TAMPA -- The University of South Florida football team will look to rebound against the talented and resurgent UConn Huskies this weekend.
The Bulls, 7-4, on the season hope to improve their bowl standing and finish the BIG EAST season with a winning record. Currently, USF is 3-3 in league play.
Watch and listen to what coaches and players had to say on Tuesday afternoon:
BullsVision Press Conference: Jim Leavitt
BullsVision Press Conference: Mike Canales
BullsVision Press Conference: Joe Tresey
BullsVision Press Conference: B.J. Daniels
BullsVision Exclusive: Carlton Mitchell
BullsVision Exclusvie: Chris Robinson
Head Coach Jim Leavitt
Opening Statement
"Miami is a very good football team. They are probably the most talented team we have faced up to this point. Cincinnati is very talented as well but I think Miami's line of scrimmage was a little bit stronger and had a little more speed throughout. Miami is a very good football team and they are better than we are. They are better at the line of scrimmage than we are and they got overall more depth and more speed throughout. When it was 21-10 in the third quarter our defense had stopped them a couple times and if our offense could have gone down and scored three points or a touchdown than we might of made the game more interesting.
"I am glad we played them and shows us where we are. We are not there yet. They are better team than us and will be interesting as we play them from year to year to see if and how we can close that gap. That is the vision I certainly have. We are one of the four BCS teams in the state of Florida. We have had some success against a number of other teams in Florida. We have lost twice to Miami and they have won more national championships than anyone else. They are one of the most prestigious programs in the country and it's a pretty high goal. It is a pretty tall order but it is really something I want to see how we can measure up to over the next couple of years to see if we can get to that level. We have shown at times that we have the abilities to compete at a high level like that. We haven't been consistent enough and that is something that has to change. We have to be able to play at a high level all the time. I am very excited about this group because it is a very young group to build with."
On UConn
"UConn is a outstanding team. You don't go into Notre Dame and beat them if you don't have a pretty good football team. We are going to have to play extremely well. If we play like we did last week we won't win the game. We are not going to stop their running game. Nobody has and probably nobody will, but you have to slow it down to have a shot at it. If we don't do that we will struggle. As we saw in the Miami game when you play good teams you can't turn the ball over because it is hard to overcome those kinds of things.
"We are still growing with B.J. We all see what he can be and we all see the talent. We all see that there is a real future there and he shows time and time again ability to do amazing things. We need to build around him and just be a little smarter with what we do. We need to protect the football and play defense. We have played some pretty good defense at times this year but not good enough for what we need to do. We will have to play UConn extremely well. It will be cold and we know that. Do we play well in those situations? At times we do and at times we don't. I think it is more of the team we are playing. They are big, physical, have good running backs, good big tight ends, some pretty good receivers, their defense is pretty sound and the quarterback has done an efficient job. It is a very good football team that we are playing."
Defensive Coordinator Joe Tresey
On UConn not giving up a lot of sacks because of running the ball so much...
"Well that helps quite a bit. When you line up two tight ends and two backs and you are able to run the ball up and down the field on people why worry about throwing the ball? They have a very good offense line. They are not as athletic at times as some of the other teams we have faced but they are just well coached. They put their bodies in the right position and they can overtake you if you don't watch yourself."
On if the offensive line will be bigger than USF's defensive line...
"I would say they are similar to Miami's offense line. That is a good assessment."
On if they will spend time in the base defense...
"I don't think there is any question that we are going to focus on that. When you look at them as a team personal wise their number one grouping is three wide outs and one running back. It seems like over the past two or three games, though, they have really settled into a lot more two back offense. We are focused on stopping the run first and foremost. There is no question about that."
On why it has been hard getting off the field on third downs...
"I think we have been putting ourselves in a position where they have been in third and short and third and medium. I think the successful third down teams get people in third and long. The more you are in third and long the less chance you have of getting a first down. We have not down a good job at times on first down and we have given people third and short and third medium situations way too much."
Offensive Coordinator Mike Canales
On Daniels...
"It is a process. He is a redshirt freshman and he is getting his first chance to really play. Obviously we were thinking this was going to be a year away before this situation, but he is going to grow. Every time he takes a snap he is learning. He is determined to play better and I am determined to put him in situations to help him play better."
On how Daniels has handled the ups and downs...
"He is turning into a young 18 or 19-year-old kid into a young man. He is learning what life is all about. We have talked to his parents about it and they think this is the best thing that could of ever happened to B.J. He is getting to learn what life is about. It is going to be like this in life. In life you are going to have goods and bads, highs and lows and ups and downs. It is all about how you handle it and how you bounce back. A lot of the things he is going through I can relate to because I have played the position. I can give him some examples of how I handled certain things. Having Matt around has helped a little bit too. It is just a constant reminder that this is a process that you will learn from and you will be better from."
On what impresses him the most about Daniels and how he's handled everything...
"I think he has learned not to read the paper's anymore. I think he understands that when it's good, it's good and when it's bad, it's bad and that is all part of how it works. When you are playing well everyone is good and when things are down, things are heavy on you and that is the part of the position that I think he is learning about along the way."
On UConn's pass defense...
"Yeah we feel like we can throw the ball. We go into every game feeling like if we execute and do things in the right situations then we can effectively throw the football. With this game you don't know how cold it is going to be and you don't know if there is going to be snow. Those things play a factor obviously. So there are some things schematically that we feel we can push the ball down the field a little bit and create problems. It's all about going out and executing and if we execute we will have a chance to push the ball."
Quarterback B.J. Daniels
On how important it is to get a win Saturday...
"It is very important. We want to have a winning record in the BIG EAST. That would be important for this season as far as the bowl game is concerned and it would be important for momentum next year."
On what it has been like on campus since becoming the starting QB...
"It has been different. I was kind of thrown into the fire this year. It has changed on a campus a little bit. I am not really an attention guy but I guess it just comes with the territory. It was kind of exciting at first but I guess it has run its course a little bit though."
On if not reading the paper comes with the territory...
"My senior year in high school I didn't do any interviews or anything like that. I stayed away from all aspects of the media. Even this year I don't go out and read the newspaper. Where I live I don't have newspapers coming to my house so everything in the newspapers and on the Internet I won't see anyway."
On if there are any favorable matchups Saturday...
"I didn't even know that. I watched them on film and I thought they were a pretty disciplined defense. They do blitz and they do come at you. Anybody can beat anybody on any night so we are just going into this game focused and just trying to make sure we do what we need to do."
