It’s been a fun ride for coach Jim Leavitt and his South Florida Bulls, who have risen from non-existence to successful I-A football status in just five seasons.

Leavitt is 35-20 since inaugurating the Bulls’ program in 1997. The former assistant at Kansas State brought with him the coaching model Bill Snyder had used to mold the Wildcats into a national power.

Before last season, Leavitt was given a contract extension through January 2006. He followed that up with an 8-3 record.

Doing the same in 2002, however, will be quite an ambitious goal for the Bulls, who face their toughest schedule so far. It is being called the most competitive "sixth season" schedule in NCAA history.

"This is a very aggressive schedule," Leavitt said. "We’re playing some of the best teams in the country and we have said from the very start that we are going to be ambitious with our football program. I’m really excited about this schedule and I’m looking forward to it."

The Bulls will play 11 games, including six at home, with a season opener against Florida Atlantic in a first-ever Thursday night home game (Aug. 29) for the Bulls. That will be followed by a return game at home against Northern Illinois, which defeated the Bulls, 20-17, last year on a "walk-off" field goal.

And from there, the Bulls begin a three-game road stretch against Arkansas, Oklahoma and North Texas.

The Arkansas game, scheduled for Sept. 14, will be played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, and it will precede a bye week that leads up to a Sept. 28 game at Oklahoma.

Senior quarterback Marquel Blackwell (6-1, 205) is one of the nation’s best at his position. He earned two national player-of-the-week honors last year after directing South Florida past Pittsburgh, 35-26. He completed 37-of-65 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns.

Backing up Blackwell will be sophomore Ronnie Banks (6-3, 220), who gained valuable time in 2001 with seven appearances. He completed 12-of-22 passes for 96 yards. A drop-back passer, Banks has a very strong arm, and is most comfortable in the pocket.

Returning as the starter at tailback is sophomore Clenton Crossley (5-10, 210), who led the Bulls last year with 380 yards rushing on 88 carries. He has a good combination of power and speed, and scored seven touchdowns last year. Crossley started four games, first making an impact at Memphis, where he carried six times for 50 yards, and caught three passes for 15 yards.

In 2000, Crossley took a red-shirt season after earning top 50 status among Florida recruits in PrepStar.

Backing up Crossley will be juniors Quinton Callum (5-11, 205) and Vince Brewer (5-10, 215).

Callum was a highly touted recruit out of high school. He originally signed with Florida State, but instead went to junior college and then signed with the Bulls. He made an immediate impact last year with 338 yards rushing on 62 carries and a team best 5.5 average. He had five rushing touchdowns.

At Columbia High in Lake City, Fla., Callum rushed for 1,346 yards and 25 touchdowns his senior season. One recruiting service chose him as the top running back in Florida.

On the USF depth chart, four players are listed as starters at wide receiver -- junior Huey Whittaker , senior Ryan Hearn , senior Hugh Smith and junior Chris Iskra .

Whittaker (6-5, 225) is a junior college transfer who made his debut in 2001 after a red-shirt season in 2000. He set school records with 52 catches for 548 yards. He started seven games and scored two touchdowns.

Whittaker’s size makes him hard to defend. He had a season-high day at Utah last year, pulling in nine passes for 101 yards.

Hearn (5-9, 185) was a good find in 2001 after playing mainly on special teams in 2000. He started eight games, catching 25 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown. Hearn had a career-high seven receptions in South Florida’s big win at Pittsburgh.

Smith, like Hearn, is one of the fastest players on the team. He planned to graduate in the summer and regain his final year of eligibility. He made 40 catches for 475 yards in 2001 and scored four touchdowns. He also rushed for 84 yards on five carries and was a special teams standout.

Iskra (6-1, 185) became one of Blackwell’s favorite targets last year.

There is plenty of depth at wide receiver, including sophomore Bruce Gibson (5-10, 180), freshman C.J. Lewis (5-11, 175), freshman Marcus Edwards (6-0, 185) and sophomore Ronnie Banks (6-3, 220).

The tight ends will be sophomore Tim Jones (6-3, 240) and junior Casey Cobb (6-4, 245). Jones started three games last year and caught four passes for 26 yards and a touchdown. He was chosen the No. 1 tight end recruit in Florida by FloridaPrepFootball.com as a senior at Kathleen High School in Lakeland, Fla.

Cobb had a tough 2000 season when he injured a knee and underwent surgery. He also serves as the Bulls’ long snapper, and played in the final four games of 2001 after recovering from surgery. Cobb played quarterback in high school, but moved to tight end at USF.

Leavitt was pleased with the efforts of Gipson and freshman Joe Bain (6-3, 190) in the spring game.

Returning to anchor the line are sophomore tackle Derrick Sarosi (6-6, 295) and sophomore center Alex Herron (6-3, 280).

Sarolo was USF’s offensive rookie of the year in 2001. He is explosive off the line and has outstanding agility for a 300-pounder. He played a key role last year in Blackwell taking only 10 sacks.

Sarosi received special praise from Leavitt for his effort in the spring game.

Herron capably inherited the starting center spot from the departed Joey Sipp, who had started 44 straight games at USF from 1997-2000. Herron missed the middle portion of the season after spraining an ACL in practice the week after the Pittsburgh victory. His strong work ethic helped him get back in the lineup for the final five games of the season.

The other starters are expected to be sophomore guard Devon Small (6-3, 275), freshman guard Chris Carothers (6-3, 290) and sophomore tackle Levi Newton (6-4, 305).

Small, a converted defensive lineman, will contend for a starting job at the left guard spot vacated by Matt Sparrowhawk. He has strong legs and quick feet.

Carothers is a red-shirt freshman from Clearwater (Fla.) High School. Newton can play either guard or tackle. He played in seven games last year as a freshman.

Sophomore place-kicker Santiago Grammatica (5-10, 165) missed spring drills with a knee injury. The youngest of the three notable kicking brothers, Grammatica had knee surgery after the 2001 season. He follows in the footsteps of older brother and Bulls alumnus Bill (Arizona Cardinals) and Martin (Tampa Bay).

Last season, Grammatica made 3-of-11 field goals and 44-of-52 extra-point kicks. He also punted twice for a 42.5-yard average.

USF's Chris Daley was chosen in April to the Rotary Lombardi Award watch list. A senior defensive end, he is one of 49 Division I players on the list for the award presented to the nation’s top down lineman or any defensive player who lines up within five yards of the football.

Daley (6-2, 255) had 9.5 sacks in 2001, including 8.5 in the first five games before an ankle sprain limited him the remainder of the year. He earned consensus All-Independent honors in 2001 and he was selected USF's Top Defensive Front Seven Player. Daley is a graduate of Hernando High School in Brooksville, Fla.

Although Daley is the first-ever USF player to be chosen to the Lombardi Watch List, he joins three previous USF linebackers who have earned mention on the Butkus Award Watch List for the nation’s top linebacker. USF's Demetrius Woods (1998), Vassay Marc (2000) and Kawika Mitchell (2001) have each earned a spot on that list in past seasons. Mitchell, a senior, could earn a second straight mention on the Butkus list.

USF director of athletics Lee Roy Selmon is among past Lombardi Award winners, earning that distinction in his 1975 senior season at Oklahoma.

Backing up Daley will be red-shirt freshman Kenny Huebner (6-3, 235).

The other starting end will be junior Shurron Pierson (6-3, 240), who possesses a unique mix of speed, agility and strength. He set a school record with 10 sacks last year, including nine in the last four games of the season. He sat out the 2000 season under NCAA academic eligibility guidelines. Pierson, who runs a 4.52 in the 40, finished with 40 tackles last year.

Junior Cedric Battles (6-4, 255) will also see action at end. He played in 10 games in 2001 and had a start against Western Illinois. He finished with 20 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.

The starting tackles will be seniors Tavares Jurineack (6-3, 290) and Greg Walls (6-2, 285).

Jurineack has overcome ineligibility in 1998 and a car accident/red-shirt season in 1999 to become a key interior player for the Bulls. He started in eight games last year and made 52 tackles. A player with a good combination of speed and power, Jurineack returned a fumble 37 yards at Memphis.

Walls cracked the starting lineup at nose guard last year after two seasons of part-time duty. He made 67 tackles, including 16 for losses of 45 yards. Walls also had 5.5 sacks for 32 yards, earning him the nickname of "Sack-Daddy."

The returning starters are Mitchell (6-2, 255) and junior Maurice Jones (6-2, 240).

Mitchell enters his fourth season as a starter after transferring from Georgia in 1999. He led all USF tacklers in 2001, when he became the first Bull to eclipse 100 stops with 106. And he missed one game because of his grandmother’s death and most of the season finale with a severe migraine headache.

In three years Jones has made 250 tackles. He had 59 solo stops last year. In Jones, the Bulls have a player with an amazing mix of quickness, strength and agility.

Jones got his first chance to make a major contribution to the defense after paying his dues as a red-shirt in 1999 and a backup in 2000. He started 10 games last year and made 60 tackles, including 33 solos.

The other starter at linebacker will be junior Courtney Davenport (6-1, 215), but he will be pushed by linebacker Terrence Royal (6-3, 240), a junior college signee who participated in spring drills.

The only returning starter is free safety J.R. Reed (5-11, 185), who tied a school record in 2001 with five interceptions. He also set a record with eight total takeaways (five interceptions, three fumble recoveries).

Reed was chosen to two national All-Independent teams. He blocked a punt against Connecticut that led to a touchdown. Against Houston, he forced a fumble that he recovered and returned 63 yards for a touchdown. He recovered a second fumble for a 44-yard return in that Houston game.

The other starters on the spring depth chart were junior Kevin Verpaele (6-0, 180) at strong safety and juniors Ron Hemingway (5-11, 175) and Kenny Robinson (5-10, 180) on the corners.

Verpaele is the leading contender to replace Joe Morgan at strong safety. He started just once last year but made 42 tackles. Verpaele is also a key special teams player who hopes to be a difference maker this year in the backfield.

Hemingway played in 11 games last year, starting against Northern Illinois. Robinson is the top contender to replace Bernard Brown on the corner. Last year, Robinson suffered a severe ankle sprain just before the season that kept him from getting more playing time.

Depth will come from sophomores Sidney Simpson (5-9, 175), Antonio Warren (6-1, 180), Javan Camon (6-0, 175) and junior John Miller (6-1, 190).

Simpson could contend for a starting spot. He made 16 tackles last year, including five against Houston. Camon is known for being a hard-hitting special teams player, and Miller made 45 tackles last year.

The punter will be senior Devin Sanderson (6-4, 220), who has started the last two years. Originally a walk-on, Sanderson punted 58 times last year for a 39.6-yard average. He averaged 41.1 in 2000.

Sanderson dropped 12 balls inside the 20 last season, up from 10 the year before. He has always been considered to have a strong leg, but has greatly improved his situational punting.

A key will be the health of place-kicker Grammatica, who will try to bounce back from knee surgery.

Returning as the long snapper will be sophomore Justin Daniel (6-2, 265) while the holder will be junior Kevin Patullo (6-2, 205).

Tommy Hunter (6-5, 245), a special teams standout who would have been a junior this fall, will sit out the next two seasons while on a Mormon mission. Hunter’s mission in Santa Rosa, Calif. begins in July and he will have two years of eligibility remaining upon his return in 2004.

With only 10 seniors on 2001 team -- three of whom will actually return if they receive their degree and reclaim a year of eligibility -- the 2002 recruiting class needed to include quality and quantity.

USF added 12 high school seniors to the program on national signing day -- 11 of those from Florida and one from Alabama -- plus five additional players who enrolled early and participated in spring practice.

In January, the Bulls added quarterbacks David Mullins (6-2, 200) and Willie Williams (6-2, 190), tight end Patrick Quinn (6-4, 220) and linebacker Royal, all of whom originally signed in 2001. Additionally, junior college offensive lineman Jason Lehman (6-4, 315) signed and enrolled in January.

"We went into the recruiting season with three need areas," Leavitt said. "We were looking for quarterbacks, offensive line and linebackers. We feel good about the quarterbacks [ Jean Julmiste , David Mullins and Willie Williams ], and we think they are athletic and they will all work hard.

"We added four offensive linemen -- two guards [Jason Lehman, Roland Clarke ], a center [ John Miller ] and a tackle [ Antonio Underwood ]. They’re all athletic guys. We would still like to add one more walk-on tackle."

Julmiste (6-2, 215) was MVP of the Dade-Broward All-Star Game, when he led Breward to a 35-14 victory with three touchdown passes. He played at Miramar (Fla.) High School.

Clarke (6-3, 285) played at Northwestern High School in Miami, Fla. He played on the 2000 state championship team. Miller (6-2, 265) played at Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Fla. He was first-team all state and played in the Florida-Georgia All-Star Game. Underwood (6-5, 300) played at Tarrant (Ala.) High School, where he was a Top 10 Super Senior in the Birmingham area as selected by the Birmingham News.

On the defensive side of the ball, Leavitt was just as pleased.

"We're real excited about Devon Davis and Terrence Royal at linebacker," he said. "And we’re extremely happy with the two defensive linemen [ Brandon Holsey and Ramon McCullough ]. They’re both, big, physical and strong.

"We’re further along than last spring," Leavitt told the Tampa Tribune after the spring game. "Last year, I didn’t know what team we had [losing 25 seniors]. I was worried. But what happened was our guys coming back last summer had a great summer.

"If this football team has a great summer, we’ll be much better. We have to be with our schedule. I have confidence this team can do a lot of things and it’s critical they have confidence as well."

South Florida has been amazing as an independent, and should have another good season in 2002. This will be the final year as an independent as the Bulls join Conference USA in 2003.

The schedule is a killer, but Leavitt will have his team ready once again.