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Tresey hoping for 2nd Toronto win in 4 years
The International Bowl is only in its fourth year, and while no teams have made repeat appearances in Toronto, USF defensive coordinator Joe Tresey has a chance to pick up his second Rogers Centre win on Saturday when the Bulls take on Northern Illinois.
Tresey was part of Brian Kelly's Cincinnati staff when the Bearcats beat Western Michigan in the inaugural bowl after the 2006 season, following Kelly for a rare bowl coaching debut after both coached at Central Michigan that year.
"We did the Central Michigan Motor City (bowl) and then turned around and came and did this game," said Tresey, who stayed with the Chippewas with their interim coach, then joined Kelly in Cincinnati, winning two bowl games in a span of 12 days.
Tresey said he's looking forward to Saturday's game, but his goal is to make a different return -- to a BCS bowl, as he coached with Cincinnati last season, losing to Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
"Your goal is to get to a BCS bowl," Tresey said. "That's what you want. We're happy to be in a bowl instead of sitting at home, but we'd like it to be a bigger bowl."
Huskies' coach: USF defense has SEC speed
Northern Illinois has played well in games against BCS-conference teams in Wisconsin and Purdue this season, but when asked if any opponent reminds him of the USF team he'll face Saturday, coach Jerry Kill said it's the Tennessee squad his team faced last year.
"As far as having athletic defensive players -- the defensive ends are great players, but the whole athletic ability of their football team is like a team in the Southeastern Conference," said Kill, remembering safety Eric Berry, who had an interception against his team. "We haven't seen somebody like that since Tennessee."
NIU held its own at Tennessee, losing 13-9 in Knoxville, and the Huskies played well this season against its toughest opponents, getting a road win at Purdue and losing 28-20 at Wisconsin.
NIU's top rusher, running back Chad Spann, said USF's defense reminds him of Wisconsin, which had an elite pass-rusher in defensive end O'Brien Schofield, who finished second in the nation with 22.5 tackles for loss in the regular season. Schofield had seven tackles against NIU, including 2.5 for losses. ... Read more
Greetings from Toronto
This might be the first international post in the blog's four-plus years -- I walked down to Juarez when the Bulls were in El Paso in 2007, but didn't blog anything while I was down there. I'm here in Toronto now, with less than two days until USF plays Northern Illinois in the International Bowl.
Driver on the ride in from the airport deadpanned that it's not that cold at 2 over, and once you realize he's talking Celsius, he's right, at least compared to a few days back when it was 10 degrees in town. The media hotel here in Toronto is the Renaissance Downtown Toronto, which is part of the Rogers Centre, where Saturday's game will be played, so we're right in the middle of things downtown.
We'll have lots to come in the next 48 hours, with news, notes and links. I'll start with this ridiculous video from USF, which shows defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul doing 13 consecutive back flips on the field here at Rogers Centre ...
Louisville pulls away from USF in opener
USF made it close for a half, but the Bulls couldn't keep up with Louisville, falling 73-52 on Wednesday night at Freedom Hall in the Big East opener for both schools.
The Bulls (10-3, 0-1) got double-doubles from junior Jarrid Famous (12 points, 10 rebounds) and freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (11, 11) but saw guard Dominique Jones limited by foul trouble to just five points. USF hit less than half of its free throws (13-for-27) and went 1-for-9 on 3-pointers, with walk-on Ryan Kardok hitting the only one while playing 27 minutes. Louisville, which led by just one point at halftime, got 16 points and five assists from senior guard Edgar Sosa.
We reported in Wednesday's paper that point guard Justin Leemow hadn't practiced with the team since before Christmas, and he made it to Louisville on Wednesday afternoon. Coach Stan Heath had said he didn't expect Leemow to play, but with depth issues, the sophomore played nine minutes, with five turnovers and two points. ... Read more
USF's Mitchell says he'll be back for senior year
USF junior receiver Carlton Mitchell said Wednesday that he submitted his name to the NFL's advisory board for underclassmen considering entering the NFL Draft, but intends to return to play his senior year with the Bulls in 2010.
"I sent in my name, but just to see," said Mitchell, who is already USF's career leader in receiving yards. "I don't have any plans of leaving. I'm looking forward to my senior year, to playing for a Big East championship, to playing Florida, and having my last game on senior day."
Mitchell leads the Bulls in catches (34) and receiving yards (612) despite missing two games and being limited in the last two games by a high ankle sprain. Mitchell said Wednesday that he's back to 100 percent physically, and putting in extra time in preparation for Saturday's International Bowl against Northern Illinois. While some players were on a bowl trip to see Toronto's CN Tower, one of the tallest structures on the planet, Mitchell said he was squeezing in an extra film session with offensive coordinator Mike Canales. ... Read more
QB Daniels excited about first bowl game
In three months, redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels has become entrenched enough as USF's starting quarterback that it's easy to forget that Saturday's International Bowl will be his first bowl experience.
Last year, Daniels didn't participate in the St. Petersburg Bowl or any of the practices leading up to it, leaving the football team after the regular-season finale at West Virginia to begin his time as a walk-on guard on USF's basketball team.
"I'm just taking it all in," Daniels said Monday before the Bulls flew to Toronto to face Northern Illnois. "This is all new to me. It's exciting to play in my first bowl. All the guys are really showing me the ropes."
When the Bulls and Huskies kick off Saturday, it will be four weeks since USF last played, in a last-second loss at Connecticut. Daniels scored a go-ahead touchdown with 40 seconds left -- his third rushing score of the night -- but Connecticut won on a field goal as time expired. ... Read more
Leemow unlikely to play for USF vs. Louisville
As if playing at Louisville weren't enough of a challenge, USF will open Big East play even more shorthanded, as the Bulls will face the Cardinals without sophomore point guard Justin Leemow, who hasn't practiced with the team since before Christmas.
Coach Stan Heath said Monday that Leemow had been excused from the first three practices after Christmas so he could attend the baptism of his nephew and niece in New York. He was expected to return to Tampa on Monday, but did not and wasn't on the team flight to Louisville. Heath said Tuesday that Leemow was expected to join the team on Wednesday afternoon, but after missing all the practices in preparation for Louisville, he said "I don't see him playing" against the Cardinals.
Leemow has averaged 20.5 minutes per game this season, and his absence leaves the Bulls with only eight players, including walk-on Ryan Kardok. Leemow was only scoring 2.5 points per game, and USF will get more depth in two games when sophomore point guard Anthony Crater joins the team. ... Read more
Toronto brings back hockey memories for Landi
Only about eight USF football players had passports before the Bulls were invited to Saturday's International Bowl in Toronto, but receiver and backup quarterback Evan Landi was certainly one of them.
Landi, a redshirt freshman, said by phone Tuesday that he's been to Canada "five or six times," all during his days as a junior hockey prospect, including summer tournaments in Toronto.
"I think it's ironic," Landi said, "that I come back here for football."
As we wrote back in April, the 6-foot-3, 214-pound Landi was a legitimate hockey prospect entering his senior year of high school, and flew to Ontario for a workout with the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL before ultimately choosing college football for his sporting future. ... Read more
Big East basketball: How good can Bulls be?
USF's men's basketball team opens Big East play on Wednesday night at Louisville, and after a 10-2 nonconference record, the Bulls are optimistic of reaching unprecedented success in league play. The question that remains: Just how many conference games can the Bulls win out of 18 possible?
USF's RPI rating, according to CollegeRPI.com, is 108th nationally, which is relatively strong for the Bulls since joining the Big East. What's tough is that RPI rating ranks 13th among the 16 Big East schools -- the league has six teams in the RPI top 25, in West Virginia (4), Connecticut (6), Syracuse (9), Villanova (15), Georgetown (17) and St. John's (25). There's a big dropoff from Pittsburgh (33) to a bunch of teams probably on the outside of the NCAA bubble looking in -- Louisville (68), Cincinnati (72), Seton Hall (75), Notre Dame (85), Marquette (104) and then USF at 108. The only schools ranking lower are Providence (125), Rutgers (150) and DePaul (177). ... Read more
Bulls get passports, head to Toronto
USF's football team heads off to Toronto this afternoon after a final on-campus practice Monday morning in preparation for Saturday's International Bowl against Northern Illinois.
One major hurdle has been cleared, as USF got passports for its travel party in time for the international trip. USF coach Jim Leavitt said that one player, junior running back Jamar Taylor, could not get a passport and will not make the trip, but Taylor has been limited by a knee injury and didn't play in the last month of the season.
Leavitt said that junior receiver Jason Sherman, who has not caught a pass this season, tore an Achilles tendon in practice last week and will not play, though he will make the trip with the team.
Junior guard Zach Hermann, who has missed the second half of the season with a bulging disc in his neck, will not play, Leavitt said, adding that junior Jake Sims is "doubtful" as he recovers from a late-season concussion.
True freshman cornerback Kavyon Webster missed about 10 days with a bad case of the flu, Leavitt said, but he's expected to play in the bowl game. ... Read more
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