Wed 17 Oct 2007
Preview: South Florida Bulls @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Posted by Russell Loede under Picks, Previews
No Comments
Before the Bulls can start making reservations for the Sugar Bowl in Louisiana, it will have to convincingly pass its first true Big East road test, when it visits Rutgers Thursday night, if they want to impress me and show themselves to the entire Nation as an elite team.
With LSU and California - the top two teams just last week - losing last weekend, the No. 2 USF program (6-0, 1-0) will step onto the field with the highest ranking in the school’s brief history after a 64-12 home shalacking of Central Florida on Saturday. They climbed three spots in this week’s poll.
The Bulls, in their 11th football season, are also second to Ohio State in the newly issued BCS standings.
“I get distracted like everybody else, but I try to keep them to a minimum,” South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. “We’ve only played one game in the Big East, and our goal from the beginning was the Big East championship. And I want to tell you something, it’s going to be a barn-burner these next number of weeks.”
Facing a tough test on the road in Rutgers (4-2, 1-1), which was ranked as high as 10th, will try for its second straight victory after losing its last two home games to Maryland and Cincinnati.
This South Florida squad is starting a challenging, brutal stretch that includes a visit to the Connecticut Huskies on Oct. 27 and a home game against No. 23 Cincinnati on Nov. 3.
The Bulls amassed a season-high 543 yards in scoring the third-most points in the program’s history Saturday. Matt Grothe was 15-of-28 for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran 16 times for 100 yards and two scores.
The sophomore will be trying to reach the 100-yard rushing mark in his third straight game. He was 16-for-25 for 241 yards with a TD and two interceptions, and ran for 61 yards and two scores in 22-20 home loss to Rutgers on Sept. 29, 2006.
The Bulls’ defense will be the key reason if they come out on top victorious.
South Florida held Central Florida’s Kevin Smith - who came into the game as the nation’s leading rusher - to 55 yards on 18 carries, well below his 152.5 average.
The Bulls haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 14 games, but will face Rutgers All-American Ray Rice, the last to reach the mark against them when he ran for 202 yards on 35 carries and two TDs last season.
“It was a great challenge,” said defensive end George Selvie, who has a single-season school record 20 1/2 tackles for a loss. “We love it, but we’ve got to keep it that way all season.”
South Florida is 1-1 all-time against Rutgers, beating the Scarlet Knights 45-31 on Nov. 5, 2005 in its only visit to Piscataway.
“We have a huge game this week, a lot on the line, a lot at stake,” Bulls linebacker Ben Moffitt said. “We have to really get it done. All our focus is towards Rutgers.”
That means stopping Rice, who rushed for a season-high 196 yards on 36 carries and three touchdowns in Rutgers’ 38-14 road win over Syracuse on Saturday. The junior has 818 yards and 13 TDs and looks to extend the nation’s longest streak of scoring a touchdown to 14 straight games.
“You know I’ve been saying he’s a great player,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “He got a lot of hits (Saturday) so he’s going to be sore, but we’re going to get him rested and ready for next week.”
Rice, who needs 268 yards for 4,000, is averaging 180.0 yards in two games against South Florida.
South Florida is the highest-ranked team to come to Rutgers since then-No. 1 Miami beat the Scarlet Knights 42-17 on Nov. 2, 2002. Rutgers knocked off then-No. 3 Louisville 28-25 at home Nov. 9 for its most recent victory over a top 10 squad.
The Scarlet Knights have not lost three straight home games since 2003.
PICK - FINAL Outcome/Result: Rutgers 27 USF 17
Teel and Rice will show the country that USF’s defense is not as legit as some may think or point ‘em out to be. This game is Rutgers to win and South Florida’s to lose, so I like Rutgers to set the tone/tempo of the game early and not to look back. Expect the Scarlet Knights to be very aggressive early on in passing and then open up the run with Rice, along with some big play-action pass plays to follow after. Look for USF for melt under pressure on the road in a hostile environment in this Big East super match-up with lots on the line and a chance for the National Title hanging up in the air, as they have to prove themselves tremendously if they want to be considered a Top Team in College Football. I feel as if Rutgers knows what they can and cannot do and they will have USF’s number, as the Bulls are going to go in too confident and then find themselves down early, not knowing what to do next. I see Rutgers playing the game free and loosely, while on the other hand, South Florida plays it too tight and it will cost them going against a multi-dimensional Scarlet Knight offensive attack. USF depends way too much on the run and the play of their QB, I think Homefield advantage and Rice/Teel combo will be the difference here - write down the key reason for a win to be the red zone efficiency and 3rd down conversion late in the game for a Rutgers “W”.
