Leavitt looking to change recent history

Posted Oct 6, 2009 by Gregg Becnel

Updated Oct 6, 2009 at 07:35 PM

For the third consecutive year the University of South Florida finds itself undefeated (5-0) and ranked in the national polls (No. 23) heading into a Thursday night ESPN game (Oct. 15) against a Big East opponent (No. 8 Cincinnati).

The Bulls’ freefall the past two years after promising starts is well known, and Coach Jim Leavitt hopes to reverse that trend this season.

“The recognition is always nice, but everybody knows it’s how you finish and how you move through the season,” Leavitt said. “It’s so very early that you really don’t get caught up much with it, and we won’t talk much about it.”

SCARY GOOD: Junior DE Jason Pierre-Paul has had a monster debut season so far. The junior college transfer leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and is second in sacks with two. Pierre-Paul has also forced a fumble and returned an interception for a touchdown.

But according to Leavitt, Pierre-Paul hasn’t reached his full potential.

“I don’t think he’s playing at the top of his game yet,” Leavitt said. “I think he’s doing some good things, but I think there’s a lot of room there still. And it depends on Jason, how hard he wants to continue to work at it. … It’ll be interesting to see if wants to go after it or not.”