USF Bulls Radio

Two years ago the University of South Florida Football team was ranked No. 2 in the nation going into a Thursday night road game against Rutgers, before losing. Last year they made it to No. 10 before losing on a Thursday night home game to Pittsburgh. This past Thursday they put their undefeated recorded on the line again. USF was ranked No. 21 and Cincinnati, No. 8 and they lost. USF has seen this movie before.

The Bulls (5-1, 1-1) look to get back on track this week as they go on the road to play Pittsburgh (6-1, 3-0) at Noon on Saturday. Red-shirt freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels is confident that the season is not over yet, but he knows that it will not be easy for the Bulls to get a win at Pitt.

“They're physical, they're big and very competitive,” Daniels said.

After watching the tape against Cincinnati Daniels knows that there is room for development and that him and the team have to get better.

“There’s always room for improvement,” Daniels said.

Looking back at the Cincinnati game, Head Coach Jim Leavitt was happy with how tough his players played in the loss.

“Our guys played hard," said Leavitt. “I was encouraged with how they came out and practiced on Monday. You can’t sit on a loss or a win, you have to have the ability to move on.”

A big concern for the Bulls is their run defense, as they gave up 189 yards on the ground to Cincinnati.

“They’re going to run the ball and they’re a very good running team,” said Leavitt. “They have the best pair of tandem backs that we’ve seen.”

Coach Leavitt is talking about #34 Ray Graham, who is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, and #28 Dion Lewis, who leads the Big East in rushing with over 131 yards per game. It has been Lewis who has been the spark plug of this Panther team. The true freshman running back is third in the nation in rushing and second nationally in total rush yards (918).

The coaches at USF say he’s a lot like Barry Sanders.

“His feet are always within his body and are always moving,” said USF Defensive Coordinator Joe Tresey. “He’s the best back we’ve seen so far this year.”

The USF defense was caught off guard against Cincinnati, but Tresey says they will be ready.

“Our focus is going to be on run fits and proper spacing,” Tresey said.

The USF defense has allowed 27 points in the first four games, which is the lowest total over any four games in program history. They are ranked No. 9 nationally in scoring defense and will be tested Saturday.

Photo courtesy: Jacob Tillman