Setting The Scene | Gameday Central | Game Notes
Date: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008
Location: Raleigh, N.C.
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Eastern
TV: ESPNU, ESPNU HD
Radio: WFLA 970 AM (Tampa) & WQBN 1300 AM (Spanish)
Stadium: Carter Finley Stadium
Stadium Capacity - Surface: 57,583 - Grass
Tickets: (919) 865-1510

The Game
The No. 13/14 University of South Florida football team (4-0) heads north for its final non-conference game against North Carolina State (2-2) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The tilt will be broadcast nationally by ESPNU and ESPNU HD. USF is trying to improve to 5-0 for the second consecutive season, while the Wolfpack is looking for its second consecutive upset of a ranked opponent after knocking off No. 15/17 East Carolina in Raleigh last Saturday.

The Series
Saturday will be the second meeting between the schools. NC State won the first meeting 14-0 in the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Bulls are 2-2 all-time against the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both wins came over North Carolina (2006 & 2007), while the other loss came to Miami.

The Broadcasts
The game is being broadcast nationally by ESPNU and ESPNU HD. 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.

The Coaches
USF: Jim Leavitt (Missouri ?78) is the only coach in USF history. He has a career record of 83-47 (.638) and is in his 12th season at USF. He is 60-30 in night games, 52-41 on television, 25-29 on the road and 6-3 on ESPNU.
NC State: Tom O'Brien (Naval Academy, ?71) is in his second season as the head coach at NC State. He owns a 7-9 record with the Wolfpack and 82-54 as head coach. USF assistant coach Mike Canales was the pass game coordinator at NC State in 2001 and 2002. While Director of High School Relations Rich Rachel coached in Raleigh from 1983-85.

The Program
The USF program has an all-time record of 55-30 at the NCAA FBS level and an 83-47 overall record. The FBS winning percentage of 64.7 is good enough to rank USF 16th among FBS schools in all-time winning percentage. USF has won 10 straight regular season non-conference games and five straight on the road. A win on Saturday would mark the first time USF has been perfect during back-to-back non-conference schedules.

Wrapping Up FIU
USF improved its all-time record ? while in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ? to 55-30 and 83-47 all-time since beginning football during the 1997 season ... USF's win over FIU gave it a 4-0 start for the third time in the program's history ... The Bulls also accomplished the feat in 1998 (5-0) and 2007 (6-0) ... USF is 8-1 all-time against teams from the state of Florida ... The next game against an in-state opponent is FIU in Tampa in 2009 ... USF held FIU to just 189 yards of total offense ... It marks the second time this season that USF has held an opponent under 200 yards ... The other instance was against UT Martin, who had 97 yards ... It is the fourth time USF has accomplished the feat in the last 15 games and the ninth time since the start of the 2004 season ... USF has also held two opponents under 10 points, UT Martin had 7 and FIU had 9, this season ... It marks the first time USF has held two opponents under 10 points in the same season since 2005 ... USF has held an opponent to less than 10 points on multiple occasions in the same season eight times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008) in 12 years of football ... The program record is five opponents under 10 points in 1998 ... In the first quarter the Bulls reeled off a 99-yard scoring drive on 13 plays in 5:19. It was the longest drive (yardage) of the season and second-longest in terms of time ... Previously, the longest were a 73-yard drive against Kansas and a 5:55 drive at UCF ... Captains for the game were Tyrone McKenzie, Jake Griffin, Marc Dile and Brouce Mompremier ... Griffin has been a captain in all four games, while it marked McKenzie's third, Mompremier's second and Dile's first time in the role ... Dontavia Bogan earned his second career start for USF, which opened in a two tight end, two wide receiver set ... Sophomore Trent Pupello pulled in a 14-yard reception, the first of his career, as USF got off the goal line with 10 minutes left in the first quarter ... In the first quarter, sophomore Mike Ford rushed for his 15th-career touchdown, giving USF the 6-0 lead ... He added a second rushing TD in the fourth, upping the Bulls' lead to 17-0. The 16 career rushing TDs moved him into sole possession of seventh place in the USF career record books and move him out of a tie with Pat Julmiste (2003-06), who had 14 ... The four TDs this season lead the team. .. True freshman Cory Grissom, from LaGrange, Ga., made his USF debut as a defensive tackle in the third quarter ... He registered two tackles ... Senior Brouce Mompremier was taken off the field in an ambulance in the third quarter after he collided with Carlton Williams making a tackle ... The Bulls intercepted a pass from FIU QB Paul McCall in the first play after the game resumed ... Redshirt freshman Keith McCaskill recorded his first-career pass breakup on a Wayne Younger attempt in the fourth quarter ... In the first quarter, junior QB Matt Grothe surpassed 1,600 career rushing yards ... In the game, he collected 48 yards on 11 attempts to increase his career total to 1645 yards on 422 carries in three seasons at USF ... He also recorded his 500th career completion on a 30-yard pass to A.J. Love in the first quarter.

Updating Mompremier
USF senior LB Brouce Mompremier was cleared of any severe spinal injury during initial tests at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital Saturday. He was released from the hospital on Sunday and returned to Tampa later that day. Mompremier will meet with USF doctors early this week to determine the specific injuries and a timetable for recovery. Mompremier is expected to be sidelined for USF's games against NC State and Pitt, but there is no timetable beyond that. After colliding with teammate Carlton Williams in the third quarter of Saturday night's game at FIU, Mompremier was taken off the field on a stretcher and rushed to the emergency room at Jackson Memorial. He was declared in stable condition after the game and could move all of his extremities. He remained at Jackson Memorial overnight to undergo a CT Scan and MRI on his neck. Mompremier is a native of Miami, who attended Edison HS. He has started 16 of the last 17 games for USF and had 11 tackles this season.

Defensive Trends
? After four games the USF defense has allowed just two rushing touchdowns ... The defense has given up just 10 rushing touchdowns over the past 19 games and just 12 over the last 22 games ... The USF defense did not give up an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter of the second game (UCF) ... The USF defense came up 53 seconds short of holding FIU wihtout an offensive score ... Three of the rushing touchdowns came in a blowout win over Pitt in the last regular season game of 2007... Additionally, the Bulls allowed just eight all last season and nine in 2006 ... The Bulls have shutout an opponent eight times, but the UTM game did not count even though the UTM points were scored on a turnover by the offense.

? Against UT Martin, the USF defense gave up less than 100 yards of total offense for the just the fifth time in program history and for the first time since limiting FAMU to 85 yards in 2005. UT Martin had 97 yards, 38 through the air and 59 on the ground.

? USF held FIU to just 189 yards of total offense ... It marks the second time this season that USF has held an opponent under 200 yards ... The other instance was against UT Martin, which had 97 yards ... It is the fourth time USF has accomplished the feat in the last 15 games and the ninth time since the start of the 2004 season

? The USF defense has intercepted a pass in 15 of the last 17 games. The Bulls were fourth nationally with 23
interceptions in 2007.

? USF has also held two opponents under 10 points, UT Martin had 7 and FIU had 9, this season ... It marks the first time USF has held two opponents under 10 points in the same season since 2005 ... USF has held an opponent to less than 10 points on multiple occasions in the same season eight times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008) in 12 years of football ... The program record is five opponents under 10 points in 1998.

? Over the last four years USF has forced 101 turnovers and if you included blocked kicks, the number jumps to 109.

Mr. Clutch
In the biggest of moments against Kansas, junior safety Nate Allen shined the brightest again. With just 41 seconds left on the clock, Allen intercepted a Todd Reesing skinny post and returned it 40 yards to setup the game-winning field goal by Maikon Bonani.

Allen made a name for himself last season by producing momentum-shifting turnovers in crucial moments. Here is the rundown:

2007 at Auburn: Allen has an interception, fumble recovery and forced fumble in the Bulls upset win at the Jordan Hare Stadium. He was named Nagurski National Player of the Week for his efforts.
2007 vs. West Virginia: In front of a sold out crowd, Allen has a fumble recovery and 44-yard return, plus a second-half interception in the Bulls' 21-13 win over the Mountaineers.
2007 at Pitt: With the score at 20-14, Allen intercepts a pass and returns it 37 yards for a touchdown. The TD keyed a 27 point swing that led to the Bulls 48-37 win over the Panthers.

Big East Leaders
Jerome Murphy leads the BIG East in passes defended (5), Tyrone McKenzie is tied for the lead in tackles for loss (5) and George Selvie is second in pass deflections (4) and third in tackles for loss (4) and sacks (2).

Maikon History
True freshman Maikon Bonani became a part of the USF record books with his game-winning field goal against Kansas on Sept. 12. The true freshman became just the third kicker to nail a game-winner to close a game and the first to do it as a rookie. As a junior Santiago Gramatica hit a 26-yard field goal to defeat Louisville, 31-28, in overtime in 2003. As a sophomore his brother, Bill Gramatica, hit a 44-yarder as time expired against Liberty in 1998 that sealed a 24-21 win.

Beasts of the Big East
The Bulls lead the BIG EAST in total offense (450.5), first downs (25.0) and third-down conversion (48%). They also rank second in scoring offense (35.2), pass offense (260.0), and pass efficiency (147.6). Individually, Matt Grothe leads the league in passing average (229.0), total offense (266.8), passing efficiency (148.7) and passing touchdowns (7).

Offensive Trends
? USF set a program record with 5,383 yards of total offense in 13 games in 2007. It began 2008 by posting 520 yards against UTM, 504 against UCF, 458 against Kansas and 320 against FIU.

? The UT Martin game was also the third time in the last 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 UT Martin and UCF offensive outputs marked the third time in USF history that USF had posted 500 yards of total offense in back-to-back games. It also was the fourth time the last 11 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 has posted 400 yards of total offense and scored 30 or more points in 10 of the last 15 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.

? USF has 1,802 yards of total offense in the first four games this season, which is the fourth highest four-game total in USF history. The record is 1,984 set against Connecticut (440), Cincinnati (481), Syracuse (582) and Louisville (481) last season.