29April2008
Posted by Rocky under: NFL Bulls; Bulls Football.
Well, I killed about 12 hours of my life watching the NFL Draft again this year. Happy to say though that it was better than the 2006 draft when Andre Hall went untouched through seven rounds.
Mike Jenkins was the first selected and became the highest pick ever from South Florida (First Round - Pick #25). Prior to Jenk, the Bulls’ highest pick was Super Bowler Kawika Mitchel. Mitchell was a second round pick (#47 overall) of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2003 draft. First Bull ever to be drafted? Kenyatta Jones. Yea, him. The troubled one. More importantly is the second ever drafted from South Florida - Anthony Henry. Jenkins will join Ant in Big D.
Fellow Bulls cornerback Trae Williams was the only other Bull to be selected. Trae went to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round (#159 overall). Reports out of Jacksonville claim him to be “the steal of the draft.” While I thought Trae would go a little higher, I’m not sure he’s the steal.
Outside of Jenkins and Williams, the only other Bulls to get significant pre-draft notice were Ben Moffitt and Richard Clebert. Local papers in Tampa report Moffitt has signed a Free Agent contract with the Houston Texans. That information is not yet confirmed on NFL.com. Clebert as well as some other Bulls may get a look from teams, but chances of signing seem thin.
Many of the teams hold rookie mini-camps next week. We’ll anxiously watch our draft picks and follow them up to the final roster.
Rocky
14November2007
Posted by Rocky under: Bulls Basketball.
Sorry, that’s about all I have. USF Basketball lost tonight to the Buffalo Bulls, 76-69. It’s late and I don’t have a lot to write other than “who didn’t expect this kind of start.” We knew it would not be an overnight turnaround so all you chowderheads can calm down.
If you can’t “Stan the Heath”…I crack myself up.
Last week it was Cleveland State. I’m sure the Big East brethren are again licking their chops waiting to devour the Bulls of South Florida. We’ll take our beatings, but I believe we are in good hands with Coach Heath. More sometime later…
Rocky
12November2007
Posted by Rocky under: Bulls Football.
Just what the doctor ordered. A patsy for a team otherwise in a death spiral.
It was nice to see the Bulls return to the field and present a competent running game and passing game that did not require Matt Grothe to do both. Mike Ford stepped up and had a big day scoring two touchdowns and racking up 132 yards on - get this - 28 carries! Wow. That’s gotta be a record of some kind - definitely the most touches the tough one has had this season.
But that is not all. Grothe showed signs of growing up. I still think he stares down his #1 target and then tries to thread the needle but he did throw the ball away on a coupe occasions instead of taking a big loss when pressured behind the line.
Even better - Delbert Alvarado kicked filed goals and extra points like it was old hat. Alavarado hit all 5 XPs and nailed 2 of 3 field goals (42,33). The miss was a blocked attempt from 46 yards.
But still, this was Syracuse. While they did have a nice looking young quarterback in Cameron Dantley, they had no running game at all. They netted a total of 15 yards on the ground Saturday, putting all sorts of pressure on Dantley to make it happen through the air. Surely you can credit the Bulls defense for some of the shortcoming, but not all. Syracuse is just that bad. Nonetheless, George Selvie got one of the two sacks on Dantley in addition to go with 3.0 TFL.
But next is Louisville who has an equally inept defense but a high-flying offense that attempts to cover for the defense each game. Louisville may finally be pulling it together. Last week they went to the mattress-burning capital of the world, Morgantown, WV, and gave the Mountaineers fits. Louisville, a repeat victim of poor Big East officiating lost 38-31 but really shook the faithful of the #6 (BCS) Moutaineers.
It’s a home game for the Bulls though. In the USF-UL series, the home team has always prevailed. Look for a shootout at Raymond James, it ought to be high-scoring and fun to watch.
Go Bulls,
Rocky
7November2007
Posted by Rocky under: Bulls Football.
It was going to happen. Bound to. Your intrepid blogster told you that in order for the Bulls to be successful, quarterback Matt Grothe had to improve on his turnovers, specifically his INTs. Saturday’s fiasco against Cincinnati underscored what happens when you can’t do that.
The Bulls had eight turnovers. Four were from the right arm of Matt Grothe. Another was after he was stripped while carrying the ball.
Last year Grothe threw for 15 touchdowns, but complemented that with 14 interceptions. This was a glaring problem heading into 2007. He started the season relatively well, but after Cincinnati now sits at the 9 game mark with 9 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions. And it’s not just one game. Grothe had 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions going into the UC game. There’s a trend and a problem here.
Some will say Grothe is asked to do too much. That may be true, but I believe that is best illustrated in how he is forced to run, not pass. His interception problem is sometimes blamed on his receivers. I don’t buy it. Sure there have been drops, but those aren’t INTs. There have been a couple of tipped passes that have been intercepted, but they have not been on textbook passes.
Grothe needs to stop throwing off the run unless he changes his delivery. All too often he rolls out and throws off the back foot. I was always reminded of ex-gator Danny Wuerrfel when Grothe would lob a pass to his target until I realized it was bad form, not a bad arm. This makes it too easy for the defensive backs to make up lost ground. It turns into a pick or a more difficult reception for the receiver. As the ball floats in, gaps and defenders also close in.
Either coach Jim Leavitt or Greg Gregory need to work through mechanics with the young QB, there is a lot riding on his ability to get the ball down field via his arm, not his legs. If he can’t correct the passing form, he’ll be a running quarterback (and I mean no offense to Grothe or Donovan McNabb).
Rocky
6November2007
Posted by Rocky under: Bulls Basketball.
Can I get an “Amen!” ?
After the last four years of Bulls Basketball under Robert McCullum it was time for a change. Out with the old, in with the new - Stan Heath. Heath has met with success at nearly every coaching stop in his young career. Now he takes on the greatest challenge not only in his career, but perhaps in college basketball. Others lighter in confidence and ability would turn away from this gig like a black cat on Halloween. Not Heath.
While it is certainly going to be a transition year for the Bulls (if not two or three) look for the magic of Heath’s recruiting and upbeat style of play to breathe life into the ailing program.
Now I liked former coach Robert McCullum and what he tried to bring to the program, but the program did him no favors. Bad luck, like a black cat, clawed away at any chance for McCullum to be successful.
Heath takes on the Big East with several players left from the McCullum tenure including preseason All-Big East player Kentrell Gransberry who finished third in the nation in rebounding while leading the Big East. He’s joined by key holdovers Jesus Verdejo, Chris Howard and Solomon Bozeman. Adding significant contributions will be McCullum recruits Dominique Jones and Aaron Holmes. Jones, in his first collegiate game - an exhibition against St. Leo last week - scored 23 points. Howard added 18.
St. Leo is nowhere near the same level of competition as any Big East member so it is not a gauge of where this team is. The Big East coaches decided that by picking USF to finish dead last in the conference again this season. Probably right, but it still stings. This team has experience upsetting Top 25 teams. The Big East will likely debut with 5 teams in the Top 25. Get ready Bulls.
Rocky
5November2007
Posted by Rocky under: Bulls Football.
Yes it was yours truly who greeted the preseason euphoria with the simple belief USF would lose 5 games. I named those games as Auburn, West Virginia, UCF, Rutgers and Louisville - most thought those to be the toughest on the schedule. I was wrong on the first three, but may still be right on the final two. That makes me terrible at prognosticating, however, for what it’s worth we did beat the first three and then dropped games to Rutgers, UConn and Cincinnati.
Jim Leavitt, courtesy GoUSFBulls.com
The Bulls are on a three game skid, riddled with injuries, committing a record number of turnovers and still trying to put together a full offensive package. Quarterback Matt Grothe, whether by design or necessity, continues to be the sole source of offense for a Bulls team that features some of the speediest receivers in the conference. Upperclassmen Taurus Johnson and Amarri Jackson are out for a few more weeks. Both are playmakers but it is safe to say neither had yet settled into a “go to” role this team so desparately needs to identify.
And the defense has been questionable. It seems to start soft every game but somehow manages to pull out the stops late in the game to give the nearly one-dimensional offense a chance. It’s not working. It’s probably about time we stop deferring on the coin toss and put our offense out there first. The defense is no longer setting the tone.
You must be thinking “Rocky, are you saying this team has quit?” No, that’s not what I am saying. What I am saying is that this team overachieved early and won games despite numerous shortcomings. The Bulls need to either become overachievers again or at least make some significant changes to the offensive gameplan while getting the well-regarded defense hungry again. At this rate, I see the Bulls tripping up at least one more time and it could be in the final home game vs. Louisville. And that’s scary. The Bulls next opponent, Syracuse, has already dumped Louisville.
15October2007
Posted by Rocky under: About me/About the blog.
There have been inquiries regarding banner advertising on GoUSFBullsBlog.com. Prior to erasing my database, I had the advertising information here. I will re-post soon. Until then, if you would like to inquire about banner ad rates, please email me at Rocky@GoUSFBullsBlog.com
Thank you,
Rocky
15October2007
Posted by Rocky under: About me/About the blog.
My name is Tad Stafford and I am a USF Bulls fans. I have been a fan for a very long time. I am not a professional writer or pundit, just a fan that figures he might as well have a blog too. Afterall, everyone else does. Why not use this fantastic media to drone on about one’s passion?
I intend the blog to be informative and fun. You’ll get my opinion and analysis-lite, but I won’t bore you with technical stuff like how an o-lineman uses his hands. I’ll be sincere and sarcastic, hoping the audience will be able to tell the difference.
A life-long Bulls fan here, looking to bring more Bull to this world of ours.
Go Bulls!
You can reach me at rocky@gousfbullsblog.com.
Best regards,
Rocky
14October2007
Posted by Rocky under: About me/About the blog.
I expect you’ll read about it somewhere soon. The fledgling “GoUSFBullsBlog” was taken down hard following the route of UCF at the hands of the #5 Bulls.
I was perhaps the lone USF voice predicting a UCF upset yesterday. Boy, was I wrong. I received a lot of grief and insults for making such a bold, heart-felt prediction, but I really felt that this would be the USF “trap game” in 2007. I know emotions run high for the players when playing in-state schools. Look at FAU. They were more pumped up than a 1970s Arnold Schwarzenegger, and USF was flat. This game meant a lot more to UCF than USF.
The Bulls didn’t come out flat yesterday. In fact the offense looked better than it had thus far in 2007. South Florida absolutely dismantled and demoralized the Knights.
They are no longer Golden indeed. Many journalists thought UCF could rise to the top of the state’s football food chain after a close game with USF. UCF proved they’re still just some stinky bottom of the bucket chum.
So, the reason for this post? I know I have several admirers online, well sort of, and I wanted to inform them that the blog is back. I erroneously attempted some ill-advised and verboten script tinkering which ultimately led to the blog erasing. At first I thought some cyber-Bulls were seeking an end to my growing influence in Bulls sports reporting, but no, nothing so glamorous. Just a noodlehead trying to program on a H.S. Diploma and some time at USF.
I will have a lot of stuff to add here in for the second generation of the Go USF Bulls Blog. It was nice to see it buzzing along with so many new comments and users.
Thanks for visiting. My promise to you is no more faux programming and much more content.
Go Bulls!
Rocky
