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Big East Preview: South Florida Bulls
By Jason Collette | July 15, 2008
USF experienced breathtaking highs and crushing lows in the 2007 season.
The high was inexplicably getting to the #2 spots in the polls after a series of losses by other teams at the same time and the low was getting run out of El Paso by a Oregon Ducks team featuring a freshman quarterback as well as a 3 game losing streak at the hands of Connecticut, Rutgers, and Cincinnati in a game where USF turned it over eight times.
For all the successes on the field, USF is a frustrating fantasy squad as the second best scoring entity on the team has been the defense.
Head Coach Jim Leavitt likes to get a lot of names involved in the rushing and passing game so it has been hard for any one receiver or running back to stand out from the crowd. Nearly the entire offense returns for the Bulls this year but questions surround the defense that lost three impact players from last season in Ben Moffitt, Trae Williams, and Mike Jenkins.
Quarterback Matt Grothe (right, Icon SMI) is unmistakably the face of this program. The junior owns an 18-8 record which include some game winning drives and some Fran Tarkenton like scrambles on highlight films. He is a dual threat with his legs and his arm as he ran for 1138 yards and 10 scores while passing for 2670 yards and fourteen touchdowns. He also had fourteen interceptions which is his only downside. Grothe’s escapability helps keep him rather healthy as he has missed little time despite being involved in a huge amount of plays. If Grothe goes down, the loss would be devestating. Grant Gregory is the back up and has very little experience and it has all come in garbage time.
Running back has been a rotation of names since the departure of all time leading rusher Andre Hall. Last year, Alabama hardship transfer Mike Ford and Ben Williams carried a majority of the work when Grothe wasn’t running. Ford and Williams combined for 1135 yards and 18 touchdowns. Aston Samuels and Jamar Taylor (another Alabama hardship transfer) are also in the fold and saw time in the rotation last year. The running backs are not asked to participate in the passing game much and only Ben Williams had any significant dent in the passing game. Ford is the best talent here and could be huge if given a majority of the work. Yet, the presence of Grothe will limit his red zone touches as the veer option is the bread and butter of this offense in the red zone.
Wide receiver has never been a huge fantasy position here because there is not a feature receiver as all are equally talented. Carlton Mitchell returns after leading last year with 537 yards and four touchdowns. Jessie Hester Jr and Taurus Johnson are also back but only combined for 825 yards and eight touchdowns. Cedric Hill is a sizable tight end but does not contribute much to the offense. There is not a WR1, WR2, or TE1 option in this offense because Grothe is very good at spreading the ball around the field when he does step back to throw. Mitchell is the deep threat in the offense as the tallents and fastest guy on the team.
Delbert Alvarado returns to handle the kicking duties. Alvarado has a huge leg and has hit from as far as 56 yards out but he is very inconsistent so keep that in mind if your league penalizes for misses.
The USF defense is a scoring machine as they generate a lot of turnovers and pile up sacks with their speed and pressure. It all starts with the freak George Selvie at defensive end who is sometimes in the backfield before the quarterback has even completed a three step drop. His 14.5 sacks led the team last year and that does not account for all of his pressures. He’s helped by tackling machine Tyrone McKenzie and Brouce Mompremier. The Bulls will definitely miss Williams and Jenkins in the defensive backfield but do retain Carlton Williams and Nate Allen at the safety positions.
The schedule has some layups on it as the Bulls open up with Tennessee-Martin and have a road game at Florida International in September. They also finish the series against UCF which they have owne so far to the tune of 119-43. This last game is at UCF so it might be a little tougher this year. They also host Kansas and travel to Raleigh to take on NC State to round out the out of conference schedule. The have four Big East home games this year but have to travel to Louisville and Cincinnati back to back within five days in late October and close the year at Morgantown in December. While USF won there in 2006, they are traditionally an awful team in cold or wet weather which contributed to their demise in Stoors last year. Defense has always led this team but there is a ton of potential on the offensive side of the ball this year but the fantasy potential of the wide receivers and running backs are limited by the dominating presence of Matt Grothe.
Topics: Big East, College Football, Jason Collette, Preview |
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