Colleges

USF paying for mistakes

Poor tackling, shortcomings on offense ... Jim Leavitt has had enough.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 29, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Ted McLaren | Times] "The guys don't do things on purpose to mess up, but we've got to get better," coach Jim Leavitt said. "We just didn't get enough points. We had opportunities, but we didn't get it done." The Bulls had four trips inside the 5, with three points to show for it.

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - One of the reasons USF's 22-15 loss Saturday was so frustrating for players and fans was that so many of the Bulls' problems were the same as nine days earlier, in a 30-27 loss at Rutgers.

The defense was dominated early by a single running back, unable to force turnovers or make stops on third down. The Bulls couldn't take full advantage of a blocked kick, and the offense, while moving the ball, consistently failed to make plays in pressure situations, both on third down and in the red zone.

The shared result? Road losses to unranked opponents that took USF 6-2, 1-2 from being No. 2 in the country to tied for last place in a logjammed Big East standings.

"The guys don't do things on purpose to mess up, but we've got to get better," coach Jim Leavitt said. "We just didn't get enough points. We had opportunities, but we didn't get it done."

Two weeks ago, USF hadn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 14 games, but the Bulls allowed Rutgers' Ray Rice to rush for 181, then Saturday saw UConn's Andre Dixon pile up 167 yards.

"I don't know how you explain it," defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. "It's not wrapping up, not doing all the things it takes to be a great tackler. We didn't do it last week, second week in a row, so it's a major problem."

USF forced an average of 3.5 turnovers in its 6-0 start, but the defense has had just one in each of the last two losses, with no points coming as a result of either.

The Bulls were consistently able to force UConn (7-1, 3-0) into third-and-long situations, but the Huskies converted. They went 7-for-16 on third downs, despite only one of those plays requiring less than 5 yards for a first down. USF, meanwhile, was the opposite, getting eight third-down plays requiring 5 yards or less but converting only two.

And forget about third and long - USF went 0-for-6 when needed 7 yards or more for a conversion. The Bulls have converted just 25 percent of their third downs over the last four games.

Worse still is USF's red zone success rate - take aside a 10-yard touchdown run by Matt Grothe and the Bulls had four trips inside the 5, with three points to show for it.

"We weren't real strong there," Leavitt said. "We've been strong there, first part of the year, but we weren't tonight."

The most obscure connection is an inability to capitalize on special-teams plays. Oct. 18, the Bulls blocked a field goal but had the ensuing touchdown return negated by an illegal forward pass; on Saturday, USF's Jerome Murphy blocked a punt, but teammate Dylan Douglas couldn't fall on the loose ball in the end zone, allowing Connecticut to land on it, giving USF two points for a safety instead of seven for a touchdown.

"We're going to battle. We're going to stay together as a team and battle our tail off," Leavitt said. "Hopefully, we'll play good football. We did in the second half, most of it, but first half we didn't."

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3346. View his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/usf/.

[Last modified October 28, 2007, 20:58:41]