NEED TO KNOW: USF needs a win to keep pace in the Big East Conference championship race. Pittsburgh is atop the league standings as the only team with fewer than two losses. ... The Bulls are 3-4 against the Panthers and have lost the past two meetings, including 41-14 last season in Pittsburgh. ... USF, riding a three-game win streak in conference play, has never won four consecutive conference games. ... The Panthers are 1-3 on the road and coming off a 30-28 loss at Connecticut, but they have not lost consecutive games this season. ... USF backup S JaQuez Jenkins (ankle) and backup OG Danous Estenor (knee) were ruled out. Neither CB Mistral Raymond (quad) nor OT Jamar Bass (ankle), starters who missed last week's game, were listed on the Bulls' official injury report.
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USF football going with '1-and-0 mentality'
This football season could have gotten away from the University of South Florida so many times. Beginning with the coaching chaos that led to Skip Holtz's arrival on Fowler Avenue and going through the 0-2 start in the Big East, the Bulls had multiple opportunities to lick the stamp on the 2010 season and look to a brighter future.
Turns out, the future at USF goes no further than the next practice, next play, or next game. Holtz calls it the "1-and-0 mentality." It does have a certain hypnotic quality, but to people who make a living selling newspapers it's boring as oatmeal.
I mean, seriously, one game at a time? How deep in the clich? book did Holtz have to look for that one? Never mind that it's actually working.
USF has arrived on the doorstep of arguably the most important game in school history. If they beat Pitt on Saturday, they'll be tied for first in the conference and in position with one game left to be no worse than co-champs.
The Bulls have played more celebrated games ? beating ranked West Virginia at home before a sold-out stadium, or beating Auburn on the road, to name a couple. In its 161-game history, though, USF only once has been in contention for the Big East championship this late in the season. That was at Connecticut in 2005.
This team is at home.
But ? getting veerrrrry sleepy ? must not look ahead ? keep repeating "1-and-0, 1-and-0, 1-and ?."
"The 1-and-0 mentality was something we started developing at East Carolina. We had beaten Virginia Tech and West Virginia and our team started climbing up the charts. Our players started drinking the Kool-Aid, and that's an age-old problem," Holtz said.
"I go back to when I was at Florida State and we were preseason No. 1. We went down to Miami and got beat 31-0. Being around this game long enough, you realize that when people start to look ahead you can't take care of what you have to do."
Since limping home from West Virginia on Oct. 22 after a 20-6 loss, USF's three wins have been by a combined 12 points, including last weekend's overtime win at Louisville. Even the "blowout" 38-30 victory at Cincinnati came down to the final play, with the Bearcats pushing close for a score.
A lot of "next plays" could have gone the other way in close ones like that, but didn't.
Something must be working.
"A lot of people wrote us off, but we'll keep trying to prove people wrong," running back Moise Plancher said. "Even when we were losing, when we watched film we could see it was always there ? we just made little mistakes to hurt ourselves."
Little mistakes can cascade into an avalanche that can sink a season, though, especially in a conference as balanced as this one. The Bulls certainly had a built-in excuse if the season went south, what with all the turmoil that accompanied Holtz's entrance into the program.
Instead of excuses, though, they found resolve to get better.
And how did that happen?
By going 1-and-0 three straight times.
Sheesh. Now he has me saying it.
"Just keep drilling it in," senior defensive back Mistral Raymond said. "Come out for practice every day and win that day. Just win today ? that's all you have to do. We never know what tomorrow will bring, so concentrate on winning today."
Since joining the Big East in 2005, the Bulls haven't finished higher than tied for third. They were tied for fifth last year and were sixth the season before that. It all seems different now, though.
Having seniors who could take the Bulls by the horns, so to speak, was huge. That leadership showed even as turmoil engulfed the program after last season and led to the coaching change.
"When this thing started to get rocky, (the seniors) got together and said we knew what position we wanted to be in," Raymond said. "That was always our focus no matter what was going on inside the program or outside."
By focusing on today and getting it right, USF is playing a game for stakes the Bulls never knew existed.
Just imagine, if they win Saturday, and then beat UConn, and Syracuse drops another game ?
Getting verrrrrry sleepy. Must think ? 1-and-0, 1-and-0, 1-and ?
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USF football going with '1-and-0 mentality'
This football season could have gotten away from the University of South Florida so many times. Beginning with the coaching chaos that led to Skip Holtz's arrival on Fowler Avenue and going through the 0-2 start in the Big East, the Bulls had multiple opportunities to lick the stamp on the 2010 season and look to a brighter future.
Turns out, the future at USF goes no further than the next practice, next play, or next game. Holtz calls it the "1-and-0 mentality." It does have a certain hypnotic quality, but to people who make a living selling newspapers it's boring as oatmeal.
I mean, seriously, one game at a time? How deep in the clich? book did Holtz have to look for that one? Never mind that it's actually working.
USF has arrived on the doorstep of arguably the most important game in school history. If they beat Pitt on Saturday, they'll be tied for first in the conference and in position with one game left to be no worse than co-champs.
The Bulls have played more celebrated games ? beating ranked West Virginia at home before a sold-out stadium, or beating Auburn on the road, to name a couple. In its 161-game history, though, USF only once has been in contention for the Big East championship this late in the season. That was at Connecticut in 2005.
This team is at home.
But ? getting veerrrrry sleepy ? must not look ahead ? keep repeating "1-and-0, 1-and-0, 1-and ?."
"The 1-and-0 mentality was something we started developing at East Carolina. We had beaten Virginia Tech and West Virginia and our team started climbing up the charts. Our players started drinking the Kool-Aid, and that's an age-old problem," Holtz said.
"I go back to when I was at Florida State and we were preseason No. 1. We went down to Miami and got beat 31-0. Being around this game long enough, you realize that when people start to look ahead you can't take care of what you have to do."
Since limping home from West Virginia on Oct. 22 after a 20-6 loss, USF's three wins have been by a combined 12 points, including last weekend's overtime win at Louisville. Even the "blowout" 38-30 victory at Cincinnati came down to the final play, with the Bearcats pushing close for a score.
A lot of "next plays" could have gone the other way in close ones like that, but didn't.
Something must be working.
"A lot of people wrote us off, but we'll keep trying to prove people wrong," running back Moise Plancher said. "Even when we were losing, when we watched film we could see it was always there ? we just made little mistakes to hurt ourselves."
Little mistakes can cascade into an avalanche that can sink a season, though, especially in a conference as balanced as this one. The Bulls certainly had a built-in excuse if the season went south, what with all the turmoil that accompanied Holtz's entrance into the program.
Instead of excuses, though, they found resolve to get better.
And how did that happen?
By going 1-and-0 three straight times.
Sheesh. Now he has me saying it.
"Just keep drilling it in," senior defensive back Mistral Raymond said. "Come out for practice every day and win that day. Just win today ? that's all you have to do. We never know what tomorrow will bring, so concentrate on winning today."
Since joining the Big East in 2005, the Bulls haven't finished higher than tied for third. They were tied for fifth last year and were sixth the season before that. It all seems different now, though.
Having seniors who could take the Bulls by the horns, so to speak, was huge. That leadership showed even as turmoil engulfed the program after last season and led to the coaching change.
"When this thing started to get rocky, (the seniors) got together and said we knew what position we wanted to be in," Raymond said. "That was always our focus no matter what was going on inside the program or outside."
By focusing on today and getting it right, USF is playing a game for stakes the Bulls never knew existed.
Just imagine, if they win Saturday, and then beat UConn, and Syracuse drops another game ?
Getting verrrrrry sleepy. Must think ? 1-and-0, 1-and-0, 1-and ?
