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Setting The Scene
Date: Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008
Location: Tampa, Fla.
Kickoff: 7 p.m.  Eastern
TV: ESPN Regional | ESPN360.com | Catch 47 (Channel 47 Brighthouse)
Radio: WFLA 970 AM (Tampa)
Stadium: Raymond James Stadium
Stadium Capacity - Surface: 65,857 - Bermuda
Tickets:  GoUSFBulls.com & Ticketmaster.com

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

USF Bulls
0-0 Overall
IN THE POLLS
19 Associated Press
21 USA Today/ Coaches

Returning LEADERS
Passing - Matt Grothe - 232-392-14/2,670/14
Rushing - Matt Grothe - 198-872-10
Receiving - Carlton Mitchell - 37-537-4
Tackles - Tyrone McKenzie - 121 TT/7.5 TFL/2 FF/2 FR

UT Martin Skyhawks
0-0 Overall
IN THE POLLS - N/A - NCAA FCS

Returning LEADERS
Passing  - Dexter Anoka -  107-184-7/1369/8
Rushing - Trace McDermott - 42-298-2
Receiving - Roren Thomas - 39-553-6
Tackles - Adrian Pruitt - 62 TT/5.5 TFL/1 FF

The Game
The No. 19/21 University of South Florida football team will host UT Martin at Raymond James Stadium in the 2008 season opener on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.  Eastern.  It is the first meeting between the schools and the sixth time USF has played a team that hails from Tennessee.  The Bulls own a 6-3 all-time record against teams from Tennessee, which includes contests versus Austin Peay (1-0), Cumberland (2-0), Memphis (2-2), Middle Tennessee (0-1) and Tennessee Tech (1-0).

The Series
First meeting.  USF is 10-0 against NCAA Football Championship Subdivision teams since moving up to NCAA FBS status in 2001.  The Bulls are 7-4 in season openers, including two straight wins, and are 7-0 when opening the season at home.

The Broadcasts
The game is being broadcast by ESPN Regional and can be seen locally on Catch 47 and nationally on the pay-per-view service ESPN Gameplan.  Dave Weekley (play-by-play) and Doug Graber (analyst) will call the action.  USF's radio broadcast with Jim Louk, Mark Robinson and Mike Pepper can be heard on 11 affiliates statewide. In addition, 1300 WQBN will broadcast the first Spanish language broadcast in school history with David Cuevas and Victor Rodriguez behind the microphones.
 
The Coaches
USF: Jim Leavitt (Missouri ?78) is the only coach in USF history.  He has a career record of 79-47 (.627) and is beginning his 12th season at USF.  He is 49-11 in games played at Raymond James Stadium, 48-41 on television and 10-0 vs. FCS teams since 2001.
UT Martin: Jason Simpson owns a 13-10 record and is entering his third season at UT Martin.  UT Martin has never played a current member of the BIG EAST.

The Program
The USF program has an all-time record of 52-30 at the NCAA FBS level and a 79-47 overall record. The FBS winning percentage of 63.4 is good enough to rank USF 16th among FBS schools in all-time winning percentage.  2008 marks the first time in program history that USF has been ranked in a preseason poll - they are in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

Player To Watch
It is tough to shine any brighter of a spotlight on the Bulls returning consensus All-American, but George Selvie will be a man to watch because of the incredible start he had last year.  In the 2007 opener Selvie had six tackles for loss and four sacks against Elon.  The breakout performance catapulted Selvie to program records in sacks (14.5) and tackles for loss (31.5).

Stat Watch
? Matt Grothe needs six net yards for 1,500 in his career. He already owns the USF record for career rushing yards by a QB.
? Grothe needs one rushing TD for 20 in his career and to tie the USF career record for ground scores by QB.
? Grothe needs one TD pass for 30 in his career.
? George Selvie needs 3.5 TFL to reach 50 in his career.  He needs 7.5 TFL to break the school record of 53.5 by Stephen Nicholas, two to move into third place and 2.5 to move into second place.
? Selvie needs just half a sack to break free from a tie for the USF career sack record. He currently has 20 and shares the recognition with Stephen Nicholas.
? Selvie needs 5 yards in TFL to reach 200 career TFL yards.

The Florida Talent Pool
Being from Tampa, it seems obvious that the Bulls would pull recruits from the deep pool of high school talent in the state of Florida.  As of the latest roster, the Bulls had 96 of 107 players that hailed from the state of Florida.  And they are keeping more of the talent at home too.

As the St. Pete Times recently reported, other BIG EAST schools have pulled less talent from Florida in 2008 than in previous seasons. The breakdown on the right shows how many players BE schools have pulled from the state in each of the last three years:

A Model of Efficiency
The Chronicle of Higher Education listed the recruiting budgets of  every FBS football program this summer and USF, which is ranked No. 19 entering the 2008 season and was as high as No. 2 in 2007, spent the least amount of recruiting money of any BCS football program.  There are plenty of factors involved, including USF's focus on talent in Florida primarily and to a lesser extent in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.  According to the study,  USF spent $468,813, which speaks to the program's ability to evaluate talent and get the most out of their players.  West Virginia had the largest budget in the BIG East, at over $1 million, while the top dollar figure surpassed $2 million by Tennessee.

Offensive Momentum

The 2007 offense set program season records for points (451), touchdowns (56), points in the first quarter (112),  points in the fourth quarter (116), points in the first half (213), points in the second half (232) and most field goals (19).  It also set total offense season records in plays (991), plays per game (76.2), net yards (5,383) and net yards per game (414.1). 

Season Ticket Count
USF has surpassed 27,000 season tickets, which is easily a school record .... Last season, USF sold 20,043 season tickets, which was the second best mark in school history ... The previous record season ticket number of 20,619 was set in the inaugural season of 1997 ... USF played in front of 319,019 in six games at Raymond James Stadium this season for an averaged 53,170 ... The single game attendance record in prior to 2007 was 49,212 from the program inaugural game ...  USF averaged 53,170 in game attendance in 2007.

High School Love
The Florida pipeline has treated the Bulls well, but what high school program has produced the most Bulls over the previous 11 seasons?  The answer is three deep - Bradenton Southeast, Belle Glades Central, and Tampa Hillsborough - with each school supplying seven players.  Four other schools have supplied six players - Clearwater Catholic, St. Petersburg Dixie Hollins, Miami Edison and Tampa Jesuit.

On the current roster, Jessie Hester is from Belle Glades Central.  Marc Diles and Brouce Mompremier are from Miami Edison. Current Dallas Cowboy Mike Jenkins went to Bradenton Southeast, while Denver Bronco Andre Hall went to St. Pete Dixie Hollins and Philadelphia Eagle J.R. Reed went to Tampa Hillsborough.

Players need to have earned a letter to be considered for this list.  Among those that can help out the leaders are redshirt freshman DE David Fonua (Southeast), freshman DT Jatavious Jackson (Belle Glades Central) and junior DB Dexter Baldwin (Southeast)

Defending the Defensive Turnover
The USF defense led the country in turnovers forced, fumbles recovered and ranked in the top five in tackles for loss and interceptions ... It only allowed eight rushing TDs all season ...  USF has forced three or more turnovers in nine of the last 16 games, including a six turnover game against West Virginia and seven turnover game vs. Louisville in 2007 ... With the loss of three NFL players, it will have a tough time replicating that feat ... But the cupboard is hardly bare ... USF returns players that contributed  74 (14-19) percent of the fumble recoveries and 92 (11-12) of the forced fumbles ... They did take a hit in the interception category where the seniors left with 14 of the 23 picks, or 61 percent, of the 2007 picks ... Over the last three years USF has forced 98 turnovers and if you included blocked kicks, the number jumps to 108 ..The Bulls D has blocked 10 kicks, intercepted 51 passes and recovered 47 fumbles ...   USF has ranked in the top 30 nationally in total defense five of the last six seasons, including being ranked 17th in 2002, 2003 and 2005. The Bulls have ranked no lower than 24th in pass efficiency defense during that same time frame.