Just back from the first half-hour of Monday night's practice, where receiver Taurus Johnson, expected to miss 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury, watched while wearing a protective boot on his right foot. Starting tackle Walt Walker, expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a strained MCL in his right knee, was not at practice.

The Bulls lined up in position drills with senior Jared Carnes at left tackle, with the rest of the starting line as expected -- Ryan Schmidt at left guard, Jake Griffin at center, Zach Hermann at right guard and Marc Dile at right tackle. Guard Matt Huners, who has not played since undergoing knee surgery this spring, was not practicing with the offensive line.

The Bulls, who had allowed just eight sacks in their first six games, gave up seven in Thursday's loss to Rutgers, five after Walker was sidelined. If the Bulls don't want to go with Carnes in the starting lineup, another possibility would be bringing senior Nick Capogna, last year's starting center, in as a starting guard and sliding either Schmidt or Hermann outside to a tackle position.

The second line in position drills, for what it's worth: Danny Tolley at left tackle, Sampson Genus at left guard, Capogna at center, Jeremiah Warren at right guard and Jacob Sims at right tackle.

By the way, ESPN has selected the Nov. 3 USF-Cincinnati game as a six-day option, meaning Bulls fans won't know the kickoff time for USF's next home game until Sunday or Monday. There are six options for the game: a 3:30 p.m. afternoon kickoff for regional broadcast on ABC; a pre-time kickoff for national broadcast on ABC; a noon kick for ESPN or ESPN2 or a 7:45 or 8 p.m. kickoff for prime time on ESPN or ESPN2. So on sheer probability, you have a 50/50 chance at a prime-time kickoff. (Groan).