Bulls' Losses are the Result of Four Different Screw-ups

I don't think anyone would disagree that USF would redo the entire past month if given the chance. After winning four games to start the season and climbing up to #14 in the polls, the Bulls dropped four conference games and are out of contention for the Big East title. Some might call it a bit of bad luck. Some may just call it a dry spell. Whatever it's called, it isn't good. And USF has themselves to blame. But what exactly lost those games for USF? After the jump, I'll look into the team's four losses and uncover what I think is responsible for each.

Scouting Pitt: Offense

#16 USF's Big East opener comes against an offense that gave them second-half fits to officially eliminate the Bulls from contention of the Big East title (turns out we didn't want that title anyway). This year, Pitt is without their two best players from last season, losing Jonathan Baldwin and Dion Lewis to the draft. Additionally, OL Jason Pinkston, both Tight Ends Nate Byham and Dorin Dickerson and secret weapon FB Henry Hynoski are also both gone, leaving Pitt with a touch less experience at every position. Running through the roster, we'll see just how much of a factor experience is.

Well It's Official, Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC

(From ESPN) As we all heard yesterday, Syracuse University and Univeirsty of Pittsburgh, the flagships of the Big East Conference had applied for membership into the Atlantic Coastal Conference. The ACC Council of Presidents voted on both member's candidacy last night and have announced this morning the unanimous decision to accept both Syracuse and Pitt's application into the ACC expanding its current membership to 14 schools. The time frame for transitions has yet to be announced, but more information will be released by the ACC when they hold a media conference today at 9:30 AM EST.

2011 Preseason Big East Blogger Poll Results

A few days after the release of the Big East media poll, in which South Florida was picked to finish third behind West Virginia and Pittsburgh, we bloggers across the conference have put together our own ballots reflecting how we feel the conference will shape up this year. The bloggers who submitted ballots were of course myself and Matt, Jim from HailWV, Scott from Bearcats Blog, Brian from Orange::44,Bryan from PittScriptBlog, Bryan from The Fighting Wannstaches, and our newest addition to the blogroll, Jerry from NJ.com. Before the final results, here's my ballot and Matt's ballot. As you can see, we're just as confident in the Bulls as we were at the beginning of the summer. The final results of the poll weren't quite as favorable for USF, as they were just barely overtaken for the #1 spot (Thanks a lot, Jim).

1	West Virginia	60
2	South Florida	56
3	Pittsburgh	49
3	Syracuse	32
5	Louisville	30
5	Cincinnati	30
7	Connecticut	17
8	Rutgers	14

Top 10 moments of 2010: Number 7

Number 7: Terrence Mitchell's end-around touchdown run

Sorry for the delay in posting, everybody, but apparently Blogger hates us and deleted my whole post that I wrote Saturday. Anyway, I'm back with the seventh best moment of the 2010 football season, and it's T-Rex's 45-yard end-around touchdown against Pittsburgh.

Pitt came to town for a match up that would determine who would remain in contention for the Big East race and who would be doing no more than playing spoiler for the rest of the season. As Bulls fans had grown to expect, the offense had been rather dull that day, and the defense was keeping USF alive. Going into the half, the Bulls had allowed a scant three points to Pitt. The outlook was good, except for the fact that they had only mustered a field goal for themselves too.

Out of the half, Ray Graham racked up over 50 yards on the way to the first touchdown of the game, giving Pitt a 10-3 lead. USF needed a spark to get themselves and crowd back into the game.

A run for a negative one yard loss and a weak 3-yard pass to fullback Richard Kelly had the Bulls facing another long 3rd down as they tried to get something going. Daniels threw another long pass that fell incomplete. Fortunately for USF, pass interference was called on the Pitt defensive backs, giving them another chance to salvage this drive.

Skip Holtz waited a few plays, but then proceeded to reach into his bag of tricks. He called punt returner Terrence Mitchell's number to get on the field and line up at receiver opposite Dontavia Bogan. Daniels received the snap and began rolling out to his right before pitching it back to Mitchell on the reverse. Mitchell wasted no time and immediately turned the ball up field, losing a few defenders in his path to the end zone. The play was just what USF needed. Fans were on their feet and screaming in excitement, and hope was restored that this season could still shape up to be a meaningful one. It was a refreshing emergence from Holtz's traditional ground-and-pound offensive strategy. Ultimately, however, Pitt outmuscled USF and effectively ended the Bulls' three-game winning streak and any hope of a BCS game this season.

Bulls Baseball's Season Ends in Bittersweet Fashion

The USF Baseball team entered the field knowing two things: They needed a win no matter what, and they needed a bit of help. If the Bulls got a win today, it would put them in good shape for a spot in the Big East Championship tournament as long as one of the teams ahead of them would lose.

Even if they could seal a win today, USF would need help in the form of a Seton Hall loss (vs. Georgetown), a Cincinnati loss (vs. Connecticut), or a Notre Dame loss (at Louisville).

By the way, they were giving out these sweet posters at the gate to the first 1000 fans to enter the stadium.

It was senior day, and after honoring all the graduating players, Kyle Parker got the ball to get this game started. The Seton Hall-Georgetown game was already underway. Georgetown had jumped out to a 2-0 lead by first pitch, and the Cincy and Notre Dame games were just beginning. Things looked promising for the Bulls early as Daniel Rockhold hit a 2nd inning solo home run to put USF ahead 1-0. At the same time as this, Notre Dame plated one run in the top of the 2nd to take the lead. Over in Cincinnati, the Bearcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third as well. Seton Hall cut Georgetown's lead in half to 2-1.

USF's lead stood until the 5th when Pitt LF John Schultz doubled to score a run, ending Parker's day. By this time, Seton Hall had taken a 3-2 lead, Notre Dame was up 2-1, and Cincy exploded for 4 runs, jumping out to a 5-2 lead. Things were not looking promising for USF. It got worse in the 7th, where Pitt tacked on another run on an RBI single by Schultz again, but the damage was minimized when a second run trying to cross the plate was gunned down by Chad Taylor. At the end of 7 it was 3-1 Pitt, 6-2 Cincinnati, 2-1 Notre Dame, and Seton Hall had won 6-3.

When the 9th came about, things looked all but over for South Florida. After Kevin Quackenbush made a throwing error in a pick-off attempt, sending the runner to third. He then struck out two more, but allowed an RBI single to increase Pitt's lead to 3-1. Cincy was up 7-2, so that game looked over, and Louisville was hanging around, but still trailing 2-1.

Then the bottom of the ninth came. Sam Mende drew a leadoff walk, followed by another walk to Daniel Rockhold. Alex Mendez ripped a single to load the bases with no outs. Todd Brazeal had a long at-bat, but closed it out with a walk to bring in a run. 3-2 Pitt, 7-3 Cincy, 2-1 Notre Dame.

Chad Taylor dribbled a ball in the infield, where Rockhold got thrown out at home, but a throwing error by the Pittsburgh catcher trying to turn a double play (which would have been USF's sixth double play of the day) sent Mendez across the plate and Brazeal to third. 3-3-in the USF-Pitt game, 7-4 Cincy, still 2-1 Notre Dame.

The Cincinnati game had just ended, 7-4, and there was one out with runners at the corners for USF. In more than one sense, this was their last chance. USF sent out Luis Llerena out to the batter box to try and get Brazeal home to walk off with a victory. The other games weren't in their minds right now. This was it. Llerena squared off to bunt, and sent a dribbler back to the mound. Pitcher Alex Caravella scrambled for the ball, losing control of it and having to dive to the ground to grab it. Brazeal raced home, but there was no play. Caravella never got a handle on the baseball, and Brazeal crossed the plate without a play. The entire USF team spilled out of the dugout and piled on Llerena at first base. The Bulls had won, the seniors were sent off with a win they'll remember forever, and the Louisville game was not yet over. There was still a chance. The score in Louisville was still the same in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and two on base, U of L's Drew Haynes grounded out to close out the game. 2-1 Notre Dame. The Cardinals weren't too worried about the loss, as they had clinched the sixth seed in the Big East Tournament.

USF got their first win in the new stadium with a walk-off against Elon. It seemed fitting that their last win of the season would be in such dramatic fashion. There really was only one word for today's victory: bittersweet. The win was the most exciting of the season, and the suspense of watching all the other games made it that much more interesting. Now USF has tallied a losing record for the second straight season for the first time in 30 years, and AD Doug Woolard has assured us that Coach Lelo Prado will indeed be returning next year. So, it looks like at least for the next few years this fantastic baseball stadium will be hosted by a mediocre team.

At least we have football.

Bulls Baseball Wins Game, Loses Control of Destiny

USF went into tonight's game vs. Pitt with one thing on their minds: If we lose tonight, we may as well not show up tomorrow.

With that out there, the Bulls took the field, led by starting pitcher Kyle Eastham, and got to work on keeping Pitt from grinding them out of contention for the Big East tournament. Coach Lelo Prado knew he needed Eastham to keep his game together long enough for the offense to start producing. What he got was a gem, possibly Eastham's best outing of his career. Eastham went through a streak where he retired 16 straight Pitt batters before getting struck with a comebacker on that 17th batter. He got the out, retiring his 17th straight, but was a bit shaken up. He proceeded to walk the next batter before allowing a two-run home run to David Chester. That turned out to be Pitt's only offensive damage of the night, however, as Eastham finished his outing with 7 innings pitched and only two earned runs on three hits. Junior Carlin closed out the game, allowing just one hit in the closing two innings.

Carlin also got a chance to add some insurance runs for himself. After closing out a perfect 8th inning, he slapped a 2-run single to right field to increase the Bulls' lead to 7-2. Alex Mendez hit a two-run homer, the second of his career. Jonahan Koscso was the most productive of the batters, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

As of now, South Florida is on the outside looking in, as they need to match the amount of wins by Seton Hall this weekend. Currently, Seton Hall has two wins over Georgetown, with the season closer tomorrow. USF plays at 1, but Seton Hall's first pitch is at 12:00. It goes without saying that I'll be watching the Seton Hall-Georgetown game on my phone at the stadium tomorrow afternoon. I think I speak for all of us here in Tampa when I say no one is a bigger Georgetown Hoyas fan than this guy.

So for tomorrow only, LET'S GO HOYAS!

Big East Football Preview: Pittsburgh

As the almost consensus preseason favorite last season, fans and fellow Big East-ers (except probably West Virginia) alike were understandably disappointed that the Panthers didn't live up to what many projected them to do. Pitt's unusual season ended with a series of events that led to the firing, hiring, firing, and hiring at the head coaching position. Out of the teams in the conference, Pitt has probably lost the most stars from last year, whether it was to graduation or to the draft. This year, with new head coach Todd Graham on the sidelines and a significantly less experienced team, the Pittsburgh Panthers may be in store for a pretty tough season.

2010 Record: 8-5, Big East Co-champions

As the season was winding down, Pitt lost to Connecticut and West Virginia, thus losing sight of an outright Big East championship. The Panthers athletic staff was clearly tired of perennial mediocrity and fired coach Dave Wannstedt. In their down time between the end of the regular season and their BBVA Compass Bowl game against Kentucky, Pitt hired, then fired Miami (Ohio) coach Mike Haywood. Interim coach Phil Bennett, previously the defensive coordinator for the team, led the Panthers to a resounding 17-point victory in their bowl game before Pitt's AD decided to head down to Tulsa to pick up Todd Graham to lead the program. Graham will unfortunately be without a good amount of the talent of last year's team, as many of the team's most important players went to the draft this past season. Perhaps the biggest hole left for the team is on the defensive line, where Pitt's Greg Romeus, Jabaal Sheard, and Brandon Lindsey have all graduated and moved on. They also had their two most productive offensive players drafted in Dion Lewis (Eagles) and Jonathan Baldwin (Chiefs). Needless to say, there will be no shortage of growing pains for Pitt this year, and it may turn out to be a year where Pitt just fast forwards to basketball season.

The good news is that Pitt doesn't start with the hard schedule until Week 3. They open with Buffalo and Maine before traveling to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, then to Notre Dame, then to USF. That three-game stretch may be the hardest out of the entire Big East (except maybe USF's, who plays Miami, Louisville, and West Virginia consecutively to close out the season). That rough part in the early half of the schedule combined with a new coaching squad and the losses of their top players could all be a recipe for a long rebuilding year for Todd Graham.

This season will be successful if: Pitt can win 8 games again. Last year, Pittsburgh won 8 games and it was unsatisfactory for Wannstedt's bosses' standards (actually, Wannstedt only won 7 games). This year, in a rebuilding season with a new coach and new blood on the field, 8 wins should satisfy the fans and the people upstairs. But with Iowa, Notre Dame, and Utah on the non-conference schedule, they may just have to wait until the bowl game to get that 8th victory.

2011 Record: 7-6. I have a seriously hard time believing that with a new staff and the losses they endured that Pitt can beat any of those BCS (and Notre Dame) opponents. What's going to be even harder is playing USF and West Virginia. If all goes the way I plan, that's five losses already. Add one more fluke loss to Syracuse or Louisville, and you've got a team that will be lucky to make a bowl game. I think they'll have a 6-6 regular season, but their team and coaches are too good to lose a bowl game to another 6-6 team. Much like Louisville last year, they'll probably get matched up against an average-to-pretty good mid-major team and get over the .500 mark there. Allow this as speculation only, but I do think Tulsa might win C-USA West and see Todd Graham in the 2012 Beef O'Brady's Bowl.