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USF Football First Look: Bulls vs. Connecticut Huskies

An affront to college football may break out in Tampa on Saturday night, but the game will still be played as scheduled, so you might as well get informed.

By chuckycrater
Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

You can understand why our motivation might be flagging a little bit. USF has lost six straight for the first time ever, and this Saturday night's matchup with the Connecticut Huskies could be both teams' only chance at a conference win. We both hate our coaches and want them fired, we both want basketball season to start as soon as possible, and we both want desperately to get out of watching this game. But since that won't happen, here's everything you need to know about this one:

GAME: South Florida Bulls (2-6, 0-4 Big East) vs. Connecticut Huskies (3-5, 0-3 Big East)
WHERE: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
DATE/TIME: Saturday, November 3, 7:00pm Eastern
TV/RADIO: ESPNU, 98.7 FM The Fan
TICKETS: Better act fast! There may be as few as 40,000 empty seats at this game!

The Bulls are 4-5 all-time against the Huskies, including two wins before either team joined the Big East. The five losses have all come since 2005, usually in the most painful and/or howlingly stupid ways imaginable. (See also: name of blog.) Let's get to know UConn a little better:

CONFERENCE: Big East (9th year). While Connecticut has always played Big East basketball, their football program moved up to the FBS level and joined the conference in 2004. The Huskies' 2010 conference title almost single-handedly destroyed the league's national reputation, such as it was. And then their coach cashed it in for the Maryland job and is starting a backup linebacker at quarterback this week. So there's that.
WEB SITE: UConnHuskies.com
2012 SEASON: While there wasn't as much expected out of UConn this season as there was out of the Bulls, the Huskies are still a disappointment. Despite having one of the best defenses in the country, that effort is being wasted on a behind-the-times, often completely ineffective offense. Paul Pasqualoni and offensive coordinator George DeLeone refuse to play to their obvious strength (throwing the ball) and that's left UConn struggling to move the ball and score points. Their only wins this season are against UMass, Maryland, and Buffalo, and in their last game against Syracuse, the Huskies laid down to the Orange and lost 40-10.
SB NATION BLOG: The cleverly titled The UConn Blog is available for all your #FIREEVERYONE needs.
OTHER NEWS OUTLETS: Hartford Courant, Connecticut Post, KenKrayeske.com

KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: There aren't many, but Lyle McCombs ran for 130 yards against USF last year, and Chandler Whitmer has shown some ability as a quarterback (when Pasqualoni and DeLeone don't waste plays in the wildcat).

KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS: A bunch of them. Trevardo Williams is a disruptive defensive end, while Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood are maybe the best one-two linebacker punch in the Big East. Blidi Wreh-Wilson is also one of the best corners in the league. UConn's defense is ranked 10th nationally, even after getting torched by Syracuse last time out. Nearly everyone contributes.