The 2012 football season is a crossroads of sorts for the program. Last year, after finishing a disappointing 5-7 (1-6) the team missed a chance to go to a bowl game and failed to achieve anything in conference play, a tendency that has plagued the Bulls since joining the Big East back in 2005. This season, the anticipation is higher than ever as the fans and players want to reach the Big East title and with so much on the line, this is the year they need to do it. After this season, so much changes for the team, the program, and the Big East, so if the Bulls want to make history and get the job done, 2012 is the season.
Let's start with the team itself. There are 24 seniors on this team, including B.J. Daniels, Demetris Murray, Sam Barrington, Kayvon Webster, Maikon Bonani, and many others that have played a lot of football over their careers, but have not tasted the victory of a Big East championship. After missing a bowl game last season, Daniels stated that is was a very disappointing moment and a motivation for the entire team this season. This group of seniors wants to win the Big East title and they realize this is their last chance at it. It is critical they reach that goal because in 2012 because they will not have another chance after this and after leaving at the end of the season, the team will be younger and less experienced for 2013.
With so many seniors leaving, most of them being starters, the 2013 team will be younger and not as experienced as this squad. Yes, there are veteran players that will step into starting roles, but losing a starting QB, RB, LT, CB, S, 2 LBs, and a DT, that will have an effect on the team in the future. Holtz and staff have done a great job recruiting and bringing in young talent, but most of the younger players are unproven and will have to learn on the job in 2013 which could lead to growing pains and not as many wins. It is critical for the 2012 team and the seniors that are here to get the job done before they leave and the younger players are forced into the starting role.
Another reason the team needs to win this season is the favorable schedule they have in front of them, especially in conference play. The team gets many of their tougher conference rivals at home this season plus their out of conference schedule is somewhat favorable for them.. They get UTC and FSU at home and get to end the year on senior night at home as well against Pitt. The Big East is wide open this season (what else is new) with many teams having question marks surrounding their programs, leaving the Bulls with a senior laden team to be a front runner once again in the conference race. While the team has been a favorite before, they are even more so this season because of who they are facing and talent they have on the current roster. They get key games at home, including Rutgers at home early in the year in conference play, so they need to take advantage of this schedule. Another key to the schedule is WVU not being on the schedule this season (we will get to the shifting conference in just a bit).
The next reason they have to win this season, as I mentioned earlier with so many seniors leaving, is the recruiting trail and what the team is doing to bring in new talent and keep the roster stocked for the future. The Bulls are doing a solid job with 10 commits so far, but there is a lot of elite talent not just in the state, but in Tampa. The Bulls need to bring these players in and keep them in the bay area and not allow other programs to come in and take the talent right in the Bulls' backyard. Adding a talented star such as Vernon Hargreaves would be huge for the area and the team and would keep the team loaded with talent. The only way to do this is to win games and after going 5-7 last year, the team needs to right the ship and start winning more to attract the talent, beat out the other programs in the state that constantly take talent away from talent, and make them Bulls. While players will go where they want, a winning team and a conference championship are essentials to getting players to suit up for the green and gold. If the Bulls were able to win the Big East title, talent in the area would stick around the team and commit more often that not.
The next area and that involves the Bulls and something we mentioned before the is the schedule and the ever shifting college landscape. WVU is now headed to the Big 12, eliminating a team that has always been tough for the Bulls (thought it was a growing rival, but money talks). The Big East is changing, this season Temple joins and in 2013 a lot will change. Syracuse and Pitt will be gone and new teams such as Boise, San Diego, UCF, Houston, and SMU will join the Big East and down the road Navy and Memphis will join the new look for the Big East, making it harder and harder for the Bulls with new competition and now longer road trips heading out west to win the league. This is their season to get the job done with opponents they know and a home schedule that can take it on.
Another major reason for the Bulls to win the Big East title is that automatic BCS bid this season. Recently, the power conferences (not the Big East of course) got together and voted on a playoff system that would take the top 4 teams and put them into a tournament and the bowls would bid for those game and the title game. More recently, conferences have signed deals with major bowl games like the Orange Bowl and the ACC, locking up former BCS bowls to the power conferences, leaving other conference champs like the Bulls and the Big East looking outside hoping they can get an at-large bid to a major bowl and a chance at the playoff, but with no restrictions on how many teams from a conference that can get into a game, it hurts the Big East. So entering 2012, the Bulls have a chance to win the conference and get the BCS bid from the conference. Doing so would be bigger than most can imagine for the program and the players that have done so much for the team, but the question remains, can they do it?
2012 is key for USF. For the team, the senior class, this is their last chance to win the title and make history. After they leave, a new era will begin and a lot of holes will be open, but beyond the team, the Big East title is key for the program. The Big East is changing, the schedule is very favorable and after that the ever changing bowl series and major bowl bids are shifting, making it harder for teams that are signed to contracts to the big bowls to get into the new playoff mix.
2012 is a big year for the Bulls, it's time to break through and claim the title for the team and the city.
Another major reason for the Bulls to win the Big East title is that automatic BCS bid this season. Recently, the power conferences (not the Big East of course) got together and voted on a playoff system that would take the top 4 teams and put them into a tournament and the bowls would bid for those game and the title game. More recently, conferences have signed deals with major bowl games like the Orange Bowl and the ACC, locking up former BCS bowls to the power conferences, leaving other conference champs like the Bulls and the Big East looking outside hoping they can get an at-large bid to a major bowl and a chance at the playoff, but with no restrictions on how many teams from a conference that can get into a game, it hurts the Big East. So entering 2012, the Bulls have a chance to win the conference and get the BCS bid from the conference. Doing so would be bigger than most can imagine for the program and the players that have done so much for the team, but the question remains, can they do it?
2012 is key for USF. For the team, the senior class, this is their last chance to win the title and make history. After they leave, a new era will begin and a lot of holes will be open, but beyond the team, the Big East title is key for the program. The Big East is changing, the schedule is very favorable and after that the ever changing bowl series and major bowl bids are shifting, making it harder for teams that are signed to contracts to the big bowls to get into the new playoff mix.
2012 is a big year for the Bulls, it's time to break through and claim the title for the team and the city.
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