South Florida Bulls Stumble To Cincinnati in Search of Offense

Brother, can you spare a touchdown?

No truth to the rumor that Skip Holtz was seen this week on the corner of Fowler Ave. and 30th Street holding up that sign.

The South Florida Bulls are not exactly the talk of the town these days with that offense of theirs that is, for the lack of a better word, pretty offensive if you're forced to watch it.

Touchdowns? What touchdowns?

You may or may not be aware that Skip's old hangout, East Carolina, is an offensive juggernaut. The Pirates can score points in bunches, and they even beat their main rival, N.C. State, last Saturday in Greenville. Life goes on without Skip, so it seems.

As for USF, the Bulls go on national display for the second week in a row Friday night in Cincinnati. Hopefully there is a touchdown to be found somewhere between Tampa and Cincinnati, perhaps two. And it will take more than that with the offensive weapons at the Bearcats disposal.

You can start with last year's USF heartbreaker, one Zach Collaros, who got his team over the hump at Raymond James with a 75-yard touchdown run. He doesn't need to do that these days; all he has to do is let guys like Isaiah Pead and John Goebel run for yardage, and if that's not working, he can look for D.J. Woods and Armon Binns with the passing game.

USF will have to counter with some very, very stout defense and hope like all get-out that B.J. Daniels can emerge from his mental coma and make better decisions when he drops back to pass. Suffice to say that B.J. has got to be driving Skip totally nuts, if not worse.

And speaking of Holtz, there's already an insane sort of rumor that the elder Holtz, aka Dr. Lou on ESPN, is being bantered as next year's coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, with the idea that Skip would take over the helm shortly thereafter.

Nice to be wanted, even if your offense can't score.

Sorry for the digression.

Meanwhile, back in Cincinnati, the Bearcats still find themselves involved in the Big East title hunt: They're 1-0 with a good chance to be 2-0 come late Friday night.

The South Florida Bulls are already compiling a wish list for the recruiting trail. That's what happens when you start 0-2 in Big East play.

Still, USF does get the national spotlight with Cincinnati, and no doubt the announcers will talk about USF's speed and talent and how many great athletes there are down here in the state of Florida.

They'll talk about potential, and hopefully, USF will unleash what little it has in the desperate search for the end zone.

Brother, can you spare a touchdown?