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Football: Leavitt looks forward to Flames, bemoans BCS

As always, USF coach Jim Leavitt started Tuesday’s football media luncheon with a recap of Saturday’s game. He commented on the success of the Bulls’ defense in shutting down Southern Utah’s spread-option offense. He quickly went over the errors of the Bulls, including the first-drive interception of quarterback Marquel Blackwell.

He moved on to his weekly discussion about the upcoming opponent. This week he said the Liberty University Flames will be a strong Division I-AA opponent.

“It’s the fourth time we’ve gone against them,” Leavitt said. “Years ago, we talked about the first game being our biggest win of that time. We’ve had some pretty good games with them.”

Leavitt said he and his team do not take into consideration the level of teams, be it I-A or I-AA. He said the team would focus on Liberty the same way they would any other team.

“My goodness, do I need to go back and cover all the I-AA teams that beat I-A teams in the last two or three years? Those types of things happen,” Leavitt said.

Breaking from the discussion of USF football, Leavitt commented on his opinion of the Bowl Championship Series.

“I’m not a big BCS fan,” Leavitt said. “If you don’t include all of the conferences, then I don’t see how you can have a situation of who is going to be (No.) 1, 2 or 3. They’re not including all the conferences, so I don’t buy into it. I think that what has happened has watered down all the other bowls and it has taken away from college football.”

Commenting further on what drives the Bulls since they don’t figure into the bowl picture this year, Leavitt said his players find motivation in playing their hardest.

“The opportunity to use God-given talent to play on a Saturday is enough if you ask me,” he said. “The time you invest with winter conditioning and summer workouts and you only have 11 opportunities to play, I think you’re nuts if you’re not motivated with that alone.”

  • Jarrett Guthrie covers football and can be reached atoracleguthrie@yahoo.com