The rivalry is more so the fans. It’s not a huge rivalry between the coaches and players. Just another opponent. I don’t even care about USF. Beating them or Navy is the same to me. Can’t wait to drop them from Black Friday.
Josh Huepel as an evaluator of talent
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We had a significant talent advantage at Navy and lost. Having talent and having a good team are not necessarily the same . This could have ended up a reoccurring theme but we adjusted and ended up good.
Ummmmmmm what? Of course it is. You don't think that if usf got to pick a single conference game to win all season it would not be us at this point? Gads. The bad blood is incredibly thick
That was actually my point. We had more talent and on paper we’re favored to blow out these teams and either lost or barely escaped due to their ineptitude. I don’t think this is a reflection of exceptional coaching. But it was the first year so we will see what happens going forward.
So why play games if we have the advantage on paper? Coaching goes into the odds as well as talent. Does the underdog ever win?
I’m not sure what you are arguing exactly. I said it was rough from a coaching perspective in several games against teams with abysmal talent levels and records last year. Then again it was Gus’s first year. The strength of Gus as a coach seems to lie in his ability to recruit at a high level and surround himself with a good staff. There is nothing about his game day coaching that you can really point to as exceptional in the first year. Could that change? Certainly. I hope it does.
Who is USF? 100 players and coaches etc? Their fans? Their fans want to beat us. I don’t think the players and coaches only want to win that game. It’s a rivalry on message boards. Our coaches and Athletic Department don’t care that they won’t be on schedule anymore. I’d rather get one of the other Florida schools on schedule every year.
It’s a Podcast I watch. Current Titans Lineman Taylor Llewan and Nebraska LB Will Compton are the hosts.
Will the teams miss playing them annually? I doubt it (other than having a de facto home way from home game). But, For what it’s worth, I have heard many former players interviewed on podcasts talk about hating usf and wanting to beat them badly every time. I think there’s more to it than just our fans and usf’s fan.
You sound like a cow sans 2007. They are clearly our rival. College football with no rival hate has no soul. May as well be MLB.
The players absolutely buy into this being a rivalry game. They grow up playing with and against each other and then get into a program that has always had ha thing with us, even when they denied it. Their boosters make sure the coaches understand the rivalry just like ours do. The coaches certainly understand that rivalries make college football great.
Here are Gus Malzahn’s remarks on the rivalry from a Sentinel article: “When Gus Malzahn was hired in mid-February, one of the first things he learned about was the War On I-4 rivalry series between UCF and the South Florida Bulls.
“It was the first day I was hired. Somebody told me, ‘Hey, that’s the one,’” Malzahn recalled. “When you take a job, you look. I know how important it is. This will be my first rodeo with this rivalry.”
Here’s an ESPN column from a few years ago talking about the players on both sides of the rivalry.
How the UCF-USF rivalry became the hottest ticket in Florida
Forget about Florida State vs. Florida, at least for this season. Friday's game between unbeaten UCF and 9-1 South Florida is the hottest ticket in the state this weekend, with implications for the Group of 5 spot in a New Year's Six bowl.
So only USF gets pumped up for the game? The recurring use of "It's their super bowl" on why an underdog team plays well is overused.
Don't buy that UCF walked into the game with laissez-faire attitude. The coaching staff and players know that if Malzahn started off with an L in that game, that would not be ignored by fanbase and boosters for years.
Don't buy that UCF walked into the game with laissez-faire attitude. The coaching staff and players know that if Malzahn started off with an L in that game, that would not be ignored by fanbase and boosters for years.
When you have 1 win, and this is the last game of your season it’s big. I think with what UCF has accomplished, and the trash state of cow athletics this rivalry game means less than many others on the schedule. Excitement level was lower for this game than several others last year for sure. Maybe if they were halfway decent again at some future point that could change. People point to the 2017 game as evidence that this rivalry is needed, but that game was big because of its postseason implications not so much because it was the cows. Same reason the Memphis game the week after was so big.
Sorry senior but the avalanche of posts suggest you are just simply wrong.
Interesting to see Tenn in ESPN preseason top 25.
"The last season Hyoe was at UCF he lost control of the team."
Case in Point: The Boca Bowl against BYU. We left in the 3rd quarter as it was obvious Hype lost the UCF team. That was horrible. Glad he left.
We are in a much better place with Gus who really seems to care and not worried about upward mobility. Thanks Auburn for the 21 million dollar buy out!
"The last season Hyoe was at UCF he lost control of the team."
Case in Point: The Boca Bowl against BYU. We left in the 3rd quarter as it was obvious Hype lost the UCF team. That was horrible. Glad he left.
We are in a much better place with Gus who really seems to care and not worried about upward mobility. Thanks Auburn for the 21 million dollar buy out!
