South Florida Defeats Cincinnati: Will the Bulls Down Rutgers Next?

There is no doubt that South Florida’s win against the Cincinnati Bearcats was much needed for a team that has struggled, not only on a divisional level but on a much larger national level. No need to go into detail about the countless turnovers on downs, the lack of offense, and the ten interceptions thrown in seven games; anyone who has seen a South Florida game prior to last Friday’s game had the same thoughts going in unison: Here comes another annual “South Florida-Cincinnati beat down”.

Imagine if the scenario was different, imagine a Cincinnati team that had won 14 straight Big East games, the first of which being South Florida on October 30, 2008. Picture a South Florida team that had not scored an offensive touchdown since Oct. 2nd against a weak Florida Atlantic team, scoring the last two games (both resulting in big “L’s” on the record) in a kick return and field goals. Imagine no more, for that was the reality of the game. That South Florida team that jump started Cincinnati’s dominance in the Big East in 2008, was the same team, desperate for a win, to knock down the reign of Cincinnati.

However much South Florida fans would love to identify Friday’s win as a turning point for the Skip Holtz era at the university (specifically, myself), do not expect a complete turnaround… yet. Although Friday night’s game was a preview for the potential that this team has, the team has to work on a needed component In order to seal this performance: consistency. If South Florida can pull the same form of game that was conducted against the Bearcat’s, the idea of South Florida winning a Big East title in the next five years is not an unreasonable goal.

That leads to the next question, what do we expect of South Florida this Wednesday when they take on Rutgers? A team that has been left in questioning to this year’s performance with losses to Tulane, North Carolina, and a dominate Pittsburgh. Both losses to the non-Big East teams, North Carolina and Tulane, (13-17 and 14-17 respectfully) were unexpected and unacceptable for the conference, whereas a lost to Pittsburgh was reasonable considering the power that Pittsburgh has had in the conference the last couple seasons (although the final score is important to note: 21 to 41).

If South Florida can perform with the power and effectiveness of execution as they did against Cincinnati, expect a scenario that is not typical with USF in the past, a win on a Wednesday night. However if South Florida falls into the slums that led to the losses of Syracuse and West Virginia, it could be a long night and even longer end of the season in the weeks ahead (Anyone hear of Miami?). Whether the performance be in the arm of BJ Daniels, the stronghold of the defense, or the intuition of the coaches; everything must collaborate and come together this Wednesday if Skip and company would like to make a statement about what is going on in Tampa; otherwise the only dominate football team in Tampa will be the ones in the Outback.