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You may recall that it's football season.

Sixteen days is a long road between games, but it's almost time to re-start the engines.  The Bulls will play Connecticut in East Hartford at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Bulls football trips to UConn have been pretty memorable, both for good times and bad.  The first game was 11 years ago this month, on Oct. 28, 2000.  The Bulls and UConn were both on the cusp of going to 1-A football.  The Huskies were in a provisional 1-A year, so when USF beat them 21-13 that day, it marked the Bulls' first win over a 1-A program. 

The game was played on campus at the old Memorial Stadium at Storrs in cold temperatures and high winds.  My clearest memory of the day was a Bill Gramatica field goal attempt that got past the line of scrimmage and then was literally pushed backwards by the wind.  Remember Gramatica had a strong enough leg to kick in the NFL and kick a 63-yard field goal for the Bulls in 2000, so that is a good indicator of the field conditions that day.

By the time of the next trip, for Big East play in 2005, UConn had moved to Rentschler Field.  That's where the happy stories end and the frustrations begin. 

USF's first appearance in the new stadium was on Nov. 26, 2005.  The Bulls offense sputtered and stalled most of the day, but there were multiple opportunities.  It was one of those games you were sure you were winning until you double-checked the scoreboard.

Then there was a pass play to wide receiver Jackie Chambers. 

I can still see it. 

Play-by-play guys can get caught worrying about calling plays like this... a big play happens out of the blue and you get one shot at it.  If you blow the call there is no going back to fix it.  You just live with all the replays and kick yourself for not being better.  Most broadcasters, however, will tell you that for every two or three you'd like to have back, there is one play call you just love, where everything just clicks and the words come out magically.  Such was the case for me on the Chambers play.

Chambers made the catch, twisted and turned, broke tackles, stumbled forward, broke some more tackles, and finally dove/collapsed in the end zone for a long touchdown, and I was on it every step of the way.

 Just the proper words, just the proper tone.

 Nailed it.

While catching my breath for a moment at play's end my friend Mark Robinson, always on point, made his two word contribution to the moment.

"Flags down."

Of course it was on USF, so my call went to the scrap heap.  Much more importantly, the moment kind of summarized the day, as the Bulls lost 15-10.

There was a similar result in 2007.  UCONN 22, USF 15.  And then in December 2009 in the snow, a long Dave Teggart field goal at game's end. UCONN 29, USF 27.

So the Bulls are due.  After breaking through in Louisville and Cincinnati last year, USF will look for a first win in East Hartford.  As we say so many times, the run game is a key factor.  UConn runs the ball very well, and its defense stops teams from running the ball at all.

The Bulls are focused, though, and ready for a good performance.  Sixteen days of prep will do that for you.

Joins us for our radio pregame at 1:30 p.m. on 970 WFLA Tampa and affiliates around the state.  TV coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. on the Big East Network.

This is one of only two USF games in October, so enjoy.  The Bulls are back home next Saturday against Cincinnati.