TAMPA - Think, for a moment, of the two worst travel experiences in your life. Then book trips to visit both places in the next seven days.

That’s the challenge facing No. 14 USF. Playing two road games in five days is daunting enough, but even more so when it’s the Bulls playing Saturday afternoon at Louisville and Oct. 30 at Cincinnati.

Why? In 11 seasons of football, in 57 road games, there are only three places USF has traveled to more than once without winning. One was Southern Miss in 2000 and 2003; the Bulls visit the other two in the next week.

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TAMPA - Want to wash away the lingering stench of a disappointing loss? Nothing works like the power of Orange.

The No. 19 Bulls can only hope the second half of their season can turn out like the second half of Saturday’s 45-13 win against lowly Syracuse, a dominating performance 16 days after their loss to unranked Pittsburgh.

Asked if there was any significance to USF (6-1, 1-1 Big East) becoming bowl eligible, Bulls quarterback Matt Grothe didn’t flinch.

“No,” he said. “I want to be BCS eligible. … We’ve got five games left. We’re wanting to win the Big East and we know what we’ve got ahead of us.”

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TAMPA - University of South Florida DE George Selvie said he’s definitely playing Saturday against Syracuse and if it’s up to senior LB Brouce Mompremier, he’ll also play.

“I’m out there practicing,” Selvie said. “I’m gonna go Saturday.”

Selvie suffered a high ankle sprain Sept. 20 at FIU and missed the N.C. State game and played sparingly against Pittsburgh. Mompremier suffered a neck injury at FIU and hasn’t played since.  Mompremier returned to practice last week, and this week is his first involving contact drills.

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TAMPA - Maybe USF just wasn’t meant to play football on Thursday nights.

For the second year in a row, the Bulls went into a primetime ESPN Thursday game with an undefeated record and big hopes, only to fall to the same weeknight weakness. This time, the No. 10 Bulls overcame poor play to take a lead with six minutes remaining, only to give up a quick touchdown and lose 26-21 to unranked Pittsburgh.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” said USF coach Jim Leavitt, whose team was held to 245 yards of offense - its lowest in nearly two years - and committed 11 penalties in its Big East opener. “We were fortunate to be in the game that close, to be quite honest, with all the mistakes we made in this game.”

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No. 12 South Florida waltzed into the inaugural game at FIU Stadium as a heavy favorite against an FIU team that had not scored an offensive touchdown this season and had lost 25 of its past 26 games.

Mismatch?

Not exactly.

The Bulls encountered a suffocating defense, and only after recovering an onside kick with 53 seconds left in the game did they escape FIU with a 17-9 victory.

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MIAMI - From the top of FIU’s new football stadium, Miami’s big, bold downtown skyline is visible.

FIU Athletic Director Pete Garcia can see beyond even that from up there.

He can see a big, bold future for Golden Panthers football as the team prepares to show off its dazzling new home Saturday against No. 12 South Florida (5 p.m., ESPNU). It’s FIU’s first nationally televised home game since it announced nearly five years ago that it was moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level.

“The upside of this program is phenomenal,” Garcia said.

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Tempers flared and trash talk flew, but the crowd was relatively tame during the UCF-USF game at Bright House Networks Stadium Saturday.

UCF officials said five people were arrested and 31 were given notices to appear in court, for a total of 36 incidents documented by police. Another 23 people were ejected from university property, mostly for disorderly conduct.

The crowd at UCF was much calmer than the group attending the Florida-Miami rivalry game in Gainesville. Police arrested 50 people and ejected 121 fans from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, according to the Gainesville Sun. It was the most arrests at a Florida football game in the past three years.

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TAMPA - In a game of huge momentum swings, in a duel of prolific passers who combined for 700-plus yards, everything came down to a 19-year-old freshman kicker playing in his first college game.

Maikon Bonani, told just two days earlier he would take over as USF’s kicker, calmly lined up for a 43-yard field goal with two seconds left and put it through the uprights, giving No. 19 USF a wild 37-34 victory over No. 13 Kansas on Friday before a crowd of 58,755 at Raymond James Stadium.

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Forget moral victories.

The UCF football team refused to take solace in transforming a sure blowout loss into a near upset.

The Knights (1-1) fell 31-24 in overtime to No. 17 USF before a record crowd of 46,805 at Bright House Networks Stadium Saturday night.

UCF’s defense and special teams unit shined, but the Knights couldn’t overcome an erratic offensive attack, a pile of penalties and the dynamic play of USF junior quarterback Matt Grothe.

“This one hurts,” UCF junior quarterback Michael Greco said. “We felt like we had it and we let it slip away.”  (more)

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Gary Shelton:  USF’s Grothe wills win over Knights

Mike Bianchi:  No consolation for UCF

ORLANDO — A few moments after morning practice Tuesday, then again in an air conditioned news conference, UCF finally answered the questions.Many had dodged the search for answers last season in the darkness of a Raymond James Stadium tunnel after a 64-12 loss at then-No. 5 USF.

The Knights (1-0) had made a big fuss over being on par with the Bulls (1-0). They poked and prodded them about extending a four-game series, and in the end were gored all over the field.

“That was a very tough ride,” Knights defensive back Johnell Neal said of going back to Orlando. “We got back and (Knights coach George) O’Leary brought everyone into a team meeting. He told us our season could go in any direction.”

UCF gathered itself to win seven of its final eight games including the Conference USA title game, 44-25 over Tulsa.  (more)