TampaBayTimes Deadrin Senat: Targeting ejections made me better

[Triple B]

Tuesday, October 17, 2017 3:54pm

Twice already this season, college football's convoluted targeting rule has resulted in senior DT Deadrin Senat's ejection.

But not his dejection, he insists. Speaking for the first time since his disqualifications, in the first half of the San Jose State and Illinois contests, Senat said the incidents changed "nothing that I do."

Case in point: 14 of his 18 tackles have come in his last three games.

"All it did was just help me get better, help me learn different ways of tackling," Senat said Tuesday.

After his second ejection, Senat said he sat down with Coach Charlie Strong and his defensive coaches, asking what -- if anything -- he needed to do differently. Strong's message to him: Play your game and do your best, Senat said.

"I didn't change anything I do," he added. "All I do is, now I've got to lower my target. But I'm still playing aggressive, I'm still coming off the ball, I'm still trying to hit the quarterback, trying to get the most hits on the defense."

FLOWERS' FRUSTRATION: Those watching the Bulls' 33-3 romp Saturday of Cincinnati -- either in person or via ESPNU -- might have noticed QB Quinton Flowers betraying signs of frustration on a couple of occasions. Afterward, Flowers insisted he was frustrated at himself.

On Tuesday, Strong said the same, indicating Flowers was angry over a couple of inacccurate throws toward 6-foot-5 senior Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and the failure to see slot WR Tyre McCants on an open seam route.

Through six games, Flowers' efficiency rating -- 135.5 -- is down slightly from this time last year (148.8), which stands to reason. In lieu of bubble screens and swing passes, he's taking more downfield shots.

"The thing about Quinton is, he's not one of those guys that will ever point a finger," Strong said. "He's not a finger pointer at all, so if he's ever frustrated at all, he's frustrated at himself."

Strong said he has advised Flowers not to place so much pressure on himself, to no avail. "You can say that to him, but it's just who he is," Strong said.

"And he knows that the only way the offense is gonna go, he's got to go and he's got to play well, and he makes everyone else around him better. And that's what you talk about, a guy is a competitor when he can make everyone else around you better, and that's what he does." 

WHERE'S THE SAFETY? Most Bulls fans -- not to mention Strong -- were perplexed Saturday night when a booming Jonathan Hernandez punt was touched by a Cincinnati return man in the end zone before rolling out of bounds.

No safety was called, and Cincy took over at its own 20. NCAA rule 8-4-2-b states: "If a scrimmage kick (other than one that scores a field goal) goes out of bounds behind a goal line, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the team defending that goal line."

Strong's argument was, the Cincinnati player may have purposely tried to deflect the ball out of bounds.

"That's what I said to the (official), 'He just can't knock the ball out of the end zone,'" Strong said. "That's when something should've been done, but sometimes they miss those calls."

NO SEPARATION: Count Strong among the legion of Group of Five coaches/administrators not in favor of a separate playoff for Group of Five teams. Strong was asked the playoff question Tuesday, shortly after indicating he would match his 16th-ranked team with anyone in America.

"Even when you look at the Group of Five, we feel like we can go in the Power Five and beat some of those teams," he said. "I don't know how many we could go beat, but at least we could go play with them. So you just don't ever want that separation there."

ODDS AND ENDS: Strong said S Tajee Fullwood, who has missed the last four games with an ankle injury, should be ready to play Saturday at Tulane. ... USF enters the Tulane contest last in the American Athletic Conference in penalty yards per game (91.0) despite Strong's deterrent system. "You get a penalty, you get punished," he said. ... Clay Malvick (play-by-play) and Kirk Morrison (analysis) will call the USF-Tulane game for ESPN2. ... Tulane hasn't defeated a higher-ranked opponent since Nov. 27, 1982. ... Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of USF's most recent loss (46-30 at Temple).

AUDIBLE: "He's always upset; he doesn't take his medication no more. He'll tell you he don't take his medication no more. But he's a very, very strict coach, and that's what we need." -- Senat on Strong, who was clearly perturbed after his team's win Saturday (which featured 14 USF penalties)

 

[Roaming Bull]

Was the mentioning of that loss even necessary? Oh wait it's dingleberry joey

[cdub3511]

Clearly CCS needs to reevaluate his "deterrent system" for penalties.  Whatever the punishment is, it doesn't seem to be working.     

[NewEnglandBull]

1 hour ago, Roaming Bull said:

Was the mentioning of that loss even necessary? Oh wait it's dingleberry joey

Why would he not? That was the last time we lost...makes sense to me. 

[Roaming Bull]

1 hour ago, cdub3511 said:

Clearly CCS needs to reevaluate his "deterrent system" for penalties.  Whatever the punishment is, it doesn't seem to be working.     

You get a flag, you run a mile. If you drop a pass you run a mile.

[Roaming Bull]

5 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

Why would he not? That was the last time we lost...makes sense to me. 

Come on man. You know that was jab.

[NewEnglandBull]

4 minutes ago, Roaming Bull said:

Come on man. You know that was jab.

No I don’t. Last game we lost to was against Temple exactly one year ago this Sat. Why is this a problem? It’s all factual and applicable.

[Roaming Bull]

17 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

No I don’t. Last game we lost to was against Temple exactly one year ago this Sat. Why is this a problem? It’s all factual and applicable.

[NewEnglandBull]

9 minutes ago, Roaming Bull said:

Sorry I have no idea what that is a reference to.

[raptorcj]

54 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

1 hour ago, Roaming Bull said:

Come on man. You know that was jab.

No I don’t. Last game we lost to was against Temple exactly one year ago this Sat. Why is this a problem? It’s all factual and applicable.

Normally I'd agree with the jab thing, but I really think it's a compliment phrased poorly. It's been a year since we lost a football game. Hallelujah and can I get an AMEN!