Setting The Scene

USF Game Notes |  Louisville Game Notes |  Big East Notes Gameday Information | Buy Tickets | Live Stats | Press Pass Audio

1 2 3 4 U of L 3 7 0 7 17 USF 20 21 0 14 55 GoUSFBulls.com Football News Phase 2 Upgrades Completed in Athletic Facility Moffitt Joins Jenkins on Senior Bowl Invite List Senior Day Special: Bulls Look Back Selvie a Bronko Nagurski Trophy Finalist George Selvie on Walter Camp Watch List GoUSFBulls.com Video  The Top Plays of 2007 (ESPN) Jim Leavitt Weekly Press Conference QB Matt Grothe Talks Louisville Cardinals DE George Selvie Ready for Saturday Syracuse Highlights   DE George Selvie's Updated 2007 Highlight Reel (ESPN)    RB Mike Ford has Career Day Against Orange (ESPN)    RB Aston Samuels Shows Big Play Abilities (ESPN)    QB Matt Grothe Picks Apart Syracuse D (ESPN)    LB Ben Moffitt's Updated 2007 Highlight Reel (ESPN)     Bulls Defense Shines With Complete Effort (ESPN)

The Game
The University of South Florida football team (7-3, 2-3 BIG EAST) hopes to cap a memorable 2007 home season in the Tampa finale against Louisville (5-5, 2-3) on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern.   The game will be televised by ESPNU.  Powered by a offense that racked up a school record 582 yards, the Bulls defeated Syracuse 41-10 last weekend. The Cardinals fell in dramatic fashion to West Virginia, 38-31.

The Series
USF and Louisville have split four all-time meetings.  The Bulls have won both meetings at Raymond James Stadium with triumphs in 2003 and 2005.

The Broadcasts
The game will be televised live by ESPNU broadcast with Dave Armstrong (play by play), Mike Gottfried (analyst) and Melissa Knowles (sideline reporter). USF's radio broadcast with Jim Louk, Mark Robinson and Mike Pepper can be heard on WFLA
970 AM, WFLL 1400 AM, WORL 660 AM, WTSU 1590 AM, WPSL 1590 and the
Press Pass on GoUSFBulls.com.

The Coaches
USF: Jim Leavitt (Missouri ?78) has a career record of 77-46 (.623) and is in his 11th season at USF. He has coached every game in the program's history. He is 15-12 vs. BIG EAST, 52-14 at home, 46-40 on television, 2-2 against Louisville.
Louisville: Steve Kragthorpe is 5-5 overall and 2-3 in BIG EAST in his first season at
Louisville. He had a 29-22 record in four season at Tulsa.

The Program
The USF program has an all-time record of 50-29 at the NCAA FBS level and a 77-46 overall record. The wining percentage of 62.6 is good enough to rank USF 17th among FBS schools in all-time winning percentage.  USF became the fastest team in the modern era of college football to go from upstart NCAA FBS school to a top-10 ranking on Sunday, Sept. 30. 

Player to Watch
Senior CB Mike Jenkins will be tested early and often against the high powered Louisville offense on Saturday. The Thorpe Award candidate should be up to the task.
He leads USF with 12 pass breakups, in addition to two interceptions.  The
Sarasota native has three pass breakups and one fumble recovery in the last two
meetings with Louisville.  Jenkins is second on the USF career pass breakups list with 41.

Recapping Syracuse
Behind a USF record 582 yards of total offense, the Bulls defeated Syracuse 41-10 at the Carrier Dome ... The win snapped a three-game losing streak and guaranteed a bowl invitation for the Bulls for the third consecutive season ... USF has won all three meetings with Syracuse and has only allowed 20 total points in the three meetings ... USF held the Orange to 15 yards rushing, which is a program best against a NCAA FBS member ... USF set the tone early when they recovered a muffed return on the opening kickoff ... The Bulls would immediately move down the field and take a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard TD run by Mike Ford ... Ford would finish the game with a career high 135 rushing yards and two TDs ... It is the first 100-yard game of his career and the seventh time a USF player has rushed for 100 yards this season ... Fellow freshman RB Ashton Samuels only need two carries to rack up 101 yards rushing ... He took an end around 75 yards in the second quarter ... It is the longest non-scoring run in USF history ... He also had a 26 yard run in the second frame ... Samuels had just 42 career rushing yards entering the game ... All together the Bulls rushed for 346 yards, which is the third best single game total in USF history .. It is the second time this season that USF has rushed for 300 yards in a game this season ... It is also the second time that USF has had two player rush for 100 yards in the same game ... Sophomore QB Matt Grothe rushed for 73 yards ...Grothe has rushed for a minimum of 58 yards in the last six games ... He also passed for 181 yards on 15-22 and two TD ... He also had a rushing TD ... He has 11 passing TD and eight rushing TD this season ... Sophomore DE George Selvie had three tackles for loss and one sack in the game ... He increased his BIG EAST and USF single season record for TFL to 30.5 ... He is just two TFL away from breaking the NCAA record ... He increased his USF single season sack record total to 14.5 ...  Freshman WR Carlton Mitchell continued his breakout season with six receptions and 61 yards ... He now leads the team with 28 receptions and 451 yards ... Mitchell also reeled in his third TD of the season ... NB Jerome Murphy collected his first career interception in the fourth quarter ... USF improved to 7-1 when it scores first and 4-0 when it has the first offensive possession ... Junior SS Carlton Williams forced his first career fumble and junior LB Brouce Mompremier recovered his first career fumble ... K Delbert Alavarado  connected on his first two FG attempts from 42 and 33 yards ... He had a streak of six straight successful attempts snapped when his fourth quarter attempt was blocked ... USF forced four turnovers - three in the first half and one in the second half.

This and That For Louisville
USF has not lost two games at home since the 2004 season ... The Bulls are 4-1 at home this season ... Saturday will mark 18 of 19 consecutive games that USF will play on the ABC/ESPN body of networks ... The USF game at Pittsburgh will be the BIG EAST Game of the Week and will be televised by ESPN Regional ... USF baseball coach Lelo Prado and pitching coach Lazer Collazo both worked at Louisvillle ... Collazo was there for one season, while Prado spent 11 seasons in Red & Black and is the winningest coach in the program's history ... QB Matt Grothe has more rushing yards this season, 625, and last season, 622, than Michael Vick ever had during a season at Virginia Tech.

Getting Offensive
USF is the midst of one of its best offensive seasons in program history. Based on a per game basis, since USF will play 13 games this season, the Bulls are on a record pace in total offense, while coming in third in rushing yards, passing yards and points per game. Below are the 2007 averages and the USF records:

Matt Grothe has set the USF single season record for rushing yards by a QB with 698 ... That total ranks sixth by a player in USF history ... His 2,120 passing yards is the fifth best total in USF history ...Grothe is accounting for 281.8 yards per game (rushing & passing) which is the second best average in USF history ... Freshman WR Carlton Mitchell (451) is 19 yards shy of breaking the rookie record for receiving yards ... He is quickly approaching the top six in the USF books, which begins at 506 yards ... His two games of 100-yards receiving (UCF & Cincinnati) are the second best single season total in school history ... USF has had two rushers with 100 yards in the same game twice this season ... Ben Williams (186) & Grothe (120) against FAU ... Mike Ford (134) and Ashton Samuels (101) against Syracuse ... The two occurrences account for half of those instances (4) in school history ... While not technically an offensive category, Jerome Murphy has 494 kickoff return yards (24.7 per attempt), which is the third best total in USF history ... The record is 578 by DeAndrew Rubin in 1999.

The Last Three and the Last Six
USF's offense has produced record yardage totals during the most recent stretch of games ... The three-game total offensive output of 1,503 yards (440 vs. UConn, 481 vs. Cincinnati, 582 vs. Syracuse) is the best in program history ... The next closest was 1,399 yards in 2002 against Southern Miss (464), East Carolina (410) and Charleston Southern (525) ... The six-game output of 2,832 is also the best in program history (add in 424 vs. FAU, 543 vs. UCF, 362 at Rutgers) ... The second best total in USF history is 2,633 also in 2002 (add in 432 vs. North Texas, 419 vs. Memphis, 383 vs. Bowling Green) ... The yardage explosion has occurred with play-makers Taurus Johnson (2.5 games), Amarri Jackson (two games) and Ben Williams (1 game) sidelined, in addition to a myriad of injuries on the offensive line.

ESPN Love
USF is a popular commodity around Bristol ... The Bulls will play 19 straight games, including the regular season finale against Pitt, on the ESPN/ABC body of networks ... The USF-Rutgers game received a national rating of 3.39 (approximately 3.25 million homes) ... It is the highest Big East rating on ESPN or ESPN2 this season ... Previous high was 2.72 on ESPN2 for WVU-USF ...  It is USF's highest rating ever on ESPN ... This is the third time this season that USF has set a new all-time USF record for ESPN/ESPN2 ratings (1.61 ESPN for UNC, and then 2.72 ESPN2 for WVU) ... The MLB playoffs - Red Sox & Indians - did not out-rate the USF-Rutgers game in the Tampa area ...  The Sept. 28 game with West Virginia was the second highest rated ESPN2 college football regular season broadcast in the station's history.

Individual NCAA Stats
George Selvie leads the country in sacks (14.5) ...  His closest competition is from Greg Middleton of Indiana who has 13.5 ... Selvie also leads the country in tackles for loss (30.5) ...  His closest competition is Michigan's Shawn Crable,  who has 24 ...  Matt Grothe is 26th in total offense (281.8 per game) and ninth among sophomores in the category ... Ben Moffitt is 36th nationally in TFL with 12 ... Mike Jenkins is eighth nationally with 12 pass breakups and two interceptions, while Williams is 13th nationally with 10 pass breakups and four interceptions ... Trae Williams is 32nd in interceptions (4).

Mitchell Flourishing in Spotlight
Redshirt-freshman Carlton Mitchell, is making his own name in a circle of family and friends that is full of standouts.  Mitchell's mother, Angela, is the cut “man” for professional boxer Antonio Tarver.  The cut man position is a male dominated occupation and Angela is considered a pioneer in the sport of boxing.

Tarver and Carlton have been close friends since the Bull wide receiver was 12.  He is also close friends with Tarver's son, Antonio Jr..  Antonio Jr. is  a freshman point guard at Daytona Beach Community College.

Carlton's father, Carl, is 6 feet 8 and played pro basketball in Europe for 12 years.  His half-brother, Carl Jr., is 6-10 and playing professionally in the Domincan Replublic.

In his first collegiate season, Mitchell has certainly shined in the spotlight.  He leads the team with 28 receptions and 451 yards receiving, which is  closing in on a USF freshman record.  It is also the highest output among USF's receivers. The freshman record is 469 set by Johnny Peyton in 2004.  He is the only receiver on the USF squad with a 100-yard receiving game this season - and he has two.  He had 107 against UCF and 110 against Cincinnati.   He also leads the team in yards per reception at 16.1.

He made Sportscenter's “Top-10 Plays” on the night of the West Virginia game (Sept. 28) after his 55-yard catch and score against the Mountaineers.  Mitchell tip-toed the sideline after catching the ball on a crossing route before easily scoring.  It was his first career TD. 

On The Cusp
Sophomore DE George Selvie appears primed to break the NCAA single season tackles for loss record.  He has 30.5 this season, which is the just 1.5 shy of the NCAA mark of 32 set by Jason Babin of Western Michigan in 2003.  The NCAA also tracks the mark on a per game basis and Selvie is setting the pace (3.1) in that category as well. He has three or more TFL in six games this year.

By George!
Sophomore DE George Selvie began the 2007 season with a record breaking evening against Elon ... He hasn't slowed down since ...  He has broken the USF single season record with 14.5 sacks and is tied for the career record of 20 ... Below is where Selvie ranks in the USF,  BIG EAST and NCAA record books:

Selvie broke his own single game record for tackles for loss with six against Elon ... He owns the top three TFL games in Bulls history ... Below are the new single game record chart for TFL:

1. George Selvie  6  Elon, 9/1/07
2. George Selvie 5 North Carolina, 9/22/07
George Selvie 5 Florida International, 9/9/06
Kawika Mitchell 5 at Oklahoma, 9/28/02
Tim Jones 5 at Army, 9/27/03
Craig Kobel 5 Pittsburgh, 12/4/04

Selvie also tied the USF single game record for sacks with four against Elon ... Below is who he shares the honor with :

1. George Selvie 4 Elon, 9/1/07
Shurron Pierson 4 Southern Miss, 10/12/02

Selvie is in the NCAA lead with 14.5 sacks and 30.5 tackles for loss in 10 games this season ... He has more sacks that 19 NCAA FBS teams ... Terrence Royal (2005) and Shurron Pierson (2001) previously held the USF sack record at 10 ... The career record for sacks is 20 by Stephen Nicholas ... Selvie is tied with Nicholas ... He broke the single season TFL record of 19 that was previously held by Craig Kobel (2003) and Kawika Mitchell (2002)... Selvie had 5.5 sacks as a freshman last season ... He was named a freshman All-American by The Sporting News.

Quote This - Syracuse Coach Greg Robinson after Selvie had3 tackles for loss and 1 sack against the Orange
“Early in the game it was no question that from the get-go on the first third down when George Selvie, who is an All-American football player, came around that corner and we weren't ready for what he had. Can I tell you this? I'm not sure that if Willie Roaf was over there on that first play what he would have done on it. That kid got off perfect and turned that corner and looked like a big time guy to me and I've seen some of the big time guys. I give him credit ? he did it.”

Forcing Plays
With another forced fumble against Cincinnati, George Selvie is closing in on his own single season record for forced fumbles.  He established the record last season and shares with three other, including Ben Moffitt. The record list is below:

SINGLE SEASON - FORCED FUMBLES
1. Ben Moffitt - 4 (2005)
    George Selvie - 4 (2006)
    Kevin Verpaele - 4 (2002)
    Terrence Royal - 4 (2005)
5. George Selvie - 3 (2006)
    Seven other tied with 3 in a season

Money Plays
The NCAA statcrew system calls them ?Money Plays' and defines them as plays resulting in a first down or touchdown.  By that criteria, Jessie Hester might as well be the Money Man.  Of Hester's 26 receptions 19 have gone for a first down and four have gone for a touchdown.  That's 88 percent of his receptions resulting in a fresh set of down or six points.

Also of note is Matt Grothe, who has 45 rushing money plays - 37 on first downs and eight TD.  Of Grothe's first down rushes, the most - 23 (17 first downs, 6 TD) - have come on second down.

Among other receivers, Carlton Mitchell leads with 20 money plays - 17 first downs and 3 TD.  Taurus Johnson is right behind with with 19 (16-3).  Mitchell is the only USF receiver with multiple - he has three - money plays on fourth down.   Seven of Courtney Denson's eight receptions have resulted in a first down.  TE Cedric Hill has eight first downs and one TD among his 13 receptions.

Team NCAA STATS - Rank (Stat)
Tackles For Loss - 1 (9.5)
Turnovers Gained - 2 (31)
Fumbles Recovered - 2 (15)
3rd Down Conversion % Defense - 3 (26.9)
Pass Efficiency Defense - 9 (101.3)
Interceptions - 10 (16)
Total Defense - 17  (312.5)
Rush Defense - 21 (111.9)
Scoring Defense - 22 (19.4)
Pass Defense - 25 (200.6)

Monitoring  Matt
Matt Grothe broke the USF career rushing record for quarterbacks in the 22nd game of his career (Cincinnati - 2007) ... He currently has 1,334 rushing yards, which bests the previous record of 1,235 set by Marquel Blackwell (1999-02) ... The USF single season rushing record is 2,731, which he could reach at his current pace ... The Lakeland native also broke the single season rushing record in the ninth game of 2007 (Cincinnati) ... He currently has 698 rushing yards ...  He broke his own single season record of 622 in 2006 ... The signal caller also broke the USF single game passing record with 382 yards against Cincinnati ... The sophomore became the second player in USF history to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 against UConn ... He rushed for career high and USF quarterback record 146 yards against UConn, which was the ninth best rushing day by a QB in BIG EAST history and the second best day by a BIG EAST QB this season ... His three 100-yard rushing games is a USF career record ... Became just the eighth player in USF history to rush for 1,000 career yards during the Rutgers game ... He is just the second USF quarterback to accomplish the feat ... Efficient with 181 yards on 15-22 passing and 73 yards on 14 rushing attempts in 41-10 win over Syracuse ... Also ran for a TD and tossed a two TDs vs. the Orange ... Grothe rushed for 100 yards in back-to-back games against UCF & FAU ... He had 100 yards against UCF, needing less than three quarters to accumulate the yardage ...  Grothe accounted for 4 touchdowns against UCF ... He rushed for two and passed for another two - both to WR Taurus Johnson. ... He had 312 yards of total offense before leaving midway through the third quarter ... Grothe is just the second USF quarterback to have back-to-back 100-yard rushing days ... No USF QB has done it in three straight games ... He set a career high with 122 rushing yards against FAU ... It was just the third time a USF quarterback has rushed for 100 yards ... Threw for 135 yards, including a 55-yard TD connection with Carlton Mitchell against West Virginia ... He had a streak of 136 passes without an interception snapped against the Mountaineers ... Grothe racked up 216 yards passing, the second highest single half total of his career, against UNC ... He built upon his legacy as a gamer by leading USF to a come-from-behind overtime win over Auburn ... After being sacked three times in the third quarter, Grothe went 6-8 for 75 passing yards, plus 25 rushing yards, and a TD pass in leading USF to the overtime win ... He began the 2007 season with 239 yards, two TDs and no picks against Elon ... The gun slinger attempted 39 passes, a career high, and completed 23 ... The Lakeland native threw for 2,576 yards on 202-317 passing while connecting on 15 touchdowns ... He also ran for 622 yards on 178 carries and rumbled for nine TD's ... For his efforts last year, Grothe has been named to the Manning and Maxwell Award watch lists.

NCAA Leaders - Dual Threat QBs
Matt Grothe and Florida's Tim Tebow are the only NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision players to have rushed for at least 650 yards and to have thrown for at least 2,100 yards.  Below are some comparisons between Grothe and other QBs with similar statistics:

Matt Grothe - 698 rushinig / 2,120 passing
Tim Tebow (Florida)- 718 rushing / 2,532 passing
Pat White (West Virginia) - 803 rushing / 1,231 passing
Dennis Dixon (Oregon) - 549 rushing / 2,074 passing
Jake Locker (Washington) - 807 rushing / 1,696 passing
Michael Desormeaux (La.-Lafayette) - 1,105 rushing/1,353 passing

NCAA Leaders - Rushing Yards BY QB
1. Michael Desormeaux (La.-Lafayette) - 1105 yards
2. Stephen McGee (Texas A&M) - 828
3. Jake Locker (Washington) - 807
4. Pat White (West Virginia) - 803
5. Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada (Navy) - 755
6.  Tim Tebow (Florida) - 718
7. Matt Grothe (USF) - 698

USF Sophomore  - QB Records
Grothe is chasing Marquel Blackwell, the greatest QB in USF history, for nearly every USF career and single season quarterback record.   Below is how Grothe's sophomore year is stacking up to Blackwell's:
  Pass-TD Rush-TD Efficiency
Grothe  2,120-11 698-8 119.7
Blackwell (2000) 2,882-20 241-9 119.32

BIG EAST Records  - QB Career Rushing Yards
1. Pat White (West Virginia) - 2,964 (2005 - Present)
2. Rasheed Marshall (West Virginia) - 2,040 (2001-04)
3. Donovan McNabb (Syracuse) - 1,561 (1995-98)
4. Walter Washington (Temple) - 1,468 (2003-04)
5. Matt Grothe (USF) - 1,320 (2006-Present)

BIG EAST Records  - QB Season Rushing Yards
1. Pat White (West Virginia) - 1,219 (2006)
2. Pat White (West Virginia) - 952 (2005)
3. Walter Washington (Temple) - 889 (2004)
4. Rasheed Marshall (West Virginia) - 861 (2004)
5. Pat Whilte (West Virginia) - 803 (2007)
6. Matt Grothe (USF) - 698 (2007)

Grothe's Career Growth
Sophomore QB Matt Grothe is only 23 games into his college career, but he is already making his way towards the top of the USF career record books.

? Against Rutgers (10/18), he became the second USF quarterback to reach 1,000 career rushing yards with  a 58-yard output.
? Against Cincinnati (11/3) He broke the USF career record for rushing yards by a QB with 75 yards, which increased his career total to 1,247 - 622 last season and 625 in 2007. He currently has 1,320 rushing yards this season. Marquel Blackwell (1999-02) set the bar at 1,235.
? Grothe & Blackwell are the only USF signal callers to rush for 1,000 yards and throw for 4,000 yards in a career.

Career Rushing Yards by QB
1. Matt Grothe - 1,320 (2006-Present)
2. Marquel Blackwell - 1,235 (1999-02) 

Career Rushing Yards - All Players
1. Andre Hall - 2,731 (2004-05)
2. Rafael Williams - 2,253 (1997-00)
3. Clenton Crossley - 1,644 (2001-04)
4. Matt Grothe - 1,320

Career Rushing TD by QB
1. Marquel Blackwell - 20
2. Matt Grothe - 17

Career Passing Yards
1. Marquel Blackwell - 9,108
2. Matt Grothe - 4,696

Career Passing TD
1. Marquel Blackwell - 67
2. Chad Barnhardt - 27 (1997-98)
3. Matt Grothe - 26

Career Passing Yds Per Game Avg.
1. Marquel Blackwell - 207.0
2. Matt Grothe - 204.2
3. Chad Barnhardt - 196.7

Single Season - Rushing Yds by QB
1. Matt Grothe - 698 (2007)
2. Matt Grothe - 622 (2006)
3. Marquel Blackwell - 566 (2000)

Moffitt Anchors Defense
Ben Moffitt is the lone returnee out of USF's stellar trio of linebackers from last season ... He is second on the team with 81 tackles, plus 12 tackles for loss ...  He is 36th nationally with 12 TFL ... He is ranked as the third best senior inside linebacker prospect for the NFL Draft according to Mel Kiper ... Moffitt was a semifinalist for the Butkus and remains as a candidate for the Lott Trophy ...  He collected 10 tackles - 2.5 for a loss - and one fumble recovery against Rutgers ... The senior was named Camp & Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week and BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week after picking off two passes, including one for a TD, against West Virginia ... Moffitt also had nine tackles, including two for a loss and a pass breakup vs. WVU ... He followed that effort with 11 tackles, seven solo, three TFL, two pass breakups, one third-down stop and one fourth-down stop in the Bulls win over Florida Atlantic  (Oct. 6) ...  He collected a TFL and his first career interception, followed by a 41 yard return, against UNC ... He began the 2007 campaign with 10 tackles, eight assisted, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup against Elon ... During the 2006 campaign, Moffitt teamed up with Stephen Nicholas ? now with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons ? and Patrick St. Louis, who is one of the Bulls' strength and conditioning coaches ... Last year Moffitt led the team in tackles with 112 and was third in tackles for a loss with 11 including four sacks ... During the summer Moffitt was named to the Bronko Nagurski Award and Butkus watch lists.

Moffitt On USF Career List

CAREER - TACKLES
1.  Kawika Mitchell - 367 (1999-02)
2. Stephen Nicholas - 326 (2003-06)
3. Roy Manns - 317 (19997-00)
4. Ben Moffitt - 312 (2004-Present)

CAREER - TACKLES FOR LOSS
1. Stephen Nicholas - 53.5 (2003-06)
2. Greg Walls - 48 (1999-02)
3. Terrence Royal - 47.5 (2002-05)
4. George Selvie - 42 (2006-Present)
5. Maurice Jones - 40 (2000-03)
5. Ben Moffitt - 40.5 

CAREER - FUMBLE RECOVERIES
1. Anthony Henry - 6 (1997-00)
2. Ben Moffitt - 5
2. Terrence Royal - 5
2. J.R. Reed - 5 (2000-03)
2. Bernard Brown - 5 (1997-01)

CAREER - FORCED FUMBLES
1. George Selvie - 7
    Kevin Verpaele - 7 (2005 & 06)
3. Maurice Jones - 6 (2000-03)
4. Ben Moffitt - 5
    Mike Jenkins - 5 (2004-Present)
    Glenn Davis - 5 (1997-00)
    Tchecoy Blount - 5 (1998-01)
    Shurron Pierson - 5 (2001-02)

Fast Starts
USF is 7-1 when it scores first this season and 4-0 when it has the opening offensive possession. The Bulls have received the ball first via coin flip three times. They also had the first offensive possession against Syracuse, when the Orange muffed the opening kickoff. 

Making Plays
USF's defense is led by a bunch of play-makers, which are producing turnovers at a record pace ... The USF record for forced turnovers is 35 set in 2002 .... USF has already forced 31 in 10 games and is on pace for 40 this season ...  The Bull “D” ranks second nationally in turnovers gained (31), second in fumbles recovered (15) and 10th in interceptions (16) ... Trae Williams has four interceptions, including a 73-yard TD return against Cincinnati ... FS Nate Allen and LB Ben Moffitt both have three interceptions ... CB Mike Jenkins has two interceptions this year ... Moffitt, a four-year starter, did not have any picks prior to this season ... Allen also has two fumble recoveries and had a pick in three of the first four games this season ... USF is  No. 1 nationally in TFL with an average of 9.5 per game ... USF's defense has forced three or more turnovers six times this season.

Trae & J
Seniors Trae Williams and Mike Jenkins are one of the most experienced CB combos in college football, the two have combined for 79 career starts ... Both have been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game on January 19th at the University of Houston ... Jenkins has also been invited to the Under Armour Senior Bowl on Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala. ... Combined they have 22 pass breakups and six INT this season ... Mike Jenkins ranks eighth nationally with 12 pass breakups ... Williams is 13th with 10 pass breakups ... He is also 32nd nationally with four interceptions ... Their lock-down cover abilities allow USF to play a lot of man defense on the outside ... Jenkins had an interception late in the fourth quarter against Auburn that he nearly took in for a TD before stepping out of bounds at the three ... Trae Williams has four INT this season and 11 over the last two years ... He also took an INT against Cincinnati back 73-yards for a touchdown ... Recently, Mel Kiper of ESPN.com listed Mike Jenkins as the best senior CB prospect for the 2008 NFL Draft and the ninth best senior prospect on his “Big Board” ... Kiper has predicted that Trae Williams would be a second round selection ... Last season the two also teamed up for eight interceptions, seven of which belonged to Williams, tying a single season school record (with J.R. Reed) ... Williams' seven picks a    lso led the BIG EAST ... The duo has been sited as the best in the BIG EAST and the state of Florida by several outlets, including ESPN.com expert Mark Schlabach. 

Secondary to None
USF's secondary has proven that it may be one of the best in America ... Currently, the Bulls are No. 9 in pass efficiency defense (101.3), third in 3rd down conversion percentage defense (26.9) and 10th in interceptions (16) ... USF is also ranked No. 25 in pass defense at 200.6 yards per game, but that does not tell the whole story ... The secondary has 11 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles ... Prior to West Virginia, the Bulls had only allowed 250 passing yards combined to Auburn and North Carolina ... Carolina was averaging 300-plus yards passing before USF held them to 85 and intercepted four passes on Sept. 22 ... USF has held two teams below 100 yards passing ... UNC had 85 yards and UCF had 84 yards ... CB Trae Williams has four INT, sophomore FS Nate Allen has three INT and CB Mike Jenkins has two ...  SS Carlton Williams has 4.5 TFL, one sack and 58 tackles this season ... The secondary as a whole already has 38 pass breakups, led by Mike Jenkins with 12 and Trae Williams with 10.

Starting Notes
Senior center Nick Capogna had his consecutive start streak of 14 snapped at Auburn due to a knee injury ... The fallout from that injury was Jake Griffin starting at center, while Ryan Schmidt moved up the depth chart and started at left guard ... Ben Busbee earned his first career start against Elon, as did right guard Zach Hermann ... Hermann has started ever since ... On defense Brouce Mompremier and Nate Allen started for the first time in their careers against Elon, both have started every game this year ... Mike Ford collected his first career start against West Virginia ... Courtney Denson and Jessie Hester both recorded their first career starts at WR against FAU when USF opened in a five receiver set ... Denson has one career start at QB ... Jamar Taylor earned his first career start against UCF ... Dontavia Bogan earned his first career start against UConn ... Carlton Mitchell has started the last two games, the first starts of his career.

T-Mac & D-Mac
Junior LB Tyrone McKenzie led Iowa State in tackles last season and transferred to USF after the 2006 season.  He was able to play immediately thanks to a NCAA hardship waiver.   McKenzie was on the USF campus to start the spring semester in January.
And in early February his former head coach at Iowa State, Dan McCarney, arrived in Tampa and took the position as the Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Line Coach. 

The two have teamed up on defense and produced immediate results.  USF held its season opening opponent, Elon, to 13 points and just 33 yards rushing.  McKenzie, who had 129 tackles for Iowa State in 2006 and was 10th nationally, he leads the team  with 84 tackles this season, including 5.5 tackles for loss.  His two year total of 213 tackles is the 13th best among NCAA FBS players.

McCarney's defensive line has accounted for 23 of USF's 26 sacks this season. USF is 32 nationally with an average of 2.6 sacks per game and a total of 26.

Close But No Win
While mistakes and early holes hurt the Bulls during the three-game losing streak earlier this season, USF had opportunities to win or tie the game at the end of regulation in all three games.  Despite committing 11 turnovers and only forcing six, the three losses came by a combined 15 points with only UConn being by a touchdown.  

The Bulls were down 10 points twice in the second half at Rutgers before battling back and having possession on the Scarlet Knights' 49-yard line with 1:33 to play.

Against UConn, USF trailed 16-0 at halftime and battled back to a 22-15 deficit in the fourth quarter.  The Bulls had the ball at the UConn 1-yard line twice in the fourth quarter but were unable to punch in a touchdown.

At home versus Cincinnati, USF trailed 31-14 after the first quarter and committed eight turnovers in the game. Despite that, the USF defense held UC scoreless in the second half and Matt Grothe had two shots at the end zone from the Cincinnati 18-yard line in the final eight seconds.  
 
20,000 Season Tickets Sold
A national ranking, two wins (at the time) and another plateau in season tickets. The USF ticket office announced on Sept. 18 that it had surpassed 20,000 season tickets. At the end of the season ticket push, USF's season ticket total was up to 20,043. The record season ticket number of 20,619 was set in the inaugural season of 1997. 

Ticket UPDATE
USF sold out the West Virginia (67,012) and UCF (65,948) games ... They were the first two sellouts in program history ... The Bulls are averaging 52,346 this season, which is second in the BIG EAST ... The crowd of 67,012 is the largest in the league this season ... All ticket requests for away games should be made by one week prior to the game ... Away game tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 1-800-GoBulls.

Sophomores Starring
USF returned 16 starters this season and has quickly risen to national recognition despite being essentially a young team.  The Bulls are receiving award worthy play from their sophomore class.  At the top of that list are second year stars Matt Grothe, George Selvie and Nate Allen.

Selvie's leading the country in sacks (14.5) and tackles for loss (30.5) this season. He was named Walter Camp National Player of the Week (9/23) for his three sacks and five TFLs against North Carolina.  He is on the latest lists for the Lombardi, Hendricks, Nagurski and Bednarik awards.

Grothe's numbers and recognition as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year set the ground work for acclaim.   Grothe is one of only two NCAA FBS quarterback that has rushed for at least 650 yards and thrown for 2,100 or more yards.

Nate Allen is putting himself all over the stat sheet with three INT, 68 tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and one tackle for loss.  Allen was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (9/10) and Nagurski National Player of the Week (9/11) after playing a part in three turnovers against Auburn.

USF has only one senior among its projected starters on offense this week and just five on the defensive side of the ball. 

Built Ford Tough
True-freshman Mike Ford is second on the USF team in rushing yards with 434 (48.2 per game) ... He is tied for the team lead with eight rushing TD ... He also has one TD reception ... He ran for a career high 134 yards and two TD against Syracuse ... Teamed up with Aston Samuels, who had 101 yards rushing, to be the first freshman duo in USF history to rush for 100 yards in the same game ... The Sarasota native scored from one yard out against Rutgers ... Ford scored from 12 yards out against UCF and ran for 39 yards in limited action ... He did not play against FAU ... Ford ran for 42 yards, including 35 on his opening carry, against West Virginia ... Had just 13 yards rushing against UNC, but broke the scoring open with a five yard TD run in the first quarter ... The Sarasota HS product  ran for 74 yards, including 59 in the first half, and one TD at Auburn ... He set USF freshman debut record with 3 TDs, two rushing and one receiving against Elon ...  The debut record, regardless of class, for TD in a USF debut was four by Jermaine Clemons in USF 's inaugural game (9-6-97) ... Ford had runs of 21 and 48 yards, which accounted for a large chunk of his 83 yards on six carries ...  After the game when Ford was asked about breaking two tackles on his 48-yard run, he just said that his style was, “Ford Tough” ... ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale, who lives in Sarasota, put himself among the Ford backers after watching him as a high schooler and hearing about his production in the USF opener .

September Numbers
USF owns a 26-17 record in the month of September ...  This September was the first time in program history that USF has won four games in the opening month and the second time it has gone undefeated ... The Bulls were 3-0 in September of 1998 ... The Bulls have won three games in the in the opening month of the two prior seasons ... In 2005 USF went 3-1 with the lone loss coming to Penn State in the opener ... In 2006, the Bulls were 3-2 with wins in the first three games before narrow losses to Kansas and Rutgers.

Home Cooking
USF has only lost three home games over the last three seasons and just nine since the 2000 season.  The Bulls have recorded one home loss or gone undefeated in eight of 10 years.  USF plays six home games in 2007 and is 4 -1 at Raymond James Stadium so far.  USF has won seven straight home games dating back to a Sept. 29 loss to Rutgers last season.