Grabbing The Bulls By The Horn

After shutting down Louisville, one of the country's most potent offenses in a rain-soaked win last week, UConn (6-1, 2-0 Big East) is the only undefeated team in Big East play and it has achieved its first-ever BCS ranking in school history at No. 23.

The Huskies aren't interested in those distinctions, but rather are focused on the No. 11 ranked USF Bulls (6-1, 1-1), a team that dominated UConn last season in a 38-16 victory in Tampa Bay, Fla. on Oct. 7.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe shredded the Huskies defense in that game, rushing for three touchdowns and adding another in the air. USF has parlayed their success last season into national recognition this year with nationally-televised victories over Auburn and West Virginia. Now the Huskies look to do the same against the Bulls on Saturday at Rentschler Field at 3:30 p.m.

USF is coming off a 30-27 loss to Rutgers that effectively ended their national title hopes, but the Bulls remain in the thick of the Big East championship race. Head coach Jim Leavitt has brought this program out of infancy into national prominence. UConn head coach Randy Edsall knows USF will be prepared and has his team focused solely on this week's game.

"I think Jim has done a tremendous job down there," Edsall said. "He's a very good coach, they have some very talented players and I thought when they joined the league that they were the one team that could probably have the biggest and quickest impact in this conference based on their coaching ability."

With the newfound attention that the Huskies are receiving it would be easy for the team to lose sight of how they have gotten to this point so far, but Edsall and his staff our making sure that they deflect that publicity and prepare their team for the game.

"Our full focus and attention is playing South Florida and that's what it's going to be all this week," Edsall said. "Hopefully we can prepare well enough and play well enough and we'll see where we are at. That's all our players and coaches are thinking about.

"All that other stuff is great for the fans and the media to write about, but if we ever get caught losing our attention to the task at hand, that's what pulls us away from the ultimate goal."

USF comes into the game with a variety of talented players on both sides of the ball. Grothe leads the team in both passing and rushing and is the engine that makes the Bulls offense run. It will be up to the UConn defense to contain Grothe and make him stay in the pocket to prevent a repeat of his three rushing touchdown performance in last year's contest.

"Defensively we will have our hands full with Matt Grothe who is a threat to run the run and throw the ball," Edsall said. "He is a very capable young man and a tough guy. I'm very impressed with his toughness and grittiness and his competitive nature. He is a guy that is elusive and strong and a threat in every part of his game."

The Bulls have even more talent on the defensive side of the ball, where NFL prospects, cornerbacks Trae Williams and Mike Jenkins, linebacker Ben Moffitt and defensive end George Selvie stymie opposing offenses.

The cornerback tandem is one of the nation's best and makes it very difficult for offenses to throw against them, while also allowing the USF safeties to help stop the run.

"They have a lot of confidence in those corners and their safeties will play a little bit tighter to the line of scrimmage because of the confidence they have in those two young men [Williams and Jenkins]," Edsall said. "They have a lot of speed and athleticism to go along with that which makes them successful."

UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen knows he must be aware of the talented duo when he drops back to throw.

"They have tons of speed, good technique and they are physical," Lorenzen said. "Our receivers and I are going to have our hands full, it's going to be a challenge, but it's also going to be a lot of fun too."

Moffitt is one of the more unheralded linebackers in the country but he is a mature player who is always around the ball. He has a wife and two kids and commutes to the school everyday. His leadership is a key part of the Bulls success and he is someone Edsall knows the Huskies must account for.

"Ben Moffitt is a tremendous middle linebacker who flies all over the field," Edsall said. "He is a very smart and intelligent football player."

Selvie leads the nations in sacks with 11.5 and tackles for loss with 21.5. He is successful because of his blazing speed around the corner, which few offensive tackles can keep up with. Coming off his worst game of the season, he and the rest of the USF defensive line will look to rebound on Saturday.

"South Florida's D-line is good across the board," Lorenzen said, "We're going to have our hands full, they make plays all over the field. Their entire defense is fast and it will be a big challenge for us."

UConn's offense will need more consistency than it displayed last week. Andre Dixon will get the start at running back but Edsall stressed that Donald Brown will be an important part of their attack.

It will be a major opportunity once again to prove the Huskies deserve what they've achieved so far and continue to control their own destiny in the race for the Big East crown.

Contact Mike Mauro at Michael.Mauro@UConn.edu.