Seems inconceivable, doesn’t it? Especially after a bye week following a pasting by Miami. The Bulls of South Florida looking past the Pitt game. Ridiculous. Probably. Still, there is something in the way the game is being covered by the local press that assumes a win.
Playing a program with Pitt’s standing would be a big game for USF any time, but with what’s at stake now it’s bigger than ever. If the Bulls keep winning conference games, they would earn a major bowl bid.
Not that long ago, the notion of USF playing, say, Alabama or Florida in the Sugar Bowl would have been ludicrous. Not now, not after the Bulls became a player on the national scene by joining a BCS conference and beating Louisville the way they did.
Now they play a Big East road game for the first time. Beat Pitt, and the Bulls are 2-0 in the conference with West Virginia coming to Tampa.
Such aspirations have to be a way of life now.
Beat Pitt, and the Bulls are a step closer to things once unthinkable. It’s the most important game of the season for USF — at least until next week.
This is talk of controlling ones destiny. A win at Pitt and the stakes just keep getting higher. One can only hope the players start thinking ahead. Seeing the possibilities in front of them an look to their next home game — when scouts from the Motor City Bowl will be in town.
With the University of South Florida halfway to the six wins needed to become bowl eligible, a Motor City Bowl scout will attend next week’s home game with West Virginia.
Ironically, the Motor City Bowl, which pits the seventh-selection from the Big Ten against a Mid-American team, is not one of the Big East’s four bowl tie-ins, but has an agreement to select a Big East team if the Big Ten does not have seven bowl eligible teams.
That just seems cruel. A Florida team potentially travelling to Detroit for a bowl game? I can’t imagine the fan base making that trip — the flow is the opposite direction — even if that became USF’s first bowl ever.
The USF athletic department is doing a good thing for their fans. Despite no TV coverage, they will show the game live on a giant screen at the Sun Dome on Saturday. Admission is free and the USF cheerleaders and sundolls dance team will be there.
Of course a visit from USF is one more chance to remind Pitt fans of the disaster that became the 2004 recruiting class. This time in the form of USF WR Johnny Peyton. Peyton is athletic and big — 6’5″, 200 pounds — and will likely be matched up against Josh Lay who isn’t too worried.
Lay, however, isn’t getting all charged up to play against Peyton for several reasons, most notably because he’s expecting the Bulls to attack the Panthers the same way their previous six opponents have — on the ground. That means he is not likely to see many passes come his way.
“It’s been kind of boring for [Pitt’s other starting corner] Darrelle [Revis] and me from a coverage standpoint these days,” Lay said. “The last game I only had three balls thrown my way, I knocked two down and should have intercepted the other. They throw at Darrelle even less. I usually get up to play the top receivers, but this year it doesn’t seem like teams are really coming after us at all.
“We do a lot more against the run than we do in pass defense, but that’s just how it is right now. Teams are going away from us and I expect South Florida to do a lot of the same things we’ve seen.”
Peyton’s numbers support that. Aided in no small part by less than spectacular passing from the QB. In 5 games, Peyton only has 11 catches for 118 yards, and 3 TD receptions. Keep in mind, though, that USF has only 586 total passing yards and Peyton accounts for half the TD receptions. Officially, though, Peyton is not a starting WR, according to USF’s depth chart and their records in the USF Game Notes (PDF).
That also means Pitt WR Greg Lee has an opportunity to stick it to his hometown team. Like he did last year.
“It doesn’t look as though South Florida has been playing a lot of the same type of coverage as last season,” Lee said. “I’m not expecting it, but if it happens, we’ll be looking to exploit it.”
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We’ll have to make an adjustment this week because of their team speed. We have to really make sure we simulate that as best we can in practice,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “But you know, we’ve got 17 guys from South Florida (high schools) and our guys are looking forward to this challenge.“We feel like we’ve made a little bit of headway here the last game-and-a-half with our football team. The thing I’ve been talking about is consistency. Can we continue to make progress? That is the challenge of the week.”
Redshirt Freshman Adam Gunn still feels good about blocking a punt against Cinci.
