USF Bulls try to treat Gator week like any other week

TAMPA — Saturday's game at No. 4 Florida is a huge opportunity for USF — a game fans have been awaiting for years. But the Bulls hope to improve their chances of playing well by treating the trip as they would any other game.

"It'll be exciting," QB B.J. Daniels said. "I was looking forward to going to Florida State (last season), and I'm definitely looking forward to Florida. But I'm a road guy. I like seeing the different stadiums and atmospheres. That's the cool thing about college football."

Several Bulls have been in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium before. Daniels played in an AAU basketball tournament at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville and walked across the street to check out the empty stadium. Saturday, it will have about 90,000 fans in it, making it the second-largest crowd ever to see the Bulls, trumped only by a game at Penn State in 2005.

Having said that, the younger players especially are trying to limit the awe factor by, again, approaching this week the same way they did I-AA Stony Brook, with no disrespect intended.

"We're going to treat it just like any other week," freshman QB Bobby Eveld said. "Obviously, people are going to jack the game up like it's the biggest game in the world, but we're just going to do what we did to get ready for Stony Brook.

"I don't think we're going to focus too much on the Florida vs. USF thing. We're more focused on being 1-0 this week."

INJURY UPDATE: Redshirt freshman DE Ryne Giddins, held out of the opener with a blister on his foot, practiced Sunday and said he'll be fine to play at UF. … S Jerrell Young, who left Saturday's game with a sprained ankle, practiced and said it wouldn't keep him from playing.

Second glance: The blocked punt recovered in the end zone for a touchdown in Saturday's win was initially credited to S JaQuez Jenkins. But replays showed the block was made by walk-on S Chris Lane, who also landed on the ball for the touchdown.

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@sptimes.com and at (813) 226-3346.