written by S. Bien

The offense revolves around Marquel Blackwell. A post-season award hopeful, Marquel is a resilient, hardworking young man, who is nearly as driven and ambitious as he is elusive. He has been favorably compared to Woodrow Dantzler, yet a tad more accurate (comparison given by Rod Smith, USF QB Coach who also coached Woodrow). He throws to a stable of wide receivers who, although lack name recognition, possess the speed and skills comparable to most SEC and ACC schools. Leading the pack running routes is DeAndrew Rubin, who simply wreaked havoc in the first two games of 2001 against Northern Illinois and Pittsburgh. He was injured in the Pittsburgh game, and never regained his true form until the end of the year. Returning with Rubin is 2001 leading receiver Huey Whittaker, who is a huge target at 6-5, 220 lbs. with great hands and good speed. The remaining compilation of returning wide receivers is full of players loaded with exceptional tools and talent.

USF returns three running backs that all saw varying time last year. The primary starter last year was Clenton Crossley, a shifty bruiser that uses his 5-10 frame to its fullest. The next in line is Callum, a JUCO transfer scat back who originally signed with Florida State out of high school. The best ball carriers could be Georgia Bulldog transfer, DeJuan Green. Mr. Green sat out last year, but was considered by many recruiting analysts as the #1 running back out of the Sunshine State in 1999. He was a Parade All-American and Super Prep All-American. Green has big time explosiveness, with world-class speed to match. He is expected to give USF a boost of quickness in the backfield.

The offensive line is young, and the only area that was depleted from graduation. Lost were starters Fitts, Sparrowhawk, and Snellgrove. In their place are Newton (replacing Sparrowhawk at guard, started 3 games as a true freshman), Frank Davis (quicker, stronger, and slightly bigger than Snellgrove, although Snellgrove had better footwork), and Houston. The returning starters are Sarosi (started all 11 games at tackle, and at 6-6, 305 is developing into one of the best tackles in the South as a sophomore); the other starter is Herron at center, another young talent who started eight games at center as a redshirt freshman. During his tenure at center there were no snapping issues and the team yielded zero sacks against Pittsburgh when Herron was calling the line assignments. This year Herron returns bigger, stronger, and more experienced. Expect the offensive line to start slow, but the experience and talents of Herron, Newton, and especially Sarosi should carry the front line to loftier expectations.

Lastly, the tight end position has been a bit of a revolving door for USF. Often times not a highly utilized receiving position in USF's spread offense, it does possess one of USF's best athletes. Tim Jones was originally a Miami commitment out of high school. He was the #1 tight end out of the state in 2000 and generally rated as one of the top five recruits east of the Mississippi at his position. He is a svelte 6-4, 245 lbs. with, believe it or not, a 4.59 speed (clocked in the spring at 240lbs). He has great hands and was also an All-American candidate as a linebacker in high school, so he is very athletic and versatile. Behind Jones is Casey Cobb, a good-sized tight end that has battled injuries since his switch from quarterback.

Overall, USF possesses enough speed and home run threats at the skill positions to keep any team honest. The key to success for USF lies in the maturation of their young offensive line and having more success running the ball, thus controlling the clock better. Marquel now has two years under his belt in this system. Coupling his experience and abilities together should carry this team into a 7-4 season at a minimum. If the line matures quicker than expected and a consistent running game is found, who knows the upside!?!

written by S. Bien

The heart and soul of the defense is Kawika Mitchell. Kawika was a highly sought after high school player who enrolled at Georgia and redshirted his freshman year. Due to family reasons Kawika transferred to USF, and the rest is history. He has been a three-year starter on defense and as durable and consistent on defense as Marquel Blackwell is on offense. Kawika is a two time Butkus Award Nominee and was the team's leading tackler last year.

Complimenting Kawika at SAM linebacker is Maurice Jones. Jones is a two-year starter with similar size and demeanor as Kawika. Jones has excellent quickness and speed for his size and is adept at rushing the QB. The weak side linebacker looks to be converted running back Courtney Davenport, who has spent a year apprenticing at the new position and is prepared to make the move to starter. The back ups are shallow, but expect to see a lot of minutes from Mike Minus and Jason Allen. Some freshmen could make an immediate impact at this position.

Discussing the DL always must start with Shurron Pierson. Last year as a redshirt freshman, Pierson started nine games and registered ten sacks, a team record. His cat like quickness, 4.46 speed, and 450-pound bench press make him a nightmare for any blocking tackle nationwide. On the opposite side is always dependable and full-motor guy Chris Daley. Chris had 9.5 sacks last year despite missing most of the last three games. He has great quickness off the snap and never stops. He is a student of the game and uses his skills to their fullest. Backing up these two is a stable of young but talented players. Keep a particular eye on Cedric Battle (who should float from end to tackle throughout the game), Royals (some consider a Pierson clone), and Huebner, who had 28 sacks as a senior in high school.

Last year the defensive tackle position was a weakness at the beginning of the year. Both starters are extremely stout and possess the quickness and size to be good men on the interior with this being Wall's senior season. The back ups are not deep or flashy, but dependable in Campbell and Groelinger. Cedric Battle will play some tackle to add depth and experience. Walk-on Vernell Smith might make some noise and watch for incoming true freshman Ramon McCullough. Many considered him to have All-American potential until an injury riddled his senior season at the previous level, in which he was still able to register 7 sacks.

The defensive backs lost a tough player in Joe Morgan and the cornerback position took a hit with Kenny Robinson's decision to redshirt this season. Overall there is solid talent in the secondary with fast Indiana transfer Maurice Tucker manning one of the corner spots. Local product Ron Hemingway will play on the other side. USF will need some youngsters to step up at cornerback for a successful season, including D'Juan Brown, who must be prepared to continue improving after turning some heads this spring. Ditto for Miami native Antonio Warren. This should be a solid position, particularly if back ups live up to potential. When discussing the safeties you must start with free safety J.R. Reed. His high school coach mentioned that Reed was the real warrior in his backfield as he called the plays and possessed as much skill and speed as any one in the state at safety. Reed hauled in 5 interceptions last year as a sophomore, and is poised for a huge junior season. The strong safety slot will probably be manned by John Miller, who had some extensive playing time last year while performing well in spurts. Running neck and neck with Miller for the starting role is Kevin Verpaele, who possesses good size and instincts. They will try to make up for the loss of Joe Morgan. The positive aspect here is that both had two good years of tutoring under Morgan. The secondary back ups are filled with quick athletes and many anticipate a few receivers switching over to continue to add more athletes in the defensive backfield. Expect Marcus Edwards, the son of Jets HC Herman Edwards, to move from WR to DB in the fall. USC and Miami recruited him among others, as a defensive back coming out of high school.

Overall this team is going to rely on their extremely talented linebacking crew to lead the defense. If Jones, Pierson, Jurineak, Reed, Tucker, and Mitchell stay healthy all year, this defensive has the potential to be very good. If anyone in that group gets hurt, the team will be forced to turn to some very untested backups. Last year early in the season the defense was struggling. It came to form late, and if that carries over, USF should have the ability to put a few notches in the victory column once again.