Grothe to Start Saturday vs FIU...

[BullGrad95]

And that fumble was not Matt's fault. It was the RB messing up the play. What I loved to see was Matt get in that kids face to tell him about it, so that he wont ever make that mistake again.

That is the thing I noticed about Grothe right away.  He was not afraid to let people know when they made mistakes.  It was fairly obvious after watching the replay that our receivers still run very sloppy routes.  Matt was in Amarri's junk a few times after poorly run routes.  PJ has never shown that type of "intangible".  For a freshman to do that shows what he is made of.  His leadership looks to be natural, not something learned.  Regardless of how the season should end up, I hope Matt is our QB for the duration.

[Guest R_to_the_izzo]

Right, and what you didnt see was CJL get right in Grothe's face for the fumble. It looked like it was a play fake, and thats Grothee's fault for not pulling it back quick enough.

So now the new reason we like Matt is cause he blames others for his mistakes? Allright.

[Triple B]

Triple,

I thought the offense started off pretty well with Julmiste in the game until he threw that stupid INT which brought back memories of the Army game a few years ago. Lets all just face the fact that PJ was never going to be a leader at QB. It showed on the field many of times, not just against McNeese St. Sure he makes good throws at times, but I still never get the sense that he keeps his cool and confidence out there. And yes, Matt has yet to prove on a consistant basis. However, I would rather have Grothe as QB from what I have seen in High School, spring game, and the McNeese St game. Yeah, I know it has not been much, but that is better than what I have seen at QB since Marquel Blackwell was here.

I know I'm in the minority but I would rather start PJ this year and let him lose the job rather than to go with Matt from the outset. See if things click for him his last year here. Keep Pat on a short leash and if he starts pulling the stuff that plagued him over the years, hand the reins over to Matt............but I've said all along that the qb who starts should be the one who gives us the best chance to win NOW, and if the coaching staff thinks that is MG at this point in time, that's good enough for me. They certainly know more than me and everybody else on this board when it comes to football.

[twillybull]

Call it nerves at the beginning, he looked better as soon as he calmed down.  Don't expect him to be lights out against a good defense,  he's a redshirt freshman and he WILL make some mistakes.  As long as the coaches stick with him he should develop.  It's refreshing to see someone with good throwing technique.

With all the youth and the key RB missing, expect Rod to keep the offense vanilla this weekend.  Thankfully the schedule gives time necessary to develop the team and get past those key suspensions.  

[Joe]

Trip I agree with you 100%. PJ wasn't playing bad enough to think he should be benched. I know Matt put up numbers Saturday, but my full belief is that PJ would have done the same thing in that situation, the defense was dead. That's not saying Matt didn't play well. that is just saying that I don't think PJ played awful in the beginning and that he probably would have done many of the same things Matt did.

If Coach elects to start Matt because he feels better about him now, then I'll back it. However, my own opinion is that PJ needs to get the chance to play.

My only other worry is what will happen on here IF Matt has a tough outing. I know most on this board will be WAY to proud to admit that Matt might need some work and will resort to bashing the offensive staff rather than admiting that a RsFreshman may struggle against better defenses.

[fishinBULL]

I think Grothe is ready, he is a leader, he will make mistakes, but eventually he will be the best thing that happened to this program

he brings character to our offense

[Bull Matrix]

Rizzo,

The RB Kolby kid ran right into Grothe on that fumble which caused that fumble. It was cleary a botched play that Leavitt was not happy with. The point is that Grothe did not fold after that fumble in which he drove them down the field. He just came back out there and took control of the game like a leader at QB should do. We have not seen this since the day of Blackwell and Barnhardt. And no, Julmiste didnt have a killed game against UL if you look at his stats. That was a game won on coaching with some trick plays mixed in. I dont think USF has a chance with PJ in there against UL this year, but we may have a fighting chance with Matt at QB. Lets agree to wait and see, but I cant help getting excited over having Matt at QB.

[Kyle]

You guys need to realize that Grothe is going to make his mistakes and you're not going to be happy. He's going to throw interceptions. He threw them in spring, he's thrown them in fall. I like what he brings to the table, but you cannot forget that he is lacking experience and will make bad plays and will have bad games.

You're all so absolute in your opinions...things are rarely so cut and dry.

[Bull Matrix]

Kyle,

I agree that there are going to be games that Matt is going to get bashed for mistakes that he will make. I just feel the time is now for developing a new QB that can help USF compete for a BIG EAST title in a few years. Sure, if you are going to play Pat then do it on certain situations that wont hold back Matt's development. Maybe we should play Pat most of the game while we bring in Matt on every third series or so like UL did with Brian Brohn a few years back. I dont know, but I think Matt wont get truley tested until the UCF game that is on the road. If Matt does good against UCF, then I don think there should be a question about who the QB should be. If Matt struggles, then I think we need to bring the senior Pat Julmiste back in. It is a good thing to have Matt play against FIU, so that we make sure that PJ is 100% healthy if needed.

[Jamie]

You guys need to realize that Grothe is going to make his mistakes and you're not going to be happy. He's going to throw interceptions. He threw them in spring, he's thrown them in fall. I like what he brings to the table, but you cannot forget that he is lacking experience and will make bad plays and will have bad games.

Those precious few of us who see shades of gray can accept that because he's a freshman. It's harder to accept bad plays and bad games from a senior who is also a 2 1/2-year starter.