South Florida Bulls head into October, a tough month of late

TAMPA — For the third year in a row, the Bulls enter October undefeated, but after Saturday's 17-7 win at then-No. 18 Florida State, USF's challenge is to improve on a 3-5 October record over the past two seasons.

"It's the same deal," coach Jim Leavitt said. "We talked before the game that whether we won or lost, we had to move forward from this game."

Up next is a Big East opener at Syracuse, which has won back-to-back games for the first time in nearly three years, beating Northwestern and Maine.

"They're very different from what they've been the last four years," said Leavitt, whose team has won its past two games at Syracuse by a combined 58 points.

Leavitt said Saturday's win was the biggest in school history, but it didn't get the Bulls (4-0) into the Top 25 in either of the major polls — USF is 27th in the coaches' rankings and 29th in the Associated Press media poll.

BIG PLAYS: USF's longest play from scrimmage last season was 47 yards, but it already has had six passes of 50 yards or longer in four games under first-year offensive coordinator Mike Canales. Saturday's long passes — 77 yards to Theo Wilson and 73 to Sterling Griffin — rank among the 10 longest pass plays in Bulls history. Senior QB Matt Grothe had one 70-yard pass in his four-year career.

TOUGH D: USF has held three of its four opponents to seven points or fewer, impressive considering it had done that just four times in the previous four seasons since joining the Big East in 2005. The Bulls had faced a weak schedule until Saturday but still rank among the nation's top defenses — No. 2 in scoring defense and No. 5 in pass defense. They have the nation's toughest third-down defense, holding opponents to a 19.2 percent conversion rate, and have the No. 2 red zone defense, giving up three TDs and two field goals in 10 trips inside the 20-yard line.

THIS AND THAT: FSU's four lost fumbles matched the most by a USF opponent and was the most in more than 10 years. … USF has allowed 27 points, the best four-game stretch in school history. The previous mark was 33, set in the first season in 1997. There hasn't been a four-game stretch of fewer than 48 points in the past decade.

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@sptimes.com and at (813) 226-3346. Check out his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/usf and follow him at Twitter.com/gregauman.