Growing Pains for USF
(October 19, 2004)

Things used to be so rosy for the University of South Florida football fans. There was a 51-26 record over the first seven seasons of the program and only the first year of football saw a losing record. The school contended for the Division I-AA playoffs and fell just short of a bowl game in 2002. There was a twenty-one game home winning streak and even a winning record on the road the last two seasons. In its first Conference USA season they went 5-3 and finished tied for third place. If not for some inept scheduling that saw two I-AA opponents and no twelfth game, the Bulls might have gone to a bowl game last year.

After what could have been the low point of this season, a 34-3 loss at South Carolina, the Bulls responded with a double overtime victory at TCU. Due too the four hour satellite window expiring, local viewers missed the last couple of plays in this thriller. A home loss to Southern Miss could have been avoided, but was not unexpected. The true low point of the season came on homecoming.

The second largest crowd to watch USF at home, 36,549, was on hand for last Saturday's game against Army. Andre Hall ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Pat Julmiste ran for a pair of scores and threw a 43 yard TD pass to Joe Bain. The Bulls lead 14-7 at the half, and had 21-7 and 28-14 leads in the third quarter. Army scored 28 unanswered points, running back Carlton Jones ran for five second half touchdowns and also scored on a two point conversion, and it was all she wrote. The 16 point favorite Bulls lost back-to-back home games for the first time.

Is it time to pull the plug on the season? USF is 2-3 overall and 1-2 in C- USA. Friday they play at 5-1 and fifteenth ranked Louisville. A Wednesday game (November 3) follows at 5-1 UAB. The two game home losing streak should be snapped against 1-4 East Carolina. The last road game is at 2-4 Cincinnati. Home games against Memphis (5-1) and Pittsburgh (4-2) close out the season. The combined record for the six remaining opponents is 21-13 and the Bulls may be underdogs in every game except against ECU. Head coach Jim Leavitt talked about the road ahead. "It will be interesting to watch the character of our players and coaches. It will take all we've got."

Next year, USF moves to the Big East. Right now, the only team in that conference with a losing record is Temple and they are being kicked out before next season. So, things will not get any easier.

The South Florida Bulls have surprised before. A big upset on the road could see them work their way back to the .500 mark. Win two of the last three and they're bowl eligible. Too optimistic? Experts thought this was going to be a tough year for the Bulls. Can the Bulls prove them wrong again?