Carlton 'I'm Not The Doorman' Shares The Crow: Would You Trust Him Taking USF Plus 29?

By CARLTON *NOT THE DOORMAN" REESE

The Bulls will get their payday, their undeserved home game, and the Gators will get whatever Tampa-area exposure it deems necessary for recruiting.

I had to eat a little crow with Carlton The Doorman last week, at whose assurances that FAU would cover 24.5 at Florida I chose to sneer. Well, he’s at it again, taking USF and 29 points against the Gators, but I feel confident this time my gut instincts are better than his Guy’s system.

Think about South Florida for a moment: coached by Jeff Scott, son of former South Carolina coach Brad Scott. Need we say more?

The South Florida football program was built by Jim Leavitt, who took the Bulls from scratch to a No.2 national ranking in his 11th season. But he was mean to a player and deemed unworthy of the USF stature and was fired following the 2009 season.

The USF house built on the rock of Jim Leavitt has devolved into a grass hut that now plays in the shadow of Central Florida, a one-time stop in the incredible life journey of Lou Saban. After Leavitt, we’ve seen Skip Holtz then our good friend Willie Taggart, who incredibly re-built the Bulls to a national ranking in 2016. Then came Charlie Strong on his way down the coaching ladder and now Scott, who coaches next to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.

Scott and Weis somehow have ridden their father’s names to positions in college football. And why not? The two dads combined for a stellar 64-82-1 record as collegiate coaches, so their kids must be destined for greatness.

Saturday, though, is not about head coaches – it’s about the Florida quarterbacks. This will be the final scrimmage for Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson in what looks like a battle for a starting job now. The Bulls will get their payday, their undeserved home game and the Gators will get whatever Tampa-area exposure it deems necessary for recruiting.

Then it’s on to host Alabama. Lest anyone think Florida’s players are looking past USF to the Tide, you had better be correct. What possible reason could Florida have in taking this game seriously, what with the Bulls’ solid opening-day performance against N.C. state? This team is just plain bad, and that may be what keeps the Gators from covering those 29 points.

No matter how bad USF is, this is the Game of the Decade for the Bulls and they will be playing on sky-high emotion. The emotion-level for Florida may be something akin to standing in a Russian breadline. Perhaps that emotion can carry USF for a quarter or so and catch the Gators napping early, but this game will be handed over to the backups at some point in the third quarter and therein lies the reason Carlton The Doorman may get his win with the 29 points.

As for me, I don’t think there is enough emotion in Tampa to steer the lack of talent within 29 points of the Gators.

Carlton The Doorman reveals his Guy’s picks for this week:

Home dogs-

• Connecticut plus 33.5 over Purdue

• Akron plus 7 over Temple

Road dogs-

• Tulsa plus 13.5 over Oklahoma State

• Toledo plus 16.5 over Notre Dame

• Ball State plus 22 over Penn State

• Buffalo plus 13.5 over Nebraska

• Hawaii plus 11 over Oregon State

Home favorites to consider-

• Coastal Carolina minus 25.5 over Kansas

• Army minus 7 over W. Kentucky

• East Carolina minus 2 over South Carolina

• USC minus 17.5 over Stanford

Carlton The Doorman’s Games of Note this week:

• Florida by 24 over South Florida

• Pittsburgh by 20.5 over Tennessee

• Georgia by 13.5 over UAB

• Texas by 12 over Arkansas

• Mississippi State-N.C. State EVEN

• Ohio State by 18.5 over Oregon

• Iowa by 0.5 over Iowa State

• Michigan by 9 over Washington

• BYU by 1 over Utah

• USC by 28 over Stanford

• Miami by 3.5 over Appalachian State