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Setting The Scene | Gameday Central | Game Notes
The University of South Florida football team (7-4 overall, 2-4 BIG EAST) travels to West Virginia (7-4, 4-2) for the regular season finale on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. Eastern. The contest will be broadcast live from Milan Puskar Stadium to a national audience by ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.
The Series
Saturday will be the fourth meeting between the schools with USF holding a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. USF has won the last two meetings by a combined 13 points. USF won 21-13 in Tampa in 2007 and 24-19 in Morgantown in 2006. The 2006 meeting was also the regular season finale for USF.
The Broadcasts
The game is being showcased to a national audience by ESPN2. USF's radio broadcast with Jim Louk, Mark Robinson and Mike Pepper can be heard on 13 affiliates statewide and nationally on Sirius satellite radio. In addition, 1300 WQBN will broadcast the game in Spanish with David Cuevas and Victor Rodriguez behind the microphones. Both USF radio broadcasts can be heard through BullsVision Radio on GoUSFBulls.com.
The Coaches
USF: Jim Leavitt (Missouri ?78) is the only coach in USF history. He has a career record of 86-51 (.628) and is in his 12th season at USF. He is 55-45 on television, 14-13 in BIG EAST play, 31-35 away from Tampa, 1-1 in temperatures below 40 degrees and 2-4 in temperatures below 50.
West Virginia: Bill Stewart (Fairmont State ?75) is 8-4 as the head coach of West Virginia and 16-29 overall.
The Program
The USF program has an all-time record of 58-34 at the NCAA FBS level and an 86-51 overall record. The FBS winning percentage of 62.6 was good enough to rank USF 16th among FBS schools in all-time winning percentage entering 2008. USF dropped out of the polls on Nov. 2, which ended a program-best streak of 10 consecutive weeks ranked. The Bulls have been ranked in 18 of the last 25 regular season polls.
Individual Trends
? Senior TE Cedric Hill had caught a pass in a team-high 19 consecutive games, dating back to the Auburn game in 2007... He had the streak snapped against Cincinnati on Oct. 30 ... He has multiple receptions in 12 of his last 18 games.
? Sophomore RB Mike Ford has 17 rushing touchdowns in 21 career games... He also has one receiving touchdown... On average in his career, he scores a rushing TD once every 12.3 times he gets a touch, or every 57.4 yards.
Bogan Returns Into Record Books
Sophomore WR Dontavia Bogan combined for 135 yards on two kickoff returns against UConn on Nov. 15 ... He set a USF and BIG EAST record for average yards (67.5) per return in a game, breaking the previous mark of 62.5 by Devin Hester of Miami in 2003 against Florida ... Bogan would set a career-high with a 71-yard kick return with less than a minute left in the first half ... In addition to it being a career-high, it also became the longest punt or kick return of the season for USF ... Bogan has returned 25 kicks this year, which is a USF single season record ... He has also broken the USF single season record for yards ... He came into the UConn game with 517 yards and increased his season total to 652 yards ... Bogan's average kickoff return yardage of 67.5 yards marks a single-game record.
Williams hits the MILLENNIUM
Senior RB Ben Williams eclipsed 1,000 career rushing yards, making him the ninth Bull to do so ... He joins teammate Matt Grothe on the list ... Williams needed 259 carries to reach the milestone ... Mike Ford should become the 10th USF player to rush for 1,000, he currently has 956 yards in his career (218 carries).
Beasts of the Big East
The Bulls lead the BIG EAST in total offense (401.2), first downs (21.9) and third-down conversions (44.8). Individually, Matt Grothe leads the league in total offense (266.4) and passing yards (2,362).
| Spreading it Around |
Take spread in a literal context and you'll understand the wealth of receivers contributing every game for USF. The Bulls are among the national leaders with 16 players with a reception this season... and no one is favored. So far this season five different players have led USF in receiving yards, seven have led in TDs and five have led in receptions. Eight receivers have 100 or more yards receiving on the season and four are over 300. Seven players have a TD catch. Below is game-by-game breakdown of the leaders in receiving yards, receptions and TDs:
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| Game |
Yards |
Receptions |
TD |
| UTM |
Bogan |
Love |
Hester |
| UCF |
Johnson |
Johnson |
Hill |
| KU |
Love |
Johnson, Hester |
Johnson, Love |
| FIU |
Love |
Love, Hester |
-- |
| NC State |
Edwards |
Hester |
Mitchell |
| Pitt |
Love |
Hester |
Hester |
| Syracuse |
Mitchell |
Love |
Johnson |
| Louisville |
Johnson |
Hester |
Busbee, Kelly |
| Cincinnati |
Mitchell |
Mitchell |
-- |
| Rutgers |
Hester |
Hester |
Johnson |
| UConn |
Edwards |
Hester |
-- |
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Hestery
Junior Jessie Hester has snuck up on everyone and is quietly having one of the best receiving seasons in USF history. The Belle Glade native leads the USF team with 50 receptions for 524 yards. He is 13 shy of breaking the single-season record for receptions (62 by Hugh Smith in 2002) and 138 shy of breaking the single season record for receiving yards (661 by Hugh Smith in 2002). With his first catch against UConn, he tied the school record (20) for consecutive games with a reception. He has reeled in 24 catches over the last four games, including a career-high 10 for 110 yards against Rutgers. The 10 receptions is one off tying the single-game USF record. The 100-yard outing marks the 25th time a player has reached the century mark in program history. He has 979 career yards and will soon join teammate Taurus Johnson, and six others, as the only players in school history with 1,000 career yards. And last but not least, his eight receptions against Louisville and 10 against Rutgers are the two best single-game totals on the team. He also has two games with seven catches.
Mr. Dependable
Where he is even more valuable is his consistency. Hester has caught a ball in 20 consecutive games, dating back to the North Carolina game on Sept. 22, 2007. The streak ties the longest in USF history and moves him past the 19-game streak that senior TE Cedric Hill had snapped at Cincinnati. Below is the top of the record list.
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Johnson in Elite Company
Senior WR Taurus Johnson entered elite USF company by reaching 100 career receptions on Oct. 25 against Louisville ... He currently has 108 receptions, which is the third-best total in program history ... Only four players can claim 100 career catches and only Johnson and Hugh Smith (1999-02) can claim 100 receptions, 1,000 career yards and 10 TD catches ... Now TJ can chase both records ... Smith owns the USF record for receptions with 131 ... The career TD record is 14 by DeAndrew Rubin (1999-02) ... The career yards record is 1,523 by Smith ... Johnson currently has 1,394 yards ... Johnson is on pace for 40 receptions, 541 yards and 6 TDs this season ... If he holds true to that pace, he will set personal highs in each category and break the school receiving yards record ... The Cape Coral native has already tied the program record for 100-yard receiving games with career total of four.
Offensive Trends
? The UT Martin game was the third time in the previous 13 games that USF racked up 300 yards on the ground. The Bulls had exactly 300 against UTM. The other two instances were at Florida Atlantic (302 on 10/06/07) and at Syracuse (346 on 11/10/07).
? The offensive outputs against UT Martin and UCF marked the third time in USF history that USF had posted 500 yards of total offense in back-to-back games. The NC State game marked the fourth time in 13 games that USF has surpassed 500 yards of total offense. The other two occasions were against UCF (543 on 10/13/07) and Syracuse (582 on 11/10/07).
? USF racked up 520 yards of total offense against NC State, which marked the third time this season the Bulls surpasses 500 yards, tying the program record for the most games with 500+ in a single season... The 2001 teams also accomplished the feat three times.
? USF has posted 400 yards of total offense and scored 30 or more points in 12 of the last 21 games.
? This season marks the first time in program history that the Bulls have scored at least 30 points in their first three games... USF scored 30 or more points in seven consecutive games from the final six games of 2001 to the opener of 2002... USF has only scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games on three previous occasions... The aforementioned instance from 2001-02, another three game streak in 2002 and a four-game streak in 2007. |
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