Missed chances plaguing Bulls

Posted Oct 17, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Oct 17, 2011 at 12:31 AM

The University of South Florida offense was plagued by missed opportunities in Saturday’s 16-10 loss at Connecticut, and that’s been the theme for the Bulls against all three BCS opponents they’ve faced this season.

In USF’s games against Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Connecticut – in which the offense has managed just four total touchdown drives – the Bulls have had 12 drives that have gone inside the opponent’s 40 yard line that resulted in zero points. That included five drives Saturday in which the Bulls marched inside the Huskies 35 yard line but came away empty.

Two of the drives against Connecticut ended in missed field goals, which on both occasions kicker Maikon Bonani was going into heavy wind gusts. One, USF’s final offensive series of the game, ended on downs.

But the two others ended in turnovers – the first a fumble on an errant option pitch from quarterback B.J. Daniels and the second on the first of Daniels’ two interceptions – and what made them even more frustrating was the fact that both occurred in the red zone.

“Getting into the red zone and not scoring is like driving a par 5 and four putting,” USF coach Skip Holtz said Sunday evening. “To get there doesn’t do you any good if you’re not going to get the points, if you’re not going to take advantage of it.”

Better efficiency in capitalizing on chances in the scoring zone is critical going forward, Holtz said, but so too is simply taking care of the football. The Bulls have lost the turnover battle in each Big East Conference game this season and have six turnovers in the past two games after committing just five in the first four.

“We’re getting better in so many areas, but we’re 0-2 in the past two (games). The No. 1 reason why, in my opinion, is we’re sitting here minus three (in turnover differential),” Holtz said.

STILL A LOT LEFT: Sitting in the cellar of the Big East standings certainly is not where the Bulls hoped to be, but Holtz made sure to note that “it’s way too early in the season to stick our head in the sand.”

“We’re 4-2. There’s a lot of people in the country who’d trade places with us right now,” Holtz said after Saturday’s loss. “There’s still a lot of football to play. This is the halfway point. I’m frustrated because I think we have a team that can be competitive in this league, but we have made some mistakes.”

“We’ve got six games remaining. We’re going to hold our head up high, we’re going to go back to the grindstone, we’re going to get better, we’re going to continue to compete and we’re going to continue to improve. This football team is a proud team and I think they’ll continue to compete.”

USF hosts Cincinnati on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium, and as tough as things have been the past two games junior linebacker Mike Lanaris said “we’ve got to use this to come together and not break apart.”

BULLS BITS: After consecutive losses it certainly wasn’t a surprise, but for the first time this season USF did not receive a single vote in either the AP Top 25 or USA Today coaches polls. … USF’s defense tied a school-record with seven sacks against the Huskies, but the Bulls offense also produced a notable stat sack: zero. It was the first time since a win over Florida A&M the offensive line didn’t allow a sack. … TE Isaac Virgin (shoulder), FB Chris Breit (shoulder) and WR Stephen Bravo-Brown (ankle) suffered injuries Saturday and are questionable for this week’s game against Cincinnati.