The Sports Corner

2008 St. Petersburg Bowl Preview

Memphis 6-6 (4-4) vs. South Florida 7-5 (2-5)

Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Saturday, December 20, 1:30 p.m. PST.

C-USA East #2 (tie) vs. Big East #6

Coaches: Tommy West (47-50) vs. Jim Leavitt (59-35)

Quarterbacks: Arkelon Hall vs. Matt Grothe

The line: USF -13

Payout: $1 million

This game comes down to the battle in the trenches. South Florida’s stout run defense against Memphis running back Curtis Steele, who has run for 1,175 yards this season. Memphis runner Charlie Jones, who transferred from Miami (my, how the mighty have fallen), has also been a factor this season. Expect Memphis to use him as a change of pace or in short-yardage situations. If Memphis can run the ball, it’s going to be a long day for the USF defense. 

Playing at Tropicana Field will bring something new into the equation, ground-rule punts. Tropicana is a baseball field, home to the Rays, and it’s pretty common for baseballs to hit the catwalks near the stadium’s roof. Both teams may have to get their punters to kick line drive punts in order to avoid such a disaster. That could lead to swings in field position. At least the kicking game will be fun to watch. 

The location also means it’s a home game for South Florida. Memphis is one of the original members of Conference-USA and this is their first shot at one of the three teams that left the C-USA (USF, Cincinnati, Louisville) for the greener pastures of the Big East. That may give them some added incentive to win though few if any of this team’s players were part of the 2004 team that last played USF. It will certainly mean more to the boosters. Sorry Buddy Garrity, no Jumbo Tron for you. 

South Florida was expected to compete for the Big East title. As you can see by their 2-5 conference record, they didn’t come close to accomplishing that goal. They have plenty of talent and a number of players who will move on to the NFL, such as senior linebacker Tyrone McKenzie and junior defensive end George Selvie, who has been plagued by injuries this season. If Selvie puts on a show against Memphis, it might be his last game at this level. USF needs those two to have a big day defensively if they’re going to win this game. 

But they need a bigger game out of inconsistent quarterback Matt Grothe. In five different games this season Grothe tossed multiple interceptions, finishing the season with 14. Only one of those five games was a win. I expect this game to look something like the high scoring USF-Kansas game earlier this season, which USF won by a field goal. For that to happen Grothe can’t afford to take chances. USF is good enough to beat Memphis by moving the sticks and playing field position.

If Grothe pulls a Rex “fuck it I’m going deep” Grossman, they’re screwed. Memphis has enough offense with quarterback Arkelon Hall to use a balanced attack and hammer out a win with Steele on the ground. Hall does a good job of spreading the ball around to his receivers so USF won’t be able to focus on shutting down 6′8 wide receiver Carlos Singleton.

Grothe needs to stay patient and coach Jim Leavitt needs to recognize when he’s pressing and calm him down before the inevitable happens. I figure Memphis covers the spread but USF ends up being too much defensively for Memphis to overcome.

USF wins 31-28