Bulls end season with promise for 2011 – Archive
Written by Crow's Nest Staff, Jan 10, 2011, 0 Comments
Photos by Lucas Cannistraci/Crow’s Nest
Greg Lindberg
Sports Editor
The first year of the Skip Holtz era at USF probably exceeded the expectations of many Bulls fans.
The Bulls concluded their 14th season of football with an 8-5 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the Big East—the same records they had last season. But they showed a little more promise and beat some bigger names than in 2009.
Defensive End, Patrick Hampton, celebrates a win against Western Kentucky 21-12.
In conference games, the Bulls finally beat Louisville on the road for the first time in school history. They also took down Cincinnati on the road and defeated Rutgers at home. Close losses to Syracuse and Connecticut could have gone the other way with just a few different plays here and there.
Outside of the Big East, USF beat two storied programs in the ACC. They got a monumental win over Miami—23-20 in overtime—to add a second team to their list of Florida schools they’ve now beaten. They also hung on against the Clemson Tigers by a score of 31-26 in the season-ending Meineke Car Care Bowl. This marked the Bulls’ first victory in a bowl game against a team from a BCS conference. The team also battled the Florida Gators for the first time but got trounced due to a flurry of turnovers.
Mistral Raymond, Safety, (16) runs to tackle Pittsburgh Running Back, Dion Lewis (28).
Quarterback B.J. Daniels had some struggles but also showed tremendous confidence in some games, making fans scratch their heads about how good the sophomore really is. He sustained a quadriceps injury in the Louisville game and was pulled during the Miami game for freshman walk-on Bobby Eveld, who helped lead the team to a win.
However, when he was healthy, he was wild throwing the football, particularly in the losses against Florida, Syracuse and West Virginia. On the season, Daniels had 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a respectable 120.35 QB rating.
Defensive End, David Bedford, defeated by Panthers 17-10 in a defensive game played against Pittsburgh at the Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.
On defense, the Bulls had one of the best units in the country. Their defensive play kept them in most games by making stops at critical times. Many defenders made a name for themselves, including safety Mistral “Skinny” Raymond, linebacker Sam Barrington, defensive back John Lejiste, and defensive tackle Terrell McClain.
Looking ahead, 2011 poses another challenge for the Bulls as they travel to Notre Dame to face the Fighting Irish and host the Miami Hurricanes at home. They will also play Ball State out of the Mid-American Conference and an old foe in UTEP out of Conference USA.
For a new head coach at a new program in a new state, Skip Holtz and the USF Bulls had a successful season that shows plenty of promise for the future. As B.J. Daniels continues to mature and the defense gets even better, the Bulls will be expected to contend for a Big East championship next season.
Justin Brockhaus-Kann, (18) is injured after his kick was blocked by Pittsburgh player, Andrew Taglianetti (not pictured.)
In spite of the Bulls’ success on the field, the average home attendance fell to 40,849 -- the lowest attendance average since 2006.
