Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
South Florida has plenty of motivation heading into Thursday night's game at Rutgers.
The No. 24 Bulls want to keep their goal of winning 10 games alive and prove they're a power to be reckoned with in the Big East. But even without all that, they have reason to want to beat the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers owns a three-game winning streak in this series, including a 2007 upset victory when the Bulls were ranked No. 2 and last year's 49-16 beatdown in Tampa.
That last game particularly irks South Florida, as some players believe the Scarlet Knights ran up the score by continuing to throw the ball late. For the record, Rutgers' last pass in that game came on 3rd and 9 with under nine minutes to go and the score 42-16. Mike Teel did complete a 93-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on the second play of the fourth quarter.
"It's motivating a lot, because coach (Jim) Leavitt, he does a great job of not letting us forget about that game," linebacker Kion Wilson told reporters Monday. "He lets us know that we basically were embarrassed that game. We have a lot to play for. self-pride, self-respect, position rank within the Big East. We're going out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for this game."
Wilson said he's one who believes Rutgers was running up the score.
"Hopefully, we can get our offense to stay on the field the majority of the night," he said. "And defense, hopefully we can go out and make big plays, cause turnovers, get the offense the ball and allow them the chance to score and run out the clock."
Bulls offensive coordinator Mike Canales said preparing for the Scarlet Knights' blitz-happy defense is coaching staff has worked all year long. The coaches also spent a lot of time in the spring studying how Rutgers attacks, he said.
"They're just so different in what they do," he said.
The key, Canales said, will be recognizing where the blitz is coming from and which player is staying in as a spy against quarterback B.J. Daniels.
Daniels will be without his favorite target, as big-play receiver Carlton Mitchell is out this week with an ankle injury. More responsibility will now fall to A.J. Love, Dontavia Bogan and Ed Alcin.
There's little fear that Rutgers will run up the score this year since the Scarlet Knights' offense, behind true freshman quarterback Tom Savage, lacks the firepower of last season's bunch. But Wilson may have given the Scarlet Knights some extra motivation of their own with his comments about the Rutgers offensive line.
"Their offensive line had extremely a lot of hype going into the game, but they're second in the Big East in giving up sacks," Wilson said. "They don't handle stunts and pressure very well, so hopefully (defensive coordinator Joe) Tresey will be aggressive with the play-calling, and have our defensive line do a lot of stunting and doing a lot of blitzing and hopefully we'll be able to get pressure on the quarterback."
South Florida has plenty of motivation heading into Thursday night's game at Rutgers.
The No. 24 Bulls want to keep their goal of winning 10 games alive and prove they're a power to be reckoned with in the Big East. But even without all that, they have reason to want to beat the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers owns a three-game winning streak in this series, including a 2007 upset victory when the Bulls were ranked No. 2 and last year's 49-16 beatdown in Tampa.
That last game particularly irks South Florida, as some players believe the Scarlet Knights ran up the score by continuing to throw the ball late. For the record, Rutgers' last pass in that game came on 3rd and 9 with under nine minutes to go and the score 42-16. Mike Teel did complete a 93-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on the second play of the fourth quarter.
"It's motivating a lot, because coach (Jim) Leavitt, he does a great job of not letting us forget about that game," linebacker Kion Wilson told reporters Monday. "He lets us know that we basically were embarrassed that game. We have a lot to play for. self-pride, self-respect, position rank within the Big East. We're going out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for this game."
Wilson said he's one who believes Rutgers was running up the score.
"Hopefully, we can get our offense to stay on the field the majority of the night," he said. "And defense, hopefully we can go out and make big plays, cause turnovers, get the offense the ball and allow them the chance to score and run out the clock."
Bulls offensive coordinator Mike Canales said preparing for the Scarlet Knights' blitz-happy defense is coaching staff has worked all year long. The coaches also spent a lot of time in the spring studying how Rutgers attacks, he said.
"They're just so different in what they do," he said.
The key, Canales said, will be recognizing where the blitz is coming from and which player is staying in as a spy against quarterback B.J. Daniels.
Daniels will be without his favorite target, as big-play receiver Carlton Mitchell is out this week with an ankle injury. More responsibility will now fall to A.J. Love, Dontavia Bogan and Ed Alcin.
There's little fear that Rutgers will run up the score this year since the Scarlet Knights' offense, behind true freshman quarterback Tom Savage, lacks the firepower of last season's bunch. But Wilson may have given the Scarlet Knights some extra motivation of their own with his comments about the Rutgers offensive line.
"Their offensive line had extremely a lot of hype going into the game, but they're second in the Big East in giving up sacks," Wilson said. "They don't handle stunts and pressure very well, so hopefully (defensive coordinator Joe) Tresey will be aggressive with the play-calling, and have our defensive line do a lot of stunting and doing a lot of blitzing and hopefully we'll be able to get pressure on the quarterback."
Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Brian Bennett
Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville.
BIG EAST SCOREBOARD
Saturday, 11/21
Final Louisville 22 South Florida 34 Final/2OT Connecticut 33 Notre Dame 30 Final 25 Rutgers 13 Syracuse 31
