SPT: QBs fell short, coordinator says

[Brad]

USF: QBs fell short, coordinator says

TAMPA - South Florida's second and final preseason scrimmage came and went without either top quarterback - senior Pat Julmiste or redshirt freshman Matt Grothe - doing much to impress offensive coordinator Rod Smith.

"Neither one of them looked good (Wednesday night). Neither one played to my standards," Smith said after a 75-play workout. "Missed assignments, putting the ball on the ground. A lot of mental errors that snowballed. We're not ready to play right now."

Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said his No. 1 defense played much better than in Saturday's scrimmage.

"We finally played a little bit (Wednesday night)," Burnham said. "I saw a little bit of light for the first time."

Redshirt freshman Chris Robinson, recently moved to defensive end from linebacker, continued to shine, picking up a fumble for a touchdown, though coach Jim Leavitt later said the ball was dead.

"Our No. 1 defense looked very good," Leavitt said. "There was some hitting out here (Wednesday night)."

Defensive backs Jerome Murphy and Ryan Gilliam had blocked kicks on special teams. Sophomore running back Ricky Ponton, last year's top backup, did not play due to a hamstring injury.

ADDING ON: Leavitt said he has made "very good progress" in securing financial commitments to help build a dining hall for athletes adjacent to USF's main athletic facility.

THIS AND THAT: Leavitt had praise for walk-on running back Colby Erskin, a redshirt freshman from Seminole who is working as one of USF's top four backs. . . . Former Hillsborough standout Leslie Stirrups, whose academic future is uncertain after an arrest on felony theft charges last month, watched USF's morning workout Wednesday. He signed with the Bulls in February but failed to qualify academically.

Link

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Lot of information thrown in on the USF section of the colleges update at SPT.

[smazza]

well bull fans

what do you think

will we ever have a qb that play to their potential

i have to admit i believed the hype on grothe and thought he was the man

BUT he couldnt beat out pj

our back up db did that last fall

cant wait for first wednesday in february when voss or someone better sign on board

i hope leavitt and crew are looking at top JC qbs. usf needs to find a qb need year

6 years is long enough to wait

rod smith should try recruitng a qb good enough for his standards

[E.T.]

...

cant wait for first wednesday in february when voss or someone better sign on board

...

So is this your official sign off and we don't have to hear it during the season ?

[E.T.]

“The offense started out slow, but they picked it up as it progressed. All the quarterbacks did some good things and they all made some mistakes. But none of them made me say, ‘oh that really (stinks).’† 

So smazza can say we have no communication and that we don't know what is going on with the ... blah blah blah

[flipflop4900]

So Smazza I guess you are a lawyer right? and I am sure you won every case right? Never had a bad day and lost a case? Pat and Matt arent robots programmed to be perfect every time they touch the ball. They have a bad scrimmage and, as you say "i have to admit i believed the hype on grothe and thought he was the man" I have to say, your not a fan, you just like to beat down the program and beat down the coaches. Hey I got an idea, go be a UCF fan you will fit right in!!  Have a little faith in the program!

[Guest BasketBull.]

Look, the sky isn't falling.

1) You can't believe what you read from the coaches in the papers. Why would they even close practices in the first place?

2) If you play the same team a second time, wouldn't that defense know your plays? I'm sure since last Saturday the offense came up with brand-new plays, etc.  :

3) There are only 2 sides to our team: if the defense plays well, the offense has to stink and vice versa.

4) If nothing else, nothing else, would moving up from the 80's in last year's to the 50's in this year's pre-season polls indicate that the people who "know" NCAA football feel that we are better than last year's bowl team?

5) We've got 3 games to work out the kinks... So relax!

Look, what I saw last Saturday was awesome... Maybe the offense isn't that good, but I'm sure it wasn't all luck. Somewhere in between is probably what we've got, which is still pretty good as compared to the last couple of years.

Take a chill pill... Breathe some air... Go to FAD and go to the games: ENJOY USF FOOTBALL!

Oh, smazza, this doesn't apply to you. Please continue.  

[___ Eats It]

What scares the crap out of me in that article isn't that the QB's had a bad day... that's bound to happen.

It's that, according to Rod Smith, "Neither one played to my standards."  What standards are those?  The VooDoo 5 standards?   Maybe if Pat or Matt would have double reversed and threw a flea flicker pass to the opposing linebacker (or just let themselves get sacked 15 yards behind scrimmage), those standards would have been met!  ;D

Yes, I'm still bitter about UConn...  but I feel better now.  Thanks for letting me vent.

[Ricky the Bull]

I prefer to take comfort in the possibility that our defense didn't allow our offense to do well.

I'm sure that if Pat and Matthew threw 5 TD passes and Mo ran in another 3, we'd have people crying about how our defense sucked.

[Joe]

I prefer to take comfort in the possibility that our defense didn't allow our offense to do well.

I'm sure that if Pat and Matthew threw 5 TD passes and Mo ran in another 3, we'd have people crying about how our defense sucked.

Disagree. We know the defense can play very well when needed.

It all depends on what type of scrimmage this was. If they went for full game situation and allowed defenses to just go out of the base, then I'm not as concerned. If it's a real game situation practice, then we might have some problems.

[Ricky the Bull]

Regardless, without any specifics or stats, it's not worthwhile to get upset over it.  We have another week of practice and a couple of games to get things nailed down.