Front-page profile in today's Times on USF senior cornerback Tyller Roberts, perhaps the most significant of a handful of Bulls from the Orlando area who are making trips back home this weekend. Roberts is a good story, and I was really pleased with the portrait that Times photographer Brian Cassella got Wednesday.

Roberts, for all his confidence, is also a rare example of patience in college football, someone who didn't get to start but one game in his first three years, stuck behind two NFL-caliber talents. His high school coach at Edgewater said it's the kind of scenario that often leads players to transfer to smaller schools where playing time might come easier, but Roberts instead saw a chance to make the most of a role like nickel defensive back until his time had come. He enters this season with 55 career tackles and as much experience as a player can have with two career starts.

UCF returns its top three receivers from last season -- Rocky Ross and Kamar Aiken both had more receiving yards in 2007 than any USF receivers, and both have good size at 6-foot-2, though Aiken is expected to miss the game with a foot injury. I can see USF's defense stacking the line of scrimmage to stop the run, challenging the Knights to beat them through the air, which puts Roberts and Jerome Murphy in key positions to stop big passing plays.