ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

As of Monday afternoon, George Selvie hadn't watched any tape of South Florida's 41-14 humiliation at Pitt, and he didn't plan on looking at it, either.

"We didn't just get beat, we got whooped," the Bulls' defensive end said. "I'm not going to watch it. I was disgusted."

Selvie and the rest of his teammates already know the plot of that film. You know, the one where the hero starts off strong and gets killed in the middle.

Or at least that's been the Bulls' story arc now for three straight years. And like most sequels, they've upped the gore in the latest installment.

Though South Florida has struggled in October before, rarely has it been so thoroughly dominated defensively. After allowing just 47 points in the first five games, the Bulls gave up 75 in losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Those two teams combined for 887 yards of offense.

True, the Bulls have faced the top two scoring teams in the Big East the past two times out. But the third highest scoring offense comes to Tampa on Friday night, when No. 21 West Virginia (6-1, 2-0 Big East) tries to continue South Florida's month of misery.

"It all comes down to pride," Selvie said. "You can't let people win over you like that. We've got to come together as a defense and see what our problem is."

The defensive problems have started up front. The Bulls' defensive line, so dominant earlier in the season, hit a roadblock in the form of the Cincinnati and Pittsburgh protection schemes. Pitt in particular used a lot of help to stop Selvie and Jason-Pierre Paul, leaving in tight ends and a fullback to block while making sure to get rid of the ball quickly. But even when they had solo blockers, Selvie and Pierre-Paul did no damage.

"There's no excuse for not getting a pass rush, because we're a pass-rushing defensive line," Selvie said. "When we don't, that makes it hard on our DBs and our linebackers."

The Bulls' corners tried to play press coverage at times against Pitt and got burned. Teams have also been able to run the ball right at the defense, which is never a good sign when Noel Devine is on deck.

Defensive coordinator Joe Tresey lamented that his unit gave up too many explosive plays and committed too many penalties against Pittsburgh. Curiously, the defense also seemed to lack its usual passion.

"We just never got going," Tresey said. "Our energy level and enthusiasm has got to pick up."

The Bulls talked in the preseason about how their only goal was to win the Big East. Now, barring a highly unlikely chain of events, that dream is already dead. Instead, they're back to answering questions about yet another midseason swoon.

"It's very frustrating," senior receiver Jessie Hester said. "I've been here five years, and it's been like that every year. I feel like we have lots of talent and most of the time, we beat ourselves.

"We still haven't had a 10-win season yet, and so that's still in reach. But we can't lose any more games."

If South Florida can't get back on track against West Virginia, especially defensively, it will produce another film that none of the Bulls want to see.

"We've been through this before," Selvie said. "We've got to stop it right now before it gets really bad."

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

TAMPA, Fla. -- South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels has got the Cincinnati defense confused and flustered.

Daniels has scrambled when the pass isn't there and has found the open man even when the Bearcats have tried to drop back in coverage. He just connected with Jessie Hester for a 21-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead. It was Hester's first catch of the year.

Cincinnati hasn't trailed much all year. The crowd is loud and it's hot outside. Let's see how this team responds.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

I'll be making my way over to Raymond James Stadium shortly and will be giving you constant updates from the Cincinnati-South Florida game. Here are a few leftover notes to tide you over until kickoff:

• South Florida coach Jim Leavitt handed out copies of this Sports Illustrated article to his players, highlighting a passage where Tony Pike talked about getting hit as a freshman in high school and wanting to quit.
  
  "I remember telling my dad, 'I don't want to do this anymore. I hate football,'" Pike is quoted as saying in the story.The message Leavitt was trying to send to his players with that passage was clear.
  
  "[Pike] basically let the world know he's not a physical guy and does not like receiving hits," Bulls linebacker Kion Wilson said. "So that's our goal, to get after him."
  
  There's a small problem with the logic, though. I'm not sure how much the way Pike reacted to a hit some eight or nine years ago has much to do with where he is today. And the Bulls must be forgetting that he played against them last year with a broken arm.
  
  Still, you can tell that South Florida's game plan revolves around hitting Pike whenever possible.

• South Florida has won many big games, including a victory at Florida State last month. But Wilson said this one is bigger because it would put the Bulls in position to win the Big East for the first time.
  
  "There is so much this program hasn't accomplished yet," he said. "There are so many people who think we're not capable. This is a statement game for us. It will let us know how we'll compete the rest of the season in the Big East race."
• Cincinnati has been scoring so fast -- an average of a little over two minutes per drive -- that the offensive linemen have been able to stay very fresh. Though sometimes, center Chris Jurek said, they're not sure to do with all the time they have on their hands.
  
  "We'll go over to the sidelines to make adjustments," Jurek said. "But there's not much to adjust because everything is working."It will be interesting to see how the Bearcats react tonight if South Florida's defense knocks them out of an offensive rhythm for a couple of series, because that hasn't really happened all year.

• Leavitt and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly have both built programs in major metropolitan areas without the benefit of strong traditions. But the similarities pretty much end there.
  
  Leavitt is a defense-first guy, having cut his teeth under Bill Snyder. Kelly, though he began his career on defense, is now known more for his offense. Kelly is the ultimate salesman, a smooth talker who feels at ease in front of any microphone or tape recorder. Leavitt gives a lot of short, terse answers and often acts like he'd rather be anywhere else than an interview session.Leavitt ran a 40-yard dash this spring to promote the Bulls' spring game and is known for sprinting onto the field and headbutting players. Kelly doesn't get into that.
  
  "I look the way I do because gassers are not something I'm fond of," Kelly said. "I'm not that interested in that stuff. I'm always looking at what kind of sandwiches we have in the locker room prior to the game."

• Only one current Bulls player -- receiver Jessie Hester -- has ever beaten the Bearcats. Cincinnati has a three-game winning streak in this series and looks to become the first opponent to beat South Florida four straight years.
  
  The last time these two teams played in Tampa, they put on one of the wildest Big East shows in recent history. Cincinnati led 31-14 after the first quarter. The two teams combined for 10 turnovers. The Bulls made a big comeback but couldn't close the deal, as two straight Matt Grothe passes in the end zone fell incomplete to end the game. The Bearcats won 38-33

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

• South Florida wide receiver Jessie Hester is out for the rest of the spring with an ankle injury, Greg Auman writes in the St. Petersburg Times.

"We know Jessie can play," coach Jim Leavitt said. "I'm not as concerned about that. I want him to get healthy."

• Sophomore Max Gruder has climbed to the top of Pitt's depth chart at weakside linebacker over more experienced players, Kevin Gorman writes in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

"I think Max really deserves an opportunity to be the starter," coach Dave Wannstedt said. "He hasn't made many mistakes. He's played [in 13 games], and even though he's a sophomore, because of his experience, he doesn't act that way."

• Pittsburgh's entrenched starters are trying to make sure they don't get complacent, Colin Dunlap writes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

• West Virginia has a lot of youth on the offensive line, Jack Bogaczyk writes in the Charleston Daily Mail.

• Sophomores Twyon Martin and Kendall Reyes are now established veterans at defensive tackle for UConn, Zac Boyer writes in the Hartford Courant.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

South Florida begins spring practice Tuesday, and the Bulls have released their spring depth chart, which can be found here.

Depth charts at this time of year should be viewed more as a rough early snapshot than a firm road map. Much can change between now and fall camp. With that in mind, here are some items of interest:

• Sampson Genus, who started six games at nose tackle last season, is now listed as the starter at center. Genus is likely to move to left guard when Jacob Sims recovers from a broken hand. Sims is now listed as the starter at left tackle, with former walk-on Chaz Hine at left guard, Zach Hermann at right guard and Mark Popek at right tackle.

• Mike Ford and Moise Plancher are listed as the starting running backs. Jamar Taylor has an injured shoulder and won't be able to participate in spring drills.

• Little-used junior Ed Alcin is listed as the starter at the 'Z' receiver position, with Carlton Mitchell, Jessie Hester and Dontavia Bogan at the top of the other three wideout spots.

• Senior Chris Robinson is slated to take over the "Sam" linebacker spot that Tyrone McKenzie held down last season.

• Sophomore Jerrell Young is listed as one of the starters at safety, while Quenton Washington is on the first string at cornerback opposite Jerome Murphy.

Again, this is a very early depth chart, and some of the incoming freshmen and junior-college transfers will surely compete for jobs when they arrive.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Mike Canales was named South Florida's new offensive coordinator on Wednesday. Well, not exactly new. Canales held the same job from 1996-2000 and returned to the program in 2007 to coach receivers.

I caught up with Canales on Thursday afternoon, and here's what he had to say about his second time around as Bulls' playcaller:

What differences will we notice in the offense this season?

Mike Canales: We won't be as multiple as we were this past season. We'll be more of an established spread. We're going to use some different personnel groupings to try and take advantage of some mismatches. But we're going to take advantage of that 54-yard length of the field and try to spread people out and take advantage of the quarterback that we have and the players that we have coming in, the speed that we feel is pretty top flight when you've got guys running 10.2s and 10.3s. We've got some kids who can really run here, and our thought as a staff is, we're going to get our playmakers the ball and create some mismatches, let them do what they do best and let them showcase their talents.

	Kim Klement/US Presswire
	Matt Grothe returns next season, making South Florida one of the few teams in the Big East with an established quaretrback.

People often described the offense last year as a spread but it really wasn't, was it?

MC: No, it was more of a multiple set with personnel groupings. It was pro style once in a while, with two tight ends or even three tight ends and a receiver. We were pretty multiple last year. And if you look at what we do best and the quarterback we have and his ability to run the ball, we feel like it's to our advantage to stay in the spread.

How much will your offense now be different from the one you coached in your first stint at USF?

MC: Back then we were more multiple, some one-back and two-back, much like we saw a little bit this past season. We started to evolve into the 10-personnel, the four-wides a little bit. It won't be like it was before, because it was just a different style of play back then. Now the big thing is the spread offense.

Will your biggest challenge be rebuilding your offensive line, which lost four starters?

MC: Yeah, I think that's our biggest challenge. We lost four offensive linemen, but in reality we've got two coming back who played a significant amount of time, so we've got to build around them. We've got some young kids that are ready to step up and accept the challenge. So we'll try to put the best five up there at any position we can and make it happen. I'm excited, because I think it's a great challenge for the staff and for our offensive line coaches. They're champing at the bit to get on the practice field and work with these young men who have shown great signs that they can handle that position. And we've got some junior college kids who'll be coming in this summer to learn and grasp what they can, and hopefully they'll pick it up as quick as they can so we put them in the offense.

Let's talk about Matt Grothe. First of all, it must be fun to have a guy like that to call plays around.

MC: Oh yeah. I'm looking so forward to working with him. He's a great kid with a lot of potential and a lot of ability. He makes a lot of great things happen with his feet. And I think what we're going to try to work on in the spring is his decision-making and understanding the weaknesses of defenses and how to attack it. See if I can teach him from that perspective and see if we can make him better. He really wants to be better. He's becoming more of a student of the game. He's in here watching film a little bit more, and I think that's important for him if he wants to play at the level some of these other guys are playing at. You've got to become a student of the game. It's got to be the only thing that matters other than school. He's accepting the challenge, he's in here doing what he needs to do and becoming more of a leader. I look for good things for Matt.

So much has been on his shoulders in the past. He's even led you in rushing every year. Would you like to maybe take some of the pressure off him?

MC: Sure, and I think some of the things we're going to do will eliminate that problem, where he's not running a lot. Understand that in our offense the quarterback runs the ball, so he's going to get a lot of touches. But we've got some other guys that we feel like we can get the ball to, with different thoughts and ideas that we want to incorporate. I can't give away what we're going to be working on, but we're going to find a way to get the ball to some of these other guys who have a lot of talent.

You had a lot of guys run the ball last year. Would you like that to continue, or would you prefer to have one featured back?

MC: We'd love to have a featured back. We have such good backs in here that you hope eventually that one of them steps up and becomes the guy and really sets himself apart and you feature him. But right now with the kids we have, someone is going to have to step up and show that he's ready to handle that position and handle that role. And it's all there for all of them. We do use multiple back sets at different times, and backs take a beating so we've got to be careful that we don't wear them down. But I definitely hope we find a featured back who can showcase his talents and make things happen.

You know the receivers well, obviously, and you've got some sprint champions coming in. How good is that group going to be?

MC: They're a great group and they work hard and are very coachable. I really enjoyed coaching them. They want the ball, they understand schemes and what defenses are trying to do on the field. With Dontavia Bogan, Jessie Hester, Carlton Mitchell, A.J. Love and Theo Wilson we've got some guys who can make some things happen. Then when you talk about the young freshmen that are coming in, like Sterling Griffin and Derrick Hopkins, they've got 10.2, 10.3 speed. So as a staff we say, "Hey, let's get them on the edge, get them matched up with some of these guys and see if they can make things happen." Because you're seeing that throughout the country with teams creating explosive plays. That's what we're really going to concentrate on, focus on and emphasize in spring ball; we're going to try and create explosive plays.

Statistically, your offense has been among the best in the Big East in recent years. But turnovers seem to be your Achilles' heel. Is that the last obstacle to getting over the top?

MC: I think that's true for any program, when yo
u get to the point where you turn the ball over and things don't happen well for you. It hurt us through the meat of our season when we got to conference play. If we take care of the football and make good decisions and take control when we have it in our hands ... those things are important. I think what we look at as a staff are penalties, dropped balls, fumbles and those things. We're going to concentrate heavily on securing the football, making great decisions and those things that are going to help us get where we want to go.

Will all the terminology stay the same since you've been on staff?

MC: We won't change much. We may add a few schemes here and there. Our big push in the spring is going to be the red zone. I felt like we could be more aggressive and be better, get more production in the red zone. That's what we're going to emphasize in the spring -- how can we score from the 20, the 14, and the 7 and then go in from the 3? What do we want to do that will allow us to put some points on the board and get six instead of walking away with three.

You're one of the only teams in the Big East with an established quarterback, so that's got to make you feel good.

MC: That's the exciting part. The key is how well we can jel together with the young linemen and get some of these transfers in here and see how fast we can get going. But it is an exciting time, and the kids are excited to get on field and the coaches are excited, too. And we have two young quarterbacks vying for playing time. So it's good for everybody.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

We continue our year-end individual rankings with another high-profile position: receiver. These rankings are dominated by just a few teams, as Connecticut and Syracuse provided no candidates for this list.

	AP Photo/Mel Evans
	Rutgers wide receiver Kenny Britt was the best in the Big East this season.

1. Kenny Britt, Rutgers: Britt would have topped a lot of conference lists, at least most of those outside the Big 12. He had 81 catches for 1,252 yards and six touchdowns, finishing second in the nation in receiving yards per game. The junior now must decide if he wants to turn pro after the Papajohns.com Bowl.

2. Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati: The guy who was living in his car two years ago blossomed into a star this season. He was a threat to score at all times in both the passing game and on kick returns. He led the Big East with 10 receiving touchdowns and had a school record 1,118 receiving yards on 74 catches.

3. Dominick Goodman, Cincinnati: The Bearcats' other wideout is just as good, if not better. Had he not gotten hurt on the first play at Hawaii, he would have joined Gilyard in the 1,000-yard club. Instead, he settled for 977 yards and seven scores on 74 catches.

4. Tiquan Underwood, Rutgers: The senior inexplicably struggled for large stretches this year but started to turn it on again in the end. He had five catches for 88 yards and two scores against Louisville and remains a pro prospect.

5. Tim Brown, Rutgers: Filling out the Scarlet Knights' tremendous trio, Brown had a breakout year with 565 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

6. Doug Beaumont, Louisville: The sophomore entered the year with no career catches and finished with 62 receptions for 750 yards. He tailed off after a terrific start, however, and did not have a touchdown. He will be more effective if Scott Long comes back healthy next year.

7. Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh: A true big-play threat -- he averaged 22.4 yards per catch -- the true freshman still has a lot to learn about the finer points of his position. But he's already a phenomenal athlete who could very well be No. 1 on this list next season.

8. Jessie Hester, South Florida: More of a possession receiver than a downfield playmaker, Hester nonetheless led the Bulls with 53 catches and 557 yards, though his numbers diminished down the stretch as his team's offense did likewise.

9. Jock Sanders, West Virginia: More of an extra tailback and all-purpose threat than a true wideout or even slot receiver, Sanders still deserves recognition for his contributions. The speedster had 48 catches for 392 yards and seven scores in his first full year of starting.

10. Taurus Johnson, South Florida: Another Bull whose production fell off a cliff at the end of the year, Johnson managed 34 catches for 458 yards and five scores.

Just missed: Derek Kinder, T.J. Porter, A.J. Love, Alric Arnett

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Scan the list of South Florida players who have caught a pass this season and it starts to look like a small-town phone book. Quarterback Matt Grothe has thrown it to 15 different teammates so far this season.

The guy at the top of that list has a pretty recognizable name.

	Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images
	Jessie Hester leads the Bulls with 25 catches and three touchdowns this season.

Jessie Hester -- whose father, Jessie Sr., played 11 years in the NFL -- is forging his own identity as the Bulls' most reliable target. He leads the team with 25 catches and three touchdowns this season.

"We're dialing up his number quite a bit," said Mike Canales, USF's passing game coordinator and receivers coach. "And he's making it happen."

It's no surprise that Hester is following in the cleat-steps of his father, who was a first-round draft pick out of Florida State and now coaches a high school team. The younger Hester said he had a football in his hands from the earliest days he can remember, and he recalls running cone drills in the family backyard in elementary school.

"My dad had me doing all kinds of crazy stuff at a young age," he says with a laugh.

Like his father, he's not physically imposing. He came to South Florida carrying a little more than 155 pounds on his 6-foot frame. After catching three balls as a true freshman, he opted to redshirt the next season to gain strength and rest a balky knee. He's now listed at 180 pounds.

Hester came back last year to make 35 catches, the most memorable of which was an 18-yard touchdown that sealed an overtime win at Auburn. This year, he's being used mostly as an inside receiver in the Bulls' four- and five-wide sets, often finding himself matched up against linebackers or safeties in open space.

"I've improved my ability to recognize coverages and holes, and that's what I try to base my game on," he said. "I'm not the fastest guy on the team, so you know I've got try to find something to use to my advantage. I've really worked on studying and reading defenses and my pre-snap reads."

Canales says Hester runs about a 4.5 second 40, but his understanding of the game allows him to play at full speed, while 4.2 guys might not play as fast.

"No doubt his dad taught him very well," Canales said. "He knows how to work people and set things up, how to stick his foot in the ground, shake his hips and transition out of cuts. He does those things extremely well."

Since defenses have to focus on taller, faster receivers like A.J. Love, Taurus Johnson and Carlton Mitchell down the field, Hester rarely draws double teams and can create some open space on shorter routes.

"I'm more of a possession guy on this team, I think," he said. "I mean, I do go deep sometimes, but I have no problem going across the middle. [Getting hit] is not that big of a deal with pads on. You don't really feel it."