Western at USF

I'm just wondering how many folk took the time to read about USF? They were awful last season, I don't see them making earth shattering changes in one season.

I think the Cats have a legit chance against the Bulls. We need that first FBS win.

The early betting lines have us losing by 23 points.

I'm sure we can beat that spread.

- a USF update from the USF website....

TAMPA, AUG. 11, 2014 – USF has entered the second week of fall camp and the position battle Bulls fans are wondering the most about continues to heat up at the Frank Morsani Football Complex.

Mike White and Steven Bench have been getting split reps with the first team and both quarterbacks have been impressing coaches with their strong play on the field and their attentiveness in the meeting room.

“It’s pretty tight. They are really competing and getting after it, and it’s making both of them better,” quarterbacks coach David Reaves said. “They’re both doing some really good things in all areas, in the run game and in the pass game, and in the protection game. It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Although he’s still the youngest Bull in the quarterback room, White is competing with confidence after playing in six games and starting the last five as a true freshman last season. The Fort Lauderdale native led the Bulls with 1,083 yards passing and he turned in the best debut by a USF quarterback in program history by throwing for 311 yards and two touchdowns at Houston.

“It’s what every freshman wants, it’s what every freshman dreams of. They don’t go to college to redshirt, they go to college to play,” White said. “I was one of the very few that got the opportunity to play as a true freshman and I’m thankful for it. I got my game experience, I made my mistakes last year and now I know what to expect going into the season.”

White definitely looks the part after using the offseason conditioning program to get up to 213 pounds, a 27-pound increase from his arrival at USF.

“I feel I can move with my weight and I’m really comfortable,” he said.

Bench also feels prepared after starting twice and playing in seven games last season in his debut as a Bull. The former transfer from Penn State started his junior campaign off in stride by passing for 317 yards and three touchdowns to lead the White Team to a 35-3 victory over the Green Team in USF’s spring game at Corbett Stadium.

“You can’t coach experience. Being thrown in the fire, no matter how it goes, it’s valuable,” Bench said. “You can’t replicate playing a college football game in front of college football fans when the pressure is on, the lightning is striking and the chaos is around you, you have to embrace it.”

White and Bench have both looked comfortable delivering the ball to USF’s receivers on a consistent basic at practice, which has made Taggart a happy camper.

“From a playmaking standpoint, it’s been great to see because one guy makes a play and the other guy comes and makes a play,” he said. “They’re starting to love to make plays and that’s exciting for me to see that.”

Taggart didn’t offer a firm timetable on when the decision on a starting quarterback will be made but USF’s second-year head coach said the choice will be made “sooner rather than later.”

“I feel comfortable that we have two guys that I think can run our offense. It’s just a matter of them going out and continuing to compete,” he said. “This week is important for both of those guys and a lot of other guys as well at other positions to go out and compete and try to impress not only our coaches but their teammates as well.”

White and Bench, who sit next to each other in the locker room, have become close friends since last fall and both have said there will be no hard feelings when the time comes for Taggart to name a starter.

"He’s one of my closest friends here that’s for sure, but that doesn’t take away the fact that we’re in a quarterback competition. I love the competition and I’m all for it," Bench said. "My goal is to win just like his goal is to win, but it’s not going to hurt our friendship or anything like that. We’re that close."



Injury Update

Freshman linebacker Nick Holman will have surgery on his shoulder after suffering a torn labrum in Saturday’s practice.

“He’s going to have surgery and rehab, and we’ll see how it goes with him,” Taggart said.

Holman was ranked as the No. 32 prospect in Alabama by Scout.com after posting 104 tackles and three sacks as a senior at Bob Jones High School. Taggart did not give a timetable for Holman’s return to the field.

Wide receiver Rodney Adams returned to practice after being sidelined late last week with a minor foot injury that required rehab and rest. Adams impressed in the first few practices of camp with his playmaking ability on short and deep routes.

“He can jump, he can catch and he can run. He’s as good as advertised,” White said.

Hola Cats, Hope all is well with you and you folks are looking forward to the season as much as we are. Just a friendly Bulls fan hoping to chime in on your discussion.

In reference to your question about whether The Cats can beat the Bulls or not......damn right you can. Our offense was so bad last year that our starting QB came in played a quarter and NEVER PLAYED AGAIN. Ok, so thats a bit of a stretch but not by much. Matt Floyd played a handful of games in 2012, came in to the McNeese St opener, did so badly he got yanked and never played football again for USF. He has since transferred to South Alabama. Mike White and Steven Bench mopped up the rest of the season with, IMO, Bench looking the more poised of the two but White will be the starter against your team. USF was so bad that the first four games of last year the Bulls lost by a combined total of 151-58. The only, and I mean the only, reason we won two games was our stellar defense. In those two games the offense did not score a single touchdown but the def/st units scored three. Now we have a great kicker, true, and a great kicker wins close ball games. But that defense was beaten 1/2 through the season and gave up 313 pts in the nine losses while the offense scored 126. That an average loss of almost 3 touchdowns per game. Folks that is bad.

Now with that being said, we have ten starters returning on offense. Every starter in front of White is an upperclassman. That gives me hope. The o-line has 3sr's and 2jr'ss while the WR/TE is made up of 2sr's and a Jr. Amongst the backups we have 2 more sr's and jr's to add depth. Now the RBs are young, So, RFr, but both are over 200lbs and posses speed. Power is yet to be determined from that group. So offensively we should improve (if we don't Willie may not make it to yr 3)

Defensively we may regress, but it wont be too much. Our DL should be stout, we have always had a good DL although we are a little small on the strong side. Linebackers are a whole new group of starters but they did get playing time last year and should be able to at least maintain. Secondary is the huge questionmark, 4 sophmores, a freshman and two juco transfers are on the official two-deep. Most of them have had playing time and really cut their collective teeth last year in a near upset win over Blake Bortles and the UCF golden gnats.

Yes, we had a great recruiting class, arguably the best in our history, but the school motto has always been, "wait'll next year" So don't sell yourselves short. The only real thing you have going against your team is the whole, 'we aint gonna let it happen again' mentality.

So good luck! I hope you win every game you play, except this one :-)