Blast from the past....2005 season

[JohnDeere 0]

Just For Argument's Sake ...

By Ivan Maisel

ESPN.com

(Archive)

Updated: November 10, 2005, 9:02 AM ET

1. With USC and Texas a clear one-two, which team is the skunk in the BCS garden?

Jim Leavitt's three-loss Bulls could crash the BCS.

South Florida is 4-3 and controls its destiny in the Big East Conference. No. 16 West Virginia goes to USF on Dec. 3. If that game is for the Big East championship, the good news is that all six automatic BCS bids will be decided that Saturday.

The bad news is that South Florida, at 7-3, could be playing for a BCS bid. The Bulls likely would end up in the Sugar Bowl, which means -- again, in theory -- that the consolation prize for a 12-0, No. 3 Alabama could be the three-loss Bulls.

That's the BCS. You can bet the Bulls would hear a lot of questions and caustic remarks about their worthiness. South Florida coach Jim Leavitt does his best not to think about the BCS. It is four wins away. But he knows what the Bulls would face.

"I realized what we were dealing with when we beat the dog out of Louisville," South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said Monday. "Was it good or was it bad [for the BCS]? It was good for us. It is what it is. We're going to try to do our best."

The Bulls' next three games are at Syracuse (1-7), vs. Cincinnati (4-4) and at UConn (4-4). They are winnable in theory, a long way from the reality of USF's 0-3 road record. But there's also the reality of the Bulls' 45-14 rout of Louisville on Sept. 24.

Leavitt, speaking from the figurative bunker in which most college football coaches live, said one of the most difficult aspects of his job is to keep his team focused on what's next.

"I'm really being honest," he said. "I don't think about it [the BCS bid] much. A lot of people don't expect us to do a whole lot. You just got to see if you can play one game. It's such a boring statement, but it's true. In a world of instant media and the Internet, it's very difficult. Every week, it's a whole other story. Something happens, and there's another story."

USF is in this situation in part because it has talent -- tailback Andre Hall, the Big East Offensive Player of the Week after his 168-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance at Rutgers, ranks second in the league in rushing, averaging 109.3 yards per game.

The Bulls are also in this situation because the threat of Hurricane Wilma postponed the Oct. 22 game against West Virginia. After playing five straight weeks to open the season, South Florida played just once in five weeks. The Bulls are healthy as a team can possibly be in the second week in November.

Leavitt took the unusual step in his injury-wary line of work and conducted scrimmages between his second- and third-team players, just to get them some work. The highlight of having three weeks between games came when Leavitt took the Bulls to Tropicana Field for an indoor practice where the Devil Rays play baseball.

The downside might have been boredom, which is why the Bulls couldn't be stopped Saturday in their 45-31 victory at Rutgers. With that win, South Florida took its position on the periphery of the BCS. No matter how much it might pain the rest of the college football world, the Bulls could easily be there until the end of the season.

espn

...........He then goes on to compare the 92 bammer defense to the 2005 defense....