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LEAVITT HAD TOUGH CALLS VS. LOUISVILLE

 
Published Oct. 29, 2008|Updated Oct. 29, 2008

Here's the situation: You're trailing late in the first half, you're inside your opponent's 10-yard line with six seconds on the clock. Do you take one quick shot at the end zone or play it safe and go for the field goal?

On Saturday, USF coach Jim Leavittinitially sent his offense out, then used all three timeouts - Louisville also used two - before deciding to send Maikon Bonani out for the kick from the Louisville 8. To oversimplify things in hindsight, he settled for three points and his Bulls wound up losing by four.

"Six seconds, I really wanted to go for the touchdown," Leavitt said Sunday. "I didn't let my emotions go (take over) and did the right thing. You'd need at least eight seconds (to feel safe)."

The field goal got USF within eight points, and the Bulls led in the fourth quarter. A day later, the NFL offered a similar posit, with the Cowboys at the Bucs 3 with six seconds left in the half. They went for it, got a quick touchdown to Roy Williams and ended up winning by four.

"Did they throw a fade?" Leavitt asked. "That's what we were talking about. The problem is, if that ball's not in and out of the quarterback's hands, if we didn't get it, I would have been second-guessed from here to tomorrow. I wanted points. I didn't want to do all that work and come away with no points. It was tempting. Very tempting."

Leavitt had another interesting choice to make when USF scored a touchdown to cut Louisville's lead to 14-12 late in the third quarter. A penalty on the two-point conversion backed the Bulls up to the 18-yard line. Leavitt opted for the extra point to trail 14-13 with a quarter left. How much thought did he give to going for two again?

"Zero," he said. "It's a low-percentage shot. There's a lot of time. ... I made all the right calls. Sometimes I question what I did, and I'm usually pretty open about that."

STILL IN IT: The sheer parity of the Big East - seven teams have lost in the first 11 league games - means USF isn't out of the picture for a league crown and BCS berth.

If the Bulls win out, if Connecticut beats West Virginia on Saturday and the Pittsburgh-Louisville winner loses another game, USF would be in a crowded tie for first place, from which the highest team in the BCS standings - likely the Bulls - would take the league's BCS berth. Those first five words are still the biggest hurdle in any scenario.

WATCH PARTY: Fans wanting to watch Thursday's football game at Cincinnati can come to the Sun Dome for the second annual Bulls Frenzy, with the game on the arena's video screens and appearances by both basketball teams. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Should the Rays still have a World Series game, there will be updates from Tropicana Field.

SOCCER UPDATE: USF's men,6-3-1 in Big East play after Tuesday's 1-0 loss at Cincinnati, need to win their last game to clinch a first-round bye in the conference tournament. USF hosts Rutgers at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Bulls, who have gotten eight shutouts from Jeff Attinella, a Countryside graduate, would host a quarterfinal Nov. 8 with a win, and will host the league's Final Four on Nov. 14-16.

THIS AND THAT: Condolences to USF defensive line coach John Hendrick, whose father, also named John, died last week in New Jersey at age 78. He had suffered a stroke last year. ... Just so Bulls fans don't go drinking just any chocolate milk, USF announced last week that Nesquik had been signed as the "official flavored milk provider" of USF athletics. Football players now get a free bottle - the strawberry goes fast - after practice.

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

UP NEXT

USF: at Cincinnati, 7:30 Thursday, ESPN

UF: vs. Georgia, 3:30Saturday in Jacksonville, Ch. 10

FSU: at Georgia Tech, 3:30 Saturday, Ch. 28

Miami: at Virginia, noon Saturday, Ch. 44