Setting The Scene
Date: Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007
Location: Tampa, Fla.
Kickoff: Noon Eastern
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WFLA 970 AM (Tampa)
Stadium: Raymond James Stadium
Stadium Capacity - Surface: 65,657 - Natural
Tickets: (800) GoBulls
GAMEDAY POLICIES & PROCEDURES
The Game
The No. 23/24 University of South Florida football team (2-0) will host its first ever non-conference BCS opponent when North Carolina (1-2) comes to town on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Noon Eastern. The Bulls are coming off a bye week. The previous week, USF defeated No. 17/13 Auburn 26-23 at Jordan Hare Stadium. UNC lost its second consecutive game to Virginia, 22-20, last weekend.
The Series
USF leads the all-time series 1-0 after defeating the Tar Heels, 37-20, in Chapel Hill last season.
The Broadcasts
The USF and North Carolina game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN with Pam Ward (play-by), Ray Bentley (color) and Robert Simmelkjaer (sideline). USF's radio broadcast with Jim Louk, Mark Robinson & Mike Pepper can be heard on WFLA 970 AM, WFLL 1400 AM, WORL 660 AM, WTSU 1590 AM and WPSL 1590.
The Coaches
USF: Jim Leavitt (Missouri ?78) has a career record of 72-43 and is in his 11th season at USF. He has coached every game in the program's history. He is 1-0 against UNC, 1-2 vs. the ACC, 19-14 in day games, 27-12 in hot weather (80 degrees or higher), 0-3 on ESPN, 41-37 on television, 50-13 at home, 20-29 on the road, 2-1 at neutral sites, 11-6 against non-conference opponents since having a conference affiliation (2003), 4-9 vs. ranked teams and 5-4 after bye weeks.
Auburn: Butch Davis is 52-22 in seven seasons as a Division I head coach. He is in his first season at UNC, after a stint in the NFL that followed six highly successful seasons at Miami (Fla.).
The Program
The USF program has an all-time record of 45-26 at the NCAA FBS level. The wining percentage of 63.3 is good enough to rank USF No. 29 among FBS schools. For the first time in program history, the Bulls are ranked, coming in at No. 23 (AP) and No. 24 (Coaches).
Student Buses
Free student buses for game versus UNC will be picking students up at 10:30 am from the student parking lot on the corner of Willow and Maple Dr. There will be nine buses and they will be first come, first serve. Students must show a valid USF student ID to ride.
The buses will be leaving Raymond James Stadium within a half hour after the game's end.
Player To Watch
Call it the year of the sophomore. Between George Selvie, Matt Grothe and Nate Allen, the Bulls have had few growing pains this season. Allen has put himself into the conversation for national honors after collecting an interception in each of the first two games and forcing and recovering a fumble at Auburn. He earned BIG EAST and Nagurski National Player of the Week honors for his work against the Tigers.
By The Numbers - 97
Matt Grothe has thrown a career best 97 pass attempts without an interception. He had 15 TD and 14 INT last season. The streak dates back to the second quarter of the game at West Virginia last season
Recapping Auburn
USF improved to 2-0 with an a 26-23 overtime win against the No. 17/13 Auburn Tigers ... It marked the third consecutive season USF has defeated a ranked team ... USF has started 2-0 four times including this season ... It also accomplished the feat in1998, 2002 and 2006 ... USF improved to 6-0 all-time in overtime .... USF is 4-9 against ranked teams ... The win was the first in five tries against the SEC ... The crowd of 82,617 is the second largest ever to see a USF game ... The win came on the six year anniversary of USF defeating Pittsburgh in its first game played at Heinz Field ... WR Marcus Edward, OL Walt Walker, DE George Selvie and LB Ben Moffitt were captains for the game ... USF will name captains on a game-by-game basis ... Moffitt is the only player to be a captain in the first two games ... USF came from behind to win despite not converting on five forced turnovers and K Delbert Alvarado going 2-for-6 on field goal attempts .... USF has a +5 turnover margin on the season ... 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 ... Mike Ford had 74 yards rushing, including 59 in the first half, and a TD ... Nate Allen had a career night with an INT, forced fumble and fumble recovery ... He was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week and Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week ... Mike Jenkins picked off his fourth career pass and nearly scored on the return in the fourth quarter ... LB Brouce Mompremier had a career high 12 tackles, including one for loss ... George Selvie built on his NCAA leading sack and tackles for loss totals with 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss ... He leads the country in both categories ... LB Lucas Darr, who received an NCAA hardship waiver to player earlier in the week, made his debut on special teams after transferring from NC State ... Ben Williams recorded his longest run of the season with a 19 yard scamper on the opening play ... Jessie Hester had a career high six receptions - including the game winner in overtime - and 64 yards receiving ... He had four career catches coming into the game ... Alvarado hit the game tying FG from 18 yards out with 55 seconds to play ... DB Jerome Murphy emerged as an unsung hero with 111 yards on three kickoff returns ... He popped a 59 yard return, which set up the game tying field goal by Alvarado in the final minute of regulation ... It is the first time in Murphy's career that he has returned kickoffs ... DB Tyller Roberts recovered his first career fumble in the third quarter ... LB Tyrone McKenzie recovered his first career fumble as a Bull in the third quarter.
Ticket Timing
After larger than expected walk-up numbers for the Elon game, the USF Athletic Ticket Office is encouraging fans to take a couple measures to avoid long lines ... Fans are encouraged to print single game tickets out on Ticketmaster.com ... Fans are also asked to arrive at the ticket windows/will call at least 45 minutes prior to kickoff.
This and That for Carolina
The USF volleyball and women's basketball teams will be introduced on the field during the game ... It will be an ACC officials crew for the game ... The game is the second of three straight on the ESPN body of networks for USF ... It is the fourth ESPN appearance in USF history ... USF is 5-4 after bye weeks ... The Bulls did not have bye in 2001.
North Carolina Ties
USF pass game coordinator Mike Canales and UNC wide receiver coach Charlie Williams were both on the staff at Arizona last season ... Canales also spent two seasons at NC State (2001-02) ... USF cornerbacks coach Rich Rachel was at NC State from 1983-85 ... Freshman DT Brandon Peguese is from Greensboro, N.C. and attended Grimsley HS ... The Tar Heels do not have any players on their media guide roster that attended Grimsley HS ... USF recruiting coordinator and running backs coach Carl Franks was the head coach at Duke from 1999-2003 and an assistant at Duke from 1987-89.
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.
Grothe's numbers and recognition as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year speak for the themselves.
Nate Allen is putting himself all over the box score with 2 INT, 14 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 tackle for loss. Allen was recently named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week and Nagurski National Player of the Week after playing a part in three turnovers against Auburn.
Selvie's leading the country in sacks (5.5) and tackles for loss (9.5), despite having played only two games this season when the majority of the country has already played three.
USF has 15 underclassmen among its current projected starters on offense and defense.
Monitoring Matt
Matt Grothe made quite a name for himself last year en route to BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Year honors and looks for bigger and better things this season ... 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.
By George
Sophomore DE George Selvie began the 2007 season with a record breaking evening against Elon ... Selvie broke his own single game record for tackles for loss with six against the Phoenix ... Below is the new single game record chart for TFL:
1. George Selvie - 6 vs. Elon, 9/1/07
2. George Selvie - 5 vs. Florida International, 9/9/06
Kawika Mitchell - 5 at Oklahoma, 9/28/02
Tim Jones - 5 at Army, 9/27/03
Craig Kobel - 5 vs. 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 vs. Elon, 9/1/07
Shurron Pierson - 4 vs. Southern Miss, 10/12/02
Selvie leads all NCAA players with 5.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss despite having only played two games, when most have played three ... He also he USF single season record for sacks is 10 by Terrence Royal (2005) and Shurron Pierson (2001) ... The career record for sacks is 20 by Stephen Nicholas ... Selvie is in the USF career top 10 with 11 career sacks ... Selvie had 5.5 sacks as a freshman last season and has already reached that number in 2007 ... He was named a freshman All-American by The Sporting News.
Coaching ?Em Up
USF head coach Jim Leavitt is now the sole remaining member of the original USF coaching staff from 1996 (when the program simply practiced for one year before playing). But Leavitt wastes no time pondering where everyone went. Rather, he's brought in Dan McCarney ? only the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 (at Iowa State) ? and well-respected offensive coach Mike Canales, who was actually on that original USF staff before stints at NC State and Arizona as well as a stop in the NFL with the New York Jets. Canales will function as pass game coordinator and coach the receivers.
Also new to the full-time USF staff in 2007 are offensive line coach Mike Simmonds and tight ends coach Larry Scott, both of whom were graduate assistants in 2006. Meanwhile, Greg Gregory returns for his third year on the staff, but his first in the role of offensive coordinator.
The Firsts...
UNC is the first non-conference BCS school to play USF at home ... USF has been a member of the FBS Division since 2000, its transition year, and appeared in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Top 25 Polls for the first time this week .... USF debuted at No. 23 in the AP Poll and No. 24 in the Coaches Poll .... There were 124 Coaches Polls released between USF joining the FBS and its first appearance on Sept. 16 ... That is the second fastest pace to a national ranking, only trailing Boise State, who reach the polls in 114 weeks.
Starting Notes
Senior center Nick Capogna had his consecutive start streak of 14 snapped at Auburn due to a knew injury ... Jack Griffin started at center, while Ryan Schmidt will 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 ... On defense Brouce Mompremier and Nate Allen started for the first time in their careers.
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 Elon to 13 points and just 33 yards rushing. McKenzie, who led Iowa State with 129 tackles in 2006 and was 10th nationally, has a game high 12 tackles.
McCarney's defensive line has accounted for all eight of USF sacks this season. USF is eighth nationally with an average of 4.0 sacks per game.
Moffitt Anchors Defense
Ben Moffitt is the lone returnee out of USF's stellar trio of linebackers from last season ... He is currently second on the team with 18 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss ... He began the 2007 campaign with 10 tackles, eight assisted, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup ... 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.
Built Ford Tough
True-freshman Mike Ford is leading the USF team in rushing yards with 157 (78.5 per game) and scoring (three TD) ... The Sarasota native ran for 74 yards, including 59 in the first half, and 1 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 ... No USF freshman has ever run for 100 yards in their debut.
NCAA Stats
George Selvie leads the country in sacks (5.5) and tackles for loss (9.5) ... Jerome Murphy is third in yards per kick return (37.0) ... Mike Ford is tied for ninth in scoring, which is ranked on a per game scale (12.0) ... Nate Allen is third in the country with an average of 1.0 interceptions per game ... USF is fourth in turnover margin (+5), 16th in fumbles recovered (4) ... USF is second in tackles for loss (11 per game) and second in defensive third down efficiency, only allow opponents to succeed 17.7 percent of the time ... USF is also 18th in rushing defense (79.0) and total defense (274.5).
September Numbers
USF owns a 24-17 record in the month of September ... The Bulls have won three games in each of the last two opening months ... 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 ... USF has never won more than three games in September.
DB Tandem Among Best in Nation
One of the strengths of this years USF football team are cornerbacks Trae Williams and Mike Jenkins ... One of the most experienced DB combos in college football, the two combined for 62 career starts over their careers ... Both posted impressive numbers in the season opener ... Williams had five tackles, one for a loss and a pass breakup ... While Mike Jenkins had two pass breakups ... Jenkins followed that performance up with 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 ... 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) ... His seven picks also 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.
Big East Stats
USF is second in the league in turnover margin (2.5 per game) behind Cincinnati, who leads the country at +4.33 per game ... USF leads the league in rush defense (79.0), second in opponent first downs (35), first in opponent 3rd down conversion (17.6), first in PAT percentage (1.000) and fifth in total sacks (8), although they are tied for first in sacks per game (4.0) with West Virginia ... Nate Allen is tied for the league lead in interceptions (1.0 per game) and is second in forced fumbles per game (0.5) ... Taurus Johnson is fourth in receptions per game (5.0), Mike Ford is third in scoring (12.0 per game), and third in TDs (4), Brouce Mompremier is four in tackles per game (10), Ben Moffitt is sixth (9.0) and Tyrone McKenzie is ninth (8.0) ... Selvie leads the league in sacks (2.76 per game) and tackles for loss (4.75 per game) ... Four Bulls rank second in fumbles recovered (0.5) ... Mike Jenkins is tied for the league lead in pass breakups (2.0 per game).
Home Cooking
USF has only lost two home games over the last two seasons and just eight 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 1-0 at Raymond James Stadium so far.
Butch and the Sunshine State
When North Carolina travels to meet the Bulls in Raymond James Stadium, it not only marks the first time a non-conference BCS opponent will play USF at home, but it also becomes the first college game back in the State of Florida for first-year Tar Heels coach Butch Davis.
Davis, of course, coached the Miami Hurricanes from 1995 to 2000, compiling a 51-20 record, while leading the team to one outright and two shared Big East championships. Davis was also an assistant coach with the Hurricanes from 1984 to 1988, including the 1987 National Championship season.
Making Moves
Two players changed positions during preseason camp, below are their most recent positions:
Sophomore Houston Hess - WR to LB
Freshman Alonzo McQueen - LB to DT
Freshman Richard Kelly - FB to TE
Nicked Up
Senior C Nick Capogna suffered a knee injury early in the game wth Elon. The injury will have him sidelined through at least the UNC game this weekend and possibly for a few more weeks. Capogna had started 14 consecutive times and will likely hand the duties off to Jake Griffin.
Denson Closes the Books
WR Courtney Denson has already earned a BA in communications from USF. What makes his graduation even more impressive is that he transferred from Auburn, but didn't allow the change of scenery to slow his academic pursuits. He is currently pursuing a second major.
USF Honors Dorsey & Camon
The 2007 USF Bulls have two stickers, bearing the initials “JC” and “KD,” for former Bulls defensive back Javan Camon, who died after a collision in an indoor football game in February, and Keeley Dorsey, the freshman running back who collapsed and died during a team conditioning workout in January.
USF also observed a moment of silence in honor of Dorsey, Camon and late Sun Dolls coach Caroline Wiren, who died in May due to complications from labor, prior to the Elon game.
Is that The Wing Tee?
USF unveiled a new formation in its win over Elon that reminds many of the famed Wing Tee. The Bulls lined up three running backs and stocked the line with two tight ends. Senior RB Ben Williams was flanked by Jamar Taylor and Mike Ford in the setup. USF used the formation twice against the Phoenix.
