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USF game-by-game

By BRUCE LOWITT

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 31, 2001

AUG. 30 AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS: These Huskies aren't USF's toughest opposition this season, but they are far removed from their 23-game losing streak of 1996-98 and are coming off their first winning season (6-5) since 1990. Quarterback Chris Finlen threw 11 touchdowns and an NIU season record of 1,857 yards.

SEPT. 8 AT PITTSBURGH: Almost certainly USF's toughest opponent. The Panthers are on the cusp of becoming a Top 25 team and challenging for the Big East championship. David Priestley, a backup to John Turman from shoulder surgery after the 1999 season, is entrenched as the full-time quarterback. He'll be running a West Coast offense with Antonio Bryant, the Biletnikoff winner last year as the nation's leading receiver with 68 receptions for 1,302 yards and 11 TDs SEPT. 15 VS. SOUTHERN UTAH: The first of three I-AA opponents. The Thunderbirds, whose 7-4 record last year gave them the first back-to-back winning seasons since 1977-78, lost six starters on offense, including Matt Cannon, the most prolific rushing quarterback in NCAA history (1,602 yards). Sophomore Chuck Henderson is his successor. Fullback Rod Madsen gained more than 900 yards each of the past two seasons. Graduation also cost the defense seven starters, including All-America defensive end Blake Bingham.

SEPT. 22 AT MEMPHIS: A C-USA team whose promising 2000 season, maybe even a bowl bid, went into the tank when the Tigers (4-7) lost their final five games and coach Rip Scherer lost his job. The offense ranked 111th in I-A last season. Junior Travis Anglin, the starter until injuring an ankle in Game 3, regains the job he lost to Scott Scherer, the former coach's son. On the other hand, the nation's No. 1 rushing defense returns seven starters.

SEPT. 29 VS. NORTH TEXAS: This is the Sun Belt's first season in Division I-A and there's no reason to expect North Texas State, 3-8 last season and 8-25 under coach Darrell Dickey in three seasons, to be anywhere but near the bottom of the conference. Ja'Quay Wilburn, who ran for more than 3,000 yards in his career, is gone, and backup Michael Hickmon quit the team as spring practice approached. Also gone, leading receivers Byron Curtis and LaDarrin McLane.

OCT. 6 AT UTAH: Coach Ron McBride, whose Utes 4-7 record in 2000 equaled the worst in his 11 seasons in Salt Lake City, probably will start Lance Rice at quarterback. He was installed as a redshirt freshman starter last season when McBride benched two seniors. Rice led Utah past Las Vegas and Wyoming before the Utes fell in the final minute to rival BYU. Junior college transfer Adam Tate (660 yards, 4.1 yards per carry) returns to carry the running game.

OCT. 13: VS. CONNECTICUT: The first of consecutive games against familiar faces. UConn, which in 2000 was in its first year of transition to I-A, was 3-8 last season but won a couple of I-A games. The Bulls' visit to Storrs, Conn. in 2000 ended with a 21-13 victory, their first road win of the season in four tries. Huskies quarterback Ryan Tracey was having a record-breaking season when he wrecked his knee early against USF. Gone are John Fitzsimmons, No. 2 receiver in UConn history, and almost its entire offensive line.

OCT. 27 VS. LIBERTY: In three seasons the Bulls have beaten Liberty 24-21, 28-0 and 44-6. Do we sense a trend? Three would seem to be an unlucky number for coach Ken Karcher, whose Flames were 3-8 in his first season. Quarterback Biff Parson, 28th in the nation in total offense last year (2,674 yards, 17 TDs), is back. But Karcher's top three receivers, who accounted for 1,641 of those yards and 10 TDs, are gone, as are three of his four leading tacklers. NOV. 3 VS. HOUSTON: If Cougars coach Dana Dimel can find someone to get the ball to KeyKowa Bell and Brian Robinson (a combined 135 catches for more than 1,600 yards last season) and Orlando Iglesias, this could be a dicey homecoming for the Bulls. Four-year starting quarterback Jason McKinley is gone. Sophomore Bubba Teague, McKinley's backup in 2000, is the only QB on Houston's roster to throw a pass in college. For the second year in a row Houston returns only one starter on the defensive line.

NOV. 10 VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS: The Fighting Leathernecks were 9-3 overall and 5-1 as champions of the I-AA Gateway Conference. Senior quarterback Sam Clemons was the Gateway's most-efficient passer. Conference offensive player of the year, running back Charles Tharp, has graduated. Sophomore Attley Lawson, WUI's No. 2 rusher last year will compete for the starting job with senior Carlos Daniels, a transfer from Wisconsin. The Leathernecks lost linebacker Edgerton Hartwell, Gateway Defensive Player of the Year, and All-American cornerback Will Peterson, the first two I-AA players to go in the NFL draft..

NOV. 24 VS. UTAH STATE: The Aggies were 4-1 in Big West games last season, champions of the since-dissolved conference. But they were 1-5 in non-conference games. Second-year coach Mick Dennehy said he created this year's schedule as a I-A independent with an eye toward attracting players who liked the idea of trips to, among other places, Tampa and Baton Rouge, La. Emmett White led the nation in all-purpose yards last season, averaging 120 yards rushing. But the defense, ranked 110th in the nation, allowed 452 yards and 32 points per game.

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