By JIM LOUK
GoUSFBulls.com
The Bulls carry their No. 20 ranking into a Saturday night matchup with Florida A&M. It'll be the first time the Rattlers and Bulls have met on the football field since Sept. 10, 2005.
The one thing I remember most from that game six years ago was looking in confusion at the stands at halftime.
The break started and nobody moved. I mean nobody. Then a few minutes later I saw the Florida A&M band for the first time and understood why no one left their seats at halftime.
They'll be performing Saturday, and I know our own Herd of Thunder is preparing for a special night also, so make sure you enjoy both bands this weekend.
Football of course will be the main business, as the Bulls look to move their record to 3-0. If their first two games are an indicator, there are two things we can expect from the Rattlers.
On offense, they will throw more than they will run. And on defense, at some time everyone up to and including the band director will come on a blitz.
I know Florida A&M's overall record against FBS opponents isn't that good, but the Rattlers have great athleticism, are very well coached, are willing to take some chances, and are a lock to play hard.
There also is the intangible of a lot of Florida kids getting together on both sides of the field. Any in-state game involves some bragging rights, and Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media I don't really understand will probably be heating up this weekend.
From talking to Skip Holtz, Mark Snyder and Todd Fitch this week, they all seem ready to see a little more productivity from the second-team Bulls. We'll see if they deliver this weekend.
One other note; the start time for USF-UTEP on Sept. 24 has been announced. It will be a 7 p.m. kickoff.
I hope you can make it out to Raymond James Stadium for both of these upcoming games. After Sept. 24, unless you can make it to a road game, you'll have quite a USF football dry spell. The Bulls play exactly one home game (Cincinnati on Oct. 22) in the 55 days between Sept. 24 and Nov. 19.
As always, we'll be ready to go on the radio side beginning with the pre-game at 5 from the Bulls Zone in the south parking lot. The game will air on 970 WFLA and affiliates around the state on the USF-IMG Network. Our friends at Brighthouse Sports Network will handle the TV side.
See you Saturday night!
GO BULLS!
