doing a Bon Jovi montage. And if it’s not Livin’ on a Prayer, he’s not quite as energetic. No vocals.
12:30 left in the 4th Quarter: South Florida was irked last year when Rutgers kept throwing after building a 33-point lead. If Rutgers runs after a 24-point lead and scores, is it piling on? Thirty-eight yard TD run by no. 38, Joe Martinek, kick by San San Te is good and it’s Rutgers 31, South Florida 0.
Aside: Schiano wore 38 as a linebacker at Bucknell. When someone brought that up this week to him, and how he gave the number to Martinek, Schiano said he first tried to give it to Zaire Kitchen. And Kitchen, according to Schiano, said, “I don’t want it, Coach. That’s not a good number.”
:46 left in the 4th Quarter: Rutgers just took timeout. I’m not quite sure why. Tom Savage is still in, Rutgers is up 31-0 and South Florida surely wants tofile out of here as fast as the fans are.
:40 left in the 4th Quarter: De’Antwan Williams is running the ball. South Florida’s in. They don’t even do a hail mary. Rush right. Okay, game over, Rutgers 31-0. Schiano and Leavitt again had a nice post-game handshake. Down to the locker room.
It’ll be nice to see how that R-U thing looks on TV and if the students can carry it out. Even more interested to see what they’ve changed with regards to the run blocking. I’m hardly and expert in that but hopefully it’ll yield better results than it has been.
Hoping the cold has some effect on the Florida guys. A guy in a cow suit, what the heck is he promoting?
We have to keep contain on Daniels, but I think he’s somewhat turnover prone so hopefully we can get some tonight.
Saw the R U didn’t look too bad, the letters looked kinda far apart but not so bad.
Late hit, good to see USF still committing the dumb penalties. Like the handoff to Brown, need that kinda change up off the wildcat.
Good another penalty and nice job by Sanu fighting to get the first down.
Good job Sanu, breaks another tackle and nice first drive. LOVE IT!!
Like the playcalls on that first drive, seemed like all things meant to slow down USF’s pass rush. Boot leg, delayed handoff, more protection the line on some plays. I like it, let’s keep it up. Use their speed and any undisciplined play against them.
Okay, I’m here! Had to reboot my computer, and that took almost the length of the first drive to boot and restart.
Hey Aditi, how’s the endzone look? I haven’t seen a good shot of it on TV yet.
What’s the crowd like?
Crowd looked somewhat sparse hopefully it’ll fill up more, endzone looked full to me but the block R-U they tried to spell seemed a little far apart from each other to me, but that’s just my opinion.
Oh my god, I like the fact that Pitt is getting the exposure, but the constant “Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Notre Dame” is nauseating.
Announcers said they’re gonna have one player spy Daniels, sounds like a good idea to me.
Hey Spanky, glad you’re here. The end zone actually looks pretty cool, as I wrote above. (Hint, hint.) The crowd is still looking a little weak for my taste. There’s not a single row that looks fully filled. It’s probably somewhere between 70-75 percent full right now. Maybe people are in the bathroom.
Woohoo!!! Interception!
Nice job, another TO by USF, glad to see they haven’t stopped that habit either. Let’s convert now.
DC Jefferson, good job short passes like that are effective too. Like the rollout.
Hayes, you have to catch that. Dayum!
Julian Hayes has to catch that, Savage made a nice throw. You have to come up with that no excuse it was a first down and would’ve kept the drive going instead have to settle for a fg. Savage’s development is just amazing. Throwing to the right receivers on the blitz, not panicking, poise everything and this is just in his freshman year. As long as he keeps his health, this guy is a first round pick and I know I’m saying this way early but my god he looks good. Strong arm too considering some of the wind in the stadium too.
McCourty no no no, he can’t be hurt. Oh geez, hopefully his knee is ok.
Aditi, just to correct you above, my sources have indicated that FIU was already backing out of the return game with USF before anything got contemplated with Rutgers. We moved in afterward when we were able to negotiate a home-and-home with them.
McCourty back out there, whew.
Excellent stop!!!!
Nice patient job by the defense, didn’t over pursue him and kept containment, great job.
Oh, man, they got a hell of a roll on that punt.
Good job, by superman McCourty again.
Bad offensive series.
Nice turnover.
Whew lucky there, Martinek tripped up but fell just enough.
What was the penalty????? I saw nothing in the replay.
Aww man, offensive pass interference, pick play shoot. Gotta put these balls in the endzone.
Oh, crap!!!!
That’s absolutely bad job we can’t let them stick around, these are lost opportunities.
We’re letting them stay in the game. Damnit, we need to convert these turnovers!
Damn, damn, damn, we were not ready for that 3rd down play. How can our defense be unprepared?
The game should be about 17-0 realistically convert one of 2 of those turnovers into a TD and one a FG. We had the possibility to get as much as 14 pts off those 2 turnovers and we got 3. This is one thing that is somewhat misleading about turnovers. They are great and hopefully we keep them up. But points off turnovers and what I call points prevented from turnovers (basically if opponent is deep in your field) are really the key. Unfortunately, we don’t excel at converting these TOs to points.
There was no one within 20 yards of that pass. How could they not call intentional grounding?
Big East officials doing a stellar job as always. No intentional grounding, in the grasp affected the throw? Who the heck would that ball would have been to, Leavitt?
The snap was fine to Dellaganna was fine on tv too Aditi, it was just muffed. You know a couple weeks ago Cincy had some flub happen on a fg too and they converted it into at TD against Syracuse. It almost looked planned but they seemed to be prepared for flubbed snaps and knew what to do. Coulda been just a fluke, but it was executed pretty well by them.
Oh man, leaving them in the game. Guess it’s like a punt, I suppose. Just on first down.
Thank god for USF sloppy play, showing it’s beautiful head again.
That new run blocking scheme you hinted at Aditi seems like it’s helped some. Not great but does seem improved when we do decide to run. And great catch and throw by Savage and DC.
Damn, ESPN missed the screen to Brown.
Oh man I think a cut inside by Tim would’ve made a bigger gain. I love that Tim Brown play, use that speed and nice short throw.
Geeze, we’re moving backwards again.
Too many drops of receivers hands, 3rd time tonight.
Damnit!!!! We’re leaving them in the game.
I don’t like this 51 yds with wind. I thought so missed. I’m not gonna argue it too much because we’ve held their offense. But still coming away with nothing, this is gonna bite us if we let them hang around.
Aww man that’s the kind of play I like us to run, short easy throw and take advantage of the speed.
Dodged another bullet.
Great throw BJ, the kind I like right to us.
Wow, dancing fullback – that fooled NO ONE!!!!!