USA Today: South Florida - Team Notes

[Mama_Bull]

USA Today is the only preseason college football mag to predict USF to win the Big East. I still haven't actually read the copy. Has anybody read it online?

This is what they had to say this week:

SOUTH FLORIDA

INSIDE SLANT

Coming off an emotional high from the opening win over Notre Dame and an emotionally draining low with the death of former athletic director Lee Roy Selmon earlier in the week, South Florida got exactly what it needed in its second game.

A quick 37-7 throttling of a Ball State team that looked to have the potential to be troublesome allowed coach Skip Holtz to go to his bench early in the second half, giving the starters a break and him the opportunity to look over some backups.

"It had all the makings of a letdown," Holtz said of the circumstances coming into the game. "It had all the makings of coming out and playing a little bit flat ad maybe not playing with the emotion we needed to play."

Instead, the Bulls scored in the first eight seconds when sophomore Mark Joyce picked up Ball State's fumble on the opening kickoff and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown just eight seconds into the game.

The Bulls broke open the game with a 20-point second quarter, going to the locker room up 30-0.

By the end of the second quarter, quarterback B.J. Daniels had thrown for 289 yards and receivers Sterling Griffin and Victor Marc had combined for seven catches for 109 yards.

The Bulls also had outrushed the Cardinals 97-22 and held the visitors to just 76 yards in total offense.

"I thought the first half, outside of red-zone productivity, it was probably the most complete half of a football game since I have been here," said Holtz, who is in his second year at USF. "I thought that was pretty impressive."

The game was the first of three in a row at home for the Bulls. The next is Sept. 17 against Florida A&M. The homestand ends Sept. 24 when UTEP visits.

NOTES, QUOTES

—USF recognized the memory of Lee Roy Selmon by passing out decals bearing Selmon's name and the No. 63 he wore for the Tampa Bay Bucs. The number also was painted on the field, and his picture was on the cover of the program. Selmon had been at USF since 1993 and served as athletic director from 2001 to 2004. He died Sept. 4, two days after suffering a stroke and the day after the Bulls opened the season by beating Notre Dame, a game Selmon was instrumental in bringing about.

—USF recovered three fumbles against Ball State, giving the Bulls eight takeaways in their first two games.

—The Bulls are 2-0 for the fourth time in the last five years. They lost to Florida in their second game last year.

KEEP AN EYE ON: RB Darrell Scott — The junior transfer from Colorado has added a power back to the Bulls' attack. He had a game-high 82 yards rushing against Ball State on just 11 carries and scored from a yard out.

LOOKING GOOD: The defense picked up the pace considerably. After giving up 504 yards in total offense the week before at Notre Dame, the Bulls held Ball State to just 225. Yes, there's a big difference in quality of offenses between the Irish and Cardinals, but that's still a significant improvement.

STILL NEEDS WORK: PK Maikon Bonani has been pretty consistent, but after making his first three attempts, he had one field goal attempt from 33 yards block and then missed from 41 yards. The Bulls were 6-of-8 in red-zone scoring opportunities, but twice had to settle for field goals early on.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Fans come to see big hits, big plays. So I'm trying to give the fans what they want." — LB Mike Jeune, whose hit on Ball State's Phil Dudley jarred the ball loose, where it was recovered and returned for a touchdown by USF's Mark Joyce.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

—Redshirt freshman Deonte Welch, sophomore Terrence Mitchell, and junior Lindsay Lamar, all wide receivers, were new starters for the Bulls against Ball State.

"We just felt like this game we wanted to turn the personnel sets and put some speed on the field," coach Skip Holtz said. "It's the personnel package that we made the decision to start the game with."

—QBs B.J. Daniels and Bobby Eveld combined to throw completions to 10 different receivers on their way to a 372-yard passing night. Daniels was 28-of-39 for 359 yards before leaving the game for good after the initial series of the third quarter. The completions and attempts were single-game highs for the junior.

—Junior P Justin Brockhaus-Kahn had a solid night. He averaged 45.8 yards on four attempts with a long of 50.

ROSTER REPORT

—Sophomore WR Terrence Mitchell made his first career reception and finished the night with seven catches for 60 yards.

—Junior WR Victor Marc recorded the first touchdown reception of his career, a 20-yard toss from QB Daniels in the second quarter.

—Senior DE Claude Davis may be making a bid for a starting role after recording two sacks against Ball State. He had one against Notre Dame the week before.

—Sophomore DB JaQuez Jenkins (hamstring) and senior WR Joel Miller (concussion) did not play.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigeast/sflorida.htm

[The Great 8]

Agree about Davis making a case. Not sure he's the answer on non-obvious passing downs though. Can he stop the run?

We need Jenkins back, maybe even for against UTEP. Definitely for Pitt.

[E.T.]

Identical to what is on rivals/yahoo

[Mama_Bull]

Identical to what is on rivals/yahoo

Well, I know that Rivals and Yahoo are the same. Didn't realize that USA Today was affiliated with them. I don't believe Rivals/Yahoo picked USF to win the Big East in the pre season. Strange.

[Greg Auman]

They both pick up the same syndicated content to fill their team pages.

[Velcro]

<grammar police>

Instead, <b>the Bulls scored in the first eight seconds</b> when sophomore Mark Joyce picked up Ball State's fumble on the opening kickoff and <b>ran it into the end zone for a touchdown just eight seconds into the game</b>.

All in one sentence!  Gotta stress that 8 seconds point.  ;D

</grammar police>

[Bull Martin]

and senior WR Joel Miller (concussion) did not play.

This is the first time I've read about Miller having a concussion.  Hope he's ok.  I recall him leveling a ND defender last week blocking for a BJ scramble.  Pretty awesome.

[bulls phanatic]

Hopefully Miller sits and get rested for the Pitt game. We are going to need his blocking skills for that game. He had some bigtime blocks against ND

[Bulls Are We]

Hopefully Miller sits and get rested for the Pitt game. We are going to need his blocking skills for that game. He had some bigtime blocks against ND

Miller is ok by me, but I'll take T-Rex on the field over him any day of the week.

[DELdaBull]

Hopefully Miller sits and get rested for the Pitt game. We are going to need his blocking skills for that game. He had some bigtime blocks against ND

Miller is ok by me, but I'll take T-Rex on the field over him any day of the week.

TRex doesn't bring the thunder like Miller does blocking. He is affective enough though. Gets in the way. Put a good block on one of BJ's keepers on the read option.