Football Quarterback woes continue for Bulls

[Brad]

Quarterback woes continue for Bulls

 

 

By DONNIE WILKIE

Correspondent

Published: Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 11:58 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 11:58 p.m.

 

TAMPA — Like coaches on “The Voice” wading through a parade of contestants during blind auditions, Willie Taggart (South Florida) and Carl Pelini (Florida Atlantic) have been on the lookout for “The Next” quarterback.

 

They both might have found their guys Saturday night.

 

Sophomore transfer Steven Bench snatched the baton from Bobby Eveld and pumped early life into a stagnant USF offense, leading two scoring drives. But Taggart, a Manatee High graduate, was left waiting for his first win as USF’s head coach after two turnovers produced two backbreaking touchdowns and Jaquez Johnson piloted the Owls to a 28-10 victory before 20,751 fans at Raymond James Stadium.

 

The win and the quarterback might be intertwined, and a frustrated Taggart knew it.

 

“I’ve never been a part of something like this,” he said. “I know we all want to find a quarterback that can be consistent and help this team, and we will. That’s my job to find that guy.”

 

Bench arrived in May from Penn State and was immediately eligible, due to the Nittany Lions’ NCAA sanctions. He represents Taggart’s third attempt in three games to find a dependable starter.

 

USF (0-3) is the only American Athletic Conference team that did not return its QB from 2012.

 

“I’m more disappointed that this offense continues to turn the ball over,” Taggart said. “Not only are we turning it over, we’re turning it over for points. It’s frustrating to see it three weeks in a row.”

 

Rest of Story

 

[raptorcj]

Who were the guys saying we wouldn't have a "QB by committee" across these games? What do you guys think now?

 

In all seriousness, I really think Bench shows the most promise, even if that's not saying much at this point. I think CWT should focus there.

[Apis Bull]

This is not QB by committee.  QB by committee is changing QBs depending on the situation, (field location, down and distance, etc).  We have QB by, "you couldn't get it done, next!"

[KyleC]

I agree Bench shows the best chance for us to have better QB play.  While the OL can open up holes for Shaw it can't hold the DL for 4 seconds for the QB.

[NCBull]

Desperate times. Now we need some desperate measures.

[El_Toro_86]

Based on our OL and QB play I'll consider the Miami game a sucess if our offense can score more points than Miami's defense.

Should be interesting.

[Mr. Big]

The USF fan that threw at Hootie had a better arm than our QB's.

[BullFan98]

I agree Bench shows the best chance for us to have better QB play.  While the OL can open up holes for Shaw it can't hold the DL for 4 seconds for the QB.

Right on the money.  When the OL has been able to give Bench time, he has showed potential.  Our OL isn't giving him or any qb a chance.

[ajusf16]

If we cannot hold the dline long enough from getting to the QB, why are we not going to more screen plays?

[dabull80]

Who were the guys saying we wouldn't have a "QB by committee" across these games? What do you guys think now?

 

In all seriousness, I really think Bench shows the most promise, even if that's not saying much at this point. I think CWT should focus there.

 

I agree - Bench seemed to have better control behind center, barked out calls and at least looked like a guy that wasn't afraid to run the offense.  I still say just let White start and build for the future.  At least he would find out what it is like to have 2.-2.5 seconds to throw and maybe next year when he has time he would be like Holy Crap - I got all day back here.  Of course he may get killed back there - looks pretty thin to me.  But so did the guy from Cinci a few years ago(forgot his name- torched us for the TD run right at the beginning of the second half)