2008 magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl
Memphis (6-6) vs. South Florida (7-5)
Dec. 20, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Payout:
Not Available Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
2008 St. Petersburg Bowl History, Player Profiles, Best Bowl
Moments, & More
 |
|
National
Rankings |
|
South
Florida |
Memphis |
|
Total Offense |
|
38th 397.42 ypg |
22nd 432.17 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
13th 291.75 ypg |
52nd 341.92 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
54th 26.50 ppg |
44th 28.25 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
30th 20.50 ppg |
66th 26 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
51st 159.83 ypg |
18th 205.58 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
9th 97.67 ypg |
69th 146.25 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
39th 237.58 ypg |
47th 226.58 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
44th 194.08 ypg |
47th 195.67 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
94th -0.58 |
60th 0.00 |
|
South
Florida
UT Martin W 56-7
at UCF W 31-24 OT
Kansas W 37-34
at FIU W 17-9
at NC State W 41-10
Pitt L 26-21
Syracuse W 45-13
at Louisville L 24-20
at Cincinnati L 24-10
Rutgers L 49-16
Connecticut W
17-13
at West Va L 13-7 |
Memphis
at Ole Miss L
41-24
Rice L 42-35
at Marshall L 17-16
Nicholls St W
31-10
Ark St W
29-17
at UAB W 33-30
Louisville L 35-28
at E Carolina L 30-10
So Miss W
36-30
at SMU W 31-26
UCF L 28-21
Tulane W 45-6 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
USF |
5
highest
1 lowest |
M |
|
4 |
Quarterbacks |
3.5 |
|
3.5 |
RBs |
4 |
|
3.5 |
Receivers |
3.5 |
|
3.5 |
O
Line |
4 |
|
4 |
D
Line |
3 |
|
3.5 |
Linebackers |
3 |
|
3.5 |
Secondary |
3 |
|
3.5 |
Spec
Teams |
3.5 |
|
4 |
Coaching |
3.5 |
|
While South Florida is trying
shake off a humbling 7-5 season,
the staff at the St. Petersburg
Bowl is trying to control its
enthusiasm. The inaugural game
is thrilled to have landed the
local Bulls, whose campus is
about 30 miles from Tropicana
Field. While USF might be less
than jacked up to not be in a
bigger bowl, it’s not in a
position to be too upset
considering its bowl history, or
lack thereof.
This is only the third bowl in
the program’s young history, and
after getting blasted by Oregon
56-21 in last year’s Sun Bowl,
just getting a win would be a
positive step forward. Just
getting a win after losing four
of its last five games this year
would be nice, too.
Just where will South Florida’s
head be at kickoff? The school
had its sights on another
Florida game, such as the Orange
Bowl before skidding to an
unexpected 2-5 finish. The Bulls
closed out the regular season in
sixth place in the eight-team
Big East, hardly up to
expectations for a roster that
was loaded with veterans and
returning starters. Since
reaching No. 2 in the country
last October, South Florida has
gone just 10-9, causing some to
wonder out loud if head coach
Jim Leavitt has hit a wall with
the program. Leavitt can
ill-afford another uninspired
postseason effort from his team.
While a lack of motivation might
be an issue for South Florida,
Tommy West and Memphis won’t
have any such problems. The
Tigers have been outwardly
excited about the chance to beat
a BCS school in front of a
national audience, especially
one that bolted Conference USA
for the Big East three years
ago. Memphis overcame an 0-3
start and a bunch of injuries to
pick up the six wins required to
qualify for this game. While
this is the school’s fifth bowl
berth in the last six years, it
hasn’t been able to break
through with a signature
non-conference victory. Facing
South Florida in St. Petersburg
will provide that
opportunity.
Players to watch:
Although he remains the face of
the program, QB Matt Grothe
no longer strikes fear into
opposing defensive coordinators.
His decision-making just isn’t
getting better, as evidenced by
his 11 interceptions to three
touchdown passes over the last
five games. He’s got the
athletes to beat a poor Memphis
secondary, but has to stop
forcing the ball and trying to
do too much on every play. TE
Cedric Hill has been
underutilized throughout the
year, and should get more than
the three receptions he had in
the second half of the year.
On defense, DE George Selvie
continues to be the
headliner even if his numbers
plummeted from a year ago. A
dynamite athlete, who could
leave early for the NFL
following the game, he has the
explosive speed to change the
tenor of a game. He’ll be locked
up with Brandon Pearce,
Memphis’ best blocker and a
first team All-Conference USA
selection. LB Tyrone McKenzie
will be doing his part to
slow down the 18th-ranked
Tiger ground game, which has far
exceeded expectations in 2008.
Memphis wouldn’t have even
sniffed a bowl invitation had it
not been for the emergence of RB
Curtis Steele, the best
thing at the position since
DeAngelo Williams left for the
NFL three years ago. In his
first year out of Northwest
Mississippi Community College,
he became the fourth Tiger in
school history to rush for 1,000
yards in a season. That presence
of a running game has helped QB
Arkelon Hall, another
JUCO import, adapt to his new
role as the triggerman in the
spread attack. He can make plays
with his feet and has a deep
corps of receivers, led by
Carlos Singleton and
Maurice Jones. South Florida
has struggled at times breaking
in new corners Jerome Murphy
and Tyller Roberts, which
could give Hall the green light
to make a few over the top.
Memphis will win if...
Steele rushes for 100 yards. The
Tigers are 6-0 when the junior
has gone over the century mark.
They’ll need him to be that
productive in order to keep
drives going and keep the South
Florida defenders from pinning
their ears back and teeing off
on Hall. The Bulls have way too
much speed on the front seven
for Memphis to contain. The best
way to combat that mismatch is
by running right at them 50
times, and occasionally allowing
Hall to play-action his way to
long gainers through the air.
South Florida will win if...
it establishes a running game of
its own from someone other than
the quarterback. It’s painfully
obvious that the Bulls can’t
generate much offense when
everyone is standing around
watching Grothe try to make
plays by himself. Since blowing
out Syracuse on Oct. 18, South
Florida has averaged just 14
points in the last five games.
The ground game has been
inconsistent, despite boasting a
quality stable of backs that
includes Mike Ford,
Benjamin Williams, and
Jamar Taylor. The Bulls need
to get back to basics by
leveraging their edge in size
and talent in the trenches.
What will happen: Does
South Florida really want to be
here? If not, it could be in for
a four-quarter battle. Memphis,
on the other hand, is stoked
about this opportunity and is as
healthy as it’s been all season.
If the Tigers hang around long
enough and get Steele rolling,
the Bulls will be ripe for a
second postseason embarrassment
in as many years. It could
require a wake-up call from
Leavitt at halftime, but South
Florida will survive a gutsy
effort from the Tigers behind a
couple of late picks and 175
yards from the running game by
committee.
Line: South Florida -12.5
... CFN Prediction:
South Florida 34 ... Memphis
13
2008 St. Petersburg Bowl
History, Player Profiles, Best
Bowl Moments, & More