Bulls have chance to improve bowl status, regain some mojo

The lights 'will be on. The crowd will be loud and hostile.

National television cameras will be running.

And a season could stand in the balance.

For the University of South Florida football team, it will all seem so familiar Thursday night when the Bulls confront their favorite nemesis - the Scarlet Knights from Rutgers University in lovely Piscataway, N.J. They've been in this situation before against Rutgers, and it hasn't been pretty.

"It's the toughest crowd we face, other than West Virginia maybe," USF defensive end George Selvie said. "They talk smack the whole game. They try to get inside your head."

It seems to be working. It might be the place where college football was born, but lately Rutgers has been that point of the season where USF has gone to die.

The Bulls have lost three in a row to the Knights, including a bitterly disappointing 30-27 setback two years ago in New Jersey - also on ESPN, also on a Thursday night, also at Rutgers Stadium - when USF was 6-0 and ranked No..2 in the nation. It sent Rutgers fans storming onto the field in celebration and triggered a three-game tailspin that sent the Bulls careening out of the national conversation.
Then there was last year.

USF was humiliated 49-16 at Raymond James Stadium in one of the lowest points of Jim Leavitt's coaching career. It was just awful - the most points the Bulls ever allowed in Big East play.

"They came down here and gave us a pretty good whoopin,' " Selvie said. "This is my last chance against those guys."

He is 0-3 against the Knights.

So here we go again.

Actually, the Scarlet Knights are a lot like the Bulls.

They have the same 6-2 record.

They have lost to the same teams: Cincinnati and Pitt.

They both are led by freshman quarterbacks.

"A very good, very explosive football team," was how Leavitt put it. "Defensively, they present all kinds of problems."

That's challenge enough. Now you throw in the whole Thursday night experience and suddenly the bar gets raised several more notches. Ol' Rutgers Stadium will be filled to overflowing, and the atmosphere will be outstanding.

The crowd might have a special greeting for B.J. Daniels, the Bulls' marvelous young quarterback. He handled a trip to Tallahassee to face Florida State just fine, but a Thursday night trip to Rutgers for a conference game will be a lot more intense - guaranteed.

"That's a tough place to play," offensive coordinator Mike Canales said. "It's a great venue. The atmosphere will be fantastic. The student body will be riled up and ready to go, but (Daniels) has been on that spotlight when it was Florida State and a national game, and then two weeks ago when we played West Virginia.

"He has been at the forefront of a lot of different programs, like in high school. Everybody tried to defend him. I don't think it's something new for him. He just plays the game."

Rutgers will blitz all night because that's what the Knights do, but that just might be the chance USF is looking for to make a big play. Daniels' mobility can help him evade the rush, and if the Knights leave defensive backs in single coverage you might just see some quick strikes. Or Daniels could just find a seam and go from there himself.

"If they leave lanes open or leave a gap open, there are big-play possibilities for him to take off," Canales said.

The Bulls have a lot of reasons to feel good. They regained some mojo with an impressive victory against West Virginia in their last outing. They're back in the rankings. If the Bulls win, the consecutive losses to Cincinnati and Pitt would be forgotten. Possibilities would abound. The Bulls would climb in the rankings. It would give a little payback.

They are even favored by one point for Thursday's game.

It's a major opportunity. A victory would improve USF to 7-2 overall and would enhance its chances of finishing in the top half of the Big East - which would mean a better bowl trip.

It would represent the Bulls' second straight win before a national ESPN audience, and that is never bad for your image.

And it would get Rutgers off their backs. Considering everything, that might be the best thing of all.