TAMPA, Fla. -- It's all still within reach for Cincinnati.
A second consecutive Big East championship. An undefeated season. Yes, even a berth in the BCS Championship Game.
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| The Bearcats aren't letting Tony Pike's injury get in the way of their goals. (Getty Images) |
"We're starting to build a little bit of a resume," Kelly said after his team defeated the Bulls for the fourth year in a row.
The trouble is, a large portion of that resume was written by quarterback Tony Pike.
The same Tony Pike who has NFL scouts showing up in droves to Bearcats games. The same Tony Pike who spent most of the second half Thursday with his left arm wrapped in a soft brace after taking a bad spill in the second quarter.
• Cincinnati 34, South Florida 17
Feel free to skip Kelly's postgame prognosis if you had your heart set on Pike showing up next to Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy on stage for the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December.
"The plate that's in there has shifted," Kelly said. "So, we don't know exactly what that means until we get seen by a specialist [Friday]. It may mean surgery. It may not mean surgery. ... I would say that right now, he's definitely going to be out for Louisville."
Pike broke the same arm last season, not long after taking over for another injured starter, Dustin Grutza. The injury appeared to occur Thursday as Pike was slammed to the ground by Bulls defensive end Aaron Harris in the second quarter.
So, Kelly, the third-year coach who has the college football world buzzing, will have to reach down his depth chart once again to find a caretaker for one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation.
"I've been down this road before," Kelly said. "We have some things that were prepared in a worst-case scenario, and we got it again today in an environment that you don't want to have to do that."
Which was why, when Pike's predicament forced him out of a still-close football game after one series in the third quarter, sophomore Zach Collaros was ready.
How ready?
On his first series in place of Pike, facing third-and-11 and trying to build on a 17-10 lead, Collaros slipped through the Bulls' No. 10-ranked defense, stepped out of a tackle and dashed 75 yards for a put-away touchdown.
OK, it wasn't as easy as all that. Collaros, who went 30-0 in his final two years at Steubenville (Ohio) High, missed the play signal and had to call timeout.
What did Kelly tell the 6-foot, 209-pound sophomore on the sideline?
"We went over the signals again," Kelly deadpanned. "He said he got it the second time."
The Bulls were finished, but Collaros was not. He carried 10 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns, which, according to Kelly, still was not enough to secure the starting nod next week against Louisville.
Chazz Anderson, another diminutive sophomore, also is in the running.
"They're both viable," Kelly said. "We can win Big East games with both those guys.”
If that is, in fact, the case, it feels safe to take a peek ahead. With the fourth 6-0 start in team history (the second in three years) in the books, Kelly might as well get used to answering the questions about his team's viability as a national championship contender.
Looming large already is the Dec. 5 season finale at Pittsburgh. It's one of two road games remaining for the Bearcats (the other is against Syracuse), and it could very well decide the Big East championship.
At this point, though, that distant matchup certainly wouldn't seem to be much of an obstacle to a potential unbeaten season -- and the potential BCS chaos that would result.
Pike or no Pike.
Pittsburgh, after all, lost to a mediocre N.C. State and trailed at halftime in both of its victories in Big East play (Louisville and Connecticut).
"You've got to just keep playing," Kelly said. "Obviously, people think enough about our program that we're a top 10 team. I can guarantee you this: These guys will battle every week."
As for USF, it's yet another promising start upended by yet another disappointing Thursday night in October.
In 2007, the Bulls climbed to No. 2 in the rankings at 6-0 before dropping a Thursday nighter against Rutgers. In 2008, the 5-0 Bulls had just cracked the top 10 when along came Pittsburgh to wreck another Thursday night and relegate USF to the middle of the Big East pack.
Now, instead of traveling to Pittsburgh next week for a first-place showdown against the Panthers, USF finds itself in the familiar position of trying to get its season back on track.
"We've just got to put this game behind us," said two-time All-American defensive end George Selvie, who fell to 0-4 against Cincinnati in his career. "We just have to go out there and play every game hard, and hopefully they'll lose one game and we'll see what happens from there."
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