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CB
Trae Williams |
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|
2006
Statistics |
Coach:
Jim Leavitt
70-43,
10 years |
2006
Record: 9-4 |
|
MCNEESE
STATE |
WON
41-10 |
FIU |
WON
21-20 |
at
UCF |
WON
24-17 |
at
Kansas |
LOST
7-13 |
RUTGERS |
LOST
20-22 |
CONNECTICUT |
WON
38-16 |
at
North Carolina |
WON
37-20 |
at
Cincinnati |
LOST
6-23 |
PITTSBURGH |
WON
22-12 |
SYRACUSE |
WON
27-10 |
at
Louisville |
LOST
8-31 |
at
West Virginia |
WON
24-19 |
PAPAJOHNS.COM
BOWL |
East
Carolina |
WON
24-7 |
|
2006
Final Rankings
AP-29, Coaches-UR, BCS-UR
|
2007
Outlook |
Everything
seems to be on schedule – in seven
short years, the school’s only-ever
head football coach (Jim Leavitt) has modestly
procured a quality team that competed admirably
for the Big East title and subsequently
won its very first bowl game last season.
Surprised? Don’t be, especially when
you consider that USF has only had one losing
season in its short existence, and how Leavitt
competitively recruits from the talent-rich
coffers there in the sunshine state (only
eight players on the current roster are
from outside our nation’s most massive
peninsula). It all equals a program on the
short track to success that is currently
in position to get to the next level. With
a solid foundation laid, the emergence of
sophomore QB Matt Grothe is the one element
that has USF on the verge of greatness.
With a big victory at Morgantown and then
the inaugural bowl win to end 2006, keeping
the Big East Freshman of the Year healthy
will be all the Bulls need to do to assure
their star continues to rise. Well, just
as important to winning is the entire return
of both starting lines. Factoring in an
experienced secondary means that the defense
will again be tough enough to keep USF in
those closer games. A winning season isn’t
in question. The issue is whether Leavitt
& Co. can beat the Big East’s
best – West Virginia, Louisville and
Rutgers. The Bulls were one missed field
goal from going 2-1 against these three.
It’s all in place for USF to become
a permanent fixture amongst the league’s
elite, and that means we will be seeing
them more in the top 25. Get used to it
– there is another football power
in Florida, one that finished better than
both FSU and Miami last year and is here
to stay.
Projected
2007 record: 8-4
|
|
|
WR
Taurus Johnson |
SOUTH
FLORIDA
*POWER RATINGS |
Offense |
Defense |
QB
- 4 |
DL
- 4.5 |
RB
- 3 |
LB
- 3 |
WR
- 3.5 |
DB
- 4 |
OL
- 3.5 |
.. |
|
RETURNING
LEADERS |
Passing:
Matt Grothe, 202-317-14, 2576 yds., 15 TD
Rushing: Matt Grothe, 178 att., 622
yds., 9 TD
Receiving: Taurus Johnson, 37 rec.,
494 yds., 2 TD
Scoring: Matt Grothe, 9 TD, 54 pts.
Punting: Justin Teachey, 45 punts,
38.2 avg.
Kicking: Delbert Alvarado, 5-9 FG,
13-14 PAT, 28 pts.
Tackles: Ben Moffitt, 112 tot., 75
solo
Sacks: George Selvie, Allen Cray
- 5.5 each
Interceptions: Trae Williams, 7 for
8 yds.
Kickoff Returns: Taurus Johnson,
14 ret., 22.6 avg., 0 TD
Punt Returns: Amarri Jackson, 6 ret.,
7.3 avg., 0 TD
|
|
|
|
|
SOUTH
FLORIDA |
|
|
OFFENSE
- 8
|
----RETURNING
STARTERS----
|
DEFENSE
- 8
|
|
KEY
LOSSES |
OFFENSE:
Pat Julmiste-QB, Ean Randolph-WR/PR/KR, S.J.
Green-WR, Will Bleakley-TE, Thed Watson-OT |
DEFENSE:
Stephen
Nicholas-SLB, Pat St. Louis-WLB, Jerremy Burnett-SS,
Josh Julmiste-DE |
|
|
2007
OFFENSE
|
This
team will live and die with the guy who has taken
them to their latest heights, sophomore QB sensation
Matt Grothe. The Lakeland native proves equally
impressive not only running (team’s top
rusher) and passing, but also as a genuine leader
who can get his troops the tough yards in tough
situations. What this guy does is produce big
wins, and after doing it so well as a freshman,
expectations are rightfully high. Many of the
plays coach Leavitt runs allow Grothe to check
off and/or make decisions on the run – literally.
But look for more old school dropback plays with
all of the line’s starters back. The line,
big enough to stop top opponents, moves well with
Grothe’s improvisations. The main area of
concern has to be the running game (besides Grothe),
which had trouble finding a “go to”
TB for their one back sets. Look for big, fast
five-star recruit Mike Ford to see reps in search
of the right backfield fit. Juniors Benjamin Williams
and Ricky Ponton aren’t bad by any stretch,
but neither is the back to take USF to any “next
levels”. Big senior Amarri Jackson joins
juniors Taurus Johnson and Marcus Edwards to give
the Bulls a broken-in set of snarlers. As a matter
of fact, five of the team’s top seven receivers
return. That includes last year’s leading
TE Cedric Hill, who now gets the start. Knowing
how valuable Grothe is to the team’s success,
we do not expect to see him as the Bull’s
leading rusher in new coordinator Greg Gregory’s
schemes. In fact, if one back staying home cannot
provide the blocking needed on pass plays, look
for either a FB to be inserted or an extra TE
to see more action. This is an underrated offense
that, until it is recognized for its proven worth,
will burn foes and win games for USF.
|
|
QB
Matt Grothe
|
|
|
SOUTH
FLORIDA 2007 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/Key
Players |
OFFENSE |
QB |
Matt
Grothe-So (6-0, 200) |
Grant
Gregory-Jr (6-1, 205) |
RB |
Benjamin
Williams-Jr (5-7, 190) |
Aston
Samuels-Fr (5-10, 190)
Ricky Ponton-Jr (5-10, 205) |
WR |
Marcus
Edwards-Jr (5-11, 175) |
Amp
Hill-Jr (6-3, 205) |
WR |
Taurus
Johnson-Jr (6-1, 190) |
Jessie
Hester-Jr (6-0, 170) |
WR |
Amarri
Jackson-Sr (6-5, 195) |
Carlton
Mitchell-Fr (6-4, 200) |
TE |
Cedric
Hill-Jr (6-3, 240) |
Andrew
Ketchel-Fr (6-4, 225) |
OT |
Marc
Dile-Jr (6-4, 310) |
Jared
Carnes-Sr (6-7, 315) |
OG |
Matt
Huners-Jr (6-3, 290) |
Jeremiah
Warren-Fr (6-4, 320) |
C |
Nick
Capogna-Sr (6-3, 275) |
Jake
Griffin-Jr (6-4, 305) |
OG |
Ryan
Schmidt-Jr (6-4, 305) |
Zach
Hermann-Fr (6-3, 310) |
OT |
Walter
Walker-Sr (6-5, 315) |
Jacob
Sims-Fr (6-4, 280) |
K |
Delbert
Alvarado-So (6-0, 175) |
Mike
Benzer-So (5-8, 185) |
|
|
2007
DEFENSE
|
If
it all starts up front, then the four returning
starters the Bulls bring back there will assure
this defense only gets better. Really, the entire
two-deep of bigmen are back. End George Selvie
proved last year as a freshman that he is a beast,
finishing third in team tackles and tied for first
in TFLs (15) and forced fumbles (four, as did
his backup sophomore Chris Robinson). Inside,
senior Allen Cray demands double-teams, or else.
Three of the DLmen are sophs and four are tutoring
seniors, meaning this line likely stays fresh
and viable through 2009! (Sorry, we’ll go
one year at a time.) When you again see USF allowing
just over three ypc and only nine (or less) ground
scores while earning 37 (or more) sacks, you will
know they are vying for the Big East lead. Leading
team tackler senior MLB Ben Moffitt is in search
of any candidates that will help cover the outside
and/or underneath. Losing Nicholas is going to
hurt some of those numbers we just listed. But
with two easy games to start before traveling
to Auburn, new LBs evolving from the Bull’s
rich Florida coffers look highly likely. Heck,
in a pinch, given the range of Selvie, he could
be a hybrid “up” lineman and sometimes
drop back so as to confuse opponents. Coordinator
Wally Burnham, who has been a coach here since
the beginning in 2000, is a huge reason USF has
the defense to sneak up on foes, so expect results
in the LB corps by the end of summer. Seniors
Trae Williams (seven INTs) and Mike Jenkins (10
PBUs) will be one of the best pairs of corners
in all the land. The safeties are both big juniors
who are huge in run support – the depth
and experience in the secondary will also go a
long way toward helping buffer the new choices
at LB. Burnham’s boys allowed only one team
to score more than 23 points last year in finishing
18th for defensive scoring. Any major holes on
this side of the ball would be disastrous in the
Bull’s ability to compete for the conference
crown.
|
|
LB
Ben Moffitt
|
|
|
SOUTH
FLORIDA 2007 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/Key
Players |
DEFENSE |
DE |
Jarriett
Buie-Sr (6-4, 255) |
Brandon
Peguese-Fr (6-1, 240) |
NT |
Richard
Clebert-Sr (6-1, 310) |
Allen
Cray-Sr (6-0, 295)
Woody George-Sr (6-3, 265) |
DT |
Aaron
Harris-So (6-4, 255) |
Tavarious
Robinson-Sr (6-4, 290) |
DE |
George
Selvie-So (6-4, 245) |
Joshua
Smiley-Fr (6-3, 230) |
SLB |
Chris
Robinson-So (6-3, 240) |
Tyrone
McKenzie-Jr (6-2, 230) |
MLB |
Ben
Moffitt-Sr (6-2, 240) |
Marvin
Peoples-So (6-2, 230) |
WLB |
Brouce
Mompremier-Jr (6-1, 225) |
Sam
Miller-Sr (5-11, 210) |
CB |
Trae
Williams-Sr (5-10, 185) |
Tyller
Roberts-Jr (6-1, 190) |
CB |
Mike
Jenkins-Sr (6-0, 200) |
Jerome
Murphy-So (6-1, 190) |
SS |
Carlton
Williams-Jr (6-4, 205) |
Louis
Gachette-Jr (6-3, 205) |
FS |
Danny
Verpaele-Jr (5-11, 200) |
Nate
Allen-So (6-2, 190) |
P |
Justin
Teachey-Jr (5-11, 170) |
William
Criswell-Jr (5-9, 160) |
|
|
|
2007
SPECIAL TEAMS
|
Junior
punter Justin Teachey has to learn to control his efforts
so USF can finish better than 113th for net punting.
Big-footed Delbert Alvarado helped both Teachey and
embattled kicker Mike Benzer, winning the PK job after
USF lost to Rutgers on a missed 40-yarder by Benzer.
Taurus Johnson, solid on kick returns, will be one of
many looking to replace Ean Randolph, last year’s
fourth-leading PR guy.
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