Taggart reels in another highly touted prospect for USF

Willie Taggart and the USF football program had a bonanza of weekend.

The Bulls head coach picked up his second four-star verbal commitment in a week Sunday when Miami Southridge cornerback Lamar Robbins announced he would sign with USF.

Robbins is a highly sought after commodity, particularly at conerback where he can use his 6-3, 188 pound frame to cover tall receivers and has the size to more than hold his own in the tackling department. He had visited and received offers from Oklahoma, West Virginia, Lousville and Purdue.

It was the Bulls second four star recruit to commit. Taggart, the Manatee High legend, last week convinced Hurricanes four star defensive tackle Derrick Colloway to committ to USF after he had  pledged to Louisville.

Taggart, who took over the program in December, has now garnered both of USF's four star recruits.

Rivals currently has USF's 2013 recruiting class ranked third in the Big East, but the Bulls are only a few points behind second place Rutgers and could surpass the Knights when signing day concludes on February 6th. They could also pass number one Pittsburgh.

Robbins is a welcome addition for a Bulls secondary that allowed 252 yards passing per game last season and had only two inteceptions.

This past weekend, the Bulls also received a verbal commttment from running back Stafon McCray, a 5-11, 196 pound three star recruit from Kissimmee Osecola.

The running back rushed for more than 1,700 yards and scored 25 touchdowns in leading his team to a 13-1 record last season and has amasssed more then 3,200 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns the past two seasons.

USF tries to end Thursday night horrors tonight against Rutgers

USF has never won a Thursday night game since its program was launched in 1997.

The Thursday night winless streak began in 2007 against tonight's opponent Rutgers so it seems it would be only fitting if the Bulls could end it agianst the Scarlet Knights.

USF is 0-8 on Thursday nights.

That '07 loss was the most devistating. USF was undefeated and ranked second in the country when they went up to New Jersey that night and lost 30-27 in an ESPN nationally televised game.

So there would be a lot of reasons to celebreate a victory by the Bulls in tonight's Big East Confrence opener for both teams.

USF THURSDAY NIGHT LOSSES:

2007

Oct. 18h Rutgers 27-30

2008

Oct. 2^nd Pittsburgh 21-26

Oct 30^th Cincinnati 10-24
2009
Oct 15^th Cincinnati 17-34
Nov. 12^th Rutgers 0-31
2010
Oct. 14^th W. Va. 6-20
2011
Sept. 29^th Pittsburgh 17-44
Dec. 1^st W. Va. 27-30

 

 

Highly touted QB recommits to USF

First you do then you don’t then you. College football recruitingcan often be fickle, but suitors are never swayed by a potential rejection or change of  heart.

And so as of now heralded quarterback Asiantii Woulard from Winter Park High is committed to the USF football program for the second time in four months.

 Woulard committed back in April and then changed his mind. He announced on AM 1010 radio Friday that he has recommitted to USF giving the Bulls their first four star prospect of the 2013 class (Scout.com).

 The 6-3, 205 pounder is rated the 13^th best dual threat quarterback in the country in the Class of 2013 by Rivals.com and the 24^th best by Scout.com.  Rivals.com has him rated at three stars.

 After transferring from Freedom High last season, Woulard threw for more than 1,600 yards and rushed for another 600 plus yards while throwing 15 touchdown passes. He led the Wildcats to a 6-5 record and runner-up spot in Class 8A-District 3.

 Woulard reportedly has offers from nearly 20 major college programs including USF Big East Conference rivals Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Connecticut and UCF, which is scheduled to join the conference for the 2013-14 school year.

 With B.J. Daniels heading into this senor season, the quarterback position could be wide open by the time the spring of 2013 rolls around.

A.J. Love signs with Minnesota Vikings

A.J. Love catches pass against Miami

A.J. Love, coming off a litany of injuries and setbacks of various kinds since his high school days at Southeast, may have pulled off another coup when he signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikiings today.

The undrafted wide receiever out of the University of South Florida becomes the 12th receiver on the Vikings 90 man roster and joins former USF teammate Mistral Raymond, a defensive back from Palmetto, a sixth round pick in 2011.

The 6-2, 208 pound Love caught 74 passes for 1,092 yards and eight touchdowns during his career at USF.  But those stats could areleading misleads becuase of the time he missed due to injury.

A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) caused Love to miss all of the 2010 season. He returned in 2011 and after getting back to his old form suffered some nagging injuries that included a sprained ankle and missed signficant playing time.

His best season came during his junior year when he averaged 18.8 yards per reception and showed his big play capabilities with 26 recepions for 489 yards and four touchdowns.

Before his ACL injurty, he was being touted as one of the top receivers in the Big East Conference and a likely NFL draft pick.

Scott leaves USF for NFL draft in surprise move

To what seems to be everyone's surprise, USF running back Darrell Scott has decided to forego his senior year and opt for the NFL draft.

The decision ends a tumultuous ride for the 6-1, 239 pounder who came to USF two years ago from Colorado and sat out 2010 because of transfer rules.

Scott, rated the top high school running back in the country after his senior year of high school in California, led USF last season with 814 yards rushing (5.3 per carry average) and showed flashes of brilliance.

His best game came against FAMU when he rushed for a career high 146 yards. His other 100 yard rushing game came against Rutgers (19 carries for 100 yards) and against West Virginia in the season finale he rushed for 92 yards on 14 carries.

Scott's departure means the two most heralded running backs out of high school to play for USF never finished their careers for the Bulls. Mike Ford, the former Sarasota High star and single season rushing leader for Manatee and Sarasota Counties, was dropped from the team prior to his senior year for breaking school rules.

Holtz building a troublesome football resume at USF

The second year of the Skip Holtz era ended with one of the worst seasons in the history of the program following the Bulls gut-wrenching 30-27 loss to West Virginia Thursday night.

Perhaps more disturbing is how the defense collapsed on the late stages of four heartbreaking losses.

Cincinnati, Miami and West Virginia scored on their final possessions to come from behind to beat the Bulls. Rutgers scored on its next to last possession of regulation to tie the game and then defeated USF in overtime.

The combined stats from those four drives are most troubling. USF opponents completed 20 of 26 passes for 244 yards without an interception on those drives.

The final game typified this season with USF unable to stop West Virginia on its game winning drive. The killer came when the Mountaineers had a fourth and 10 from the USF 42 yard line with 13 seconds left and quarterback Geno Smith completed a 26 yard pass to set up the game wining 28 yard field goal as time expired.

Miami’s Jacory Harris completed seven straight passes without an incompletion on the Hurricanes final drive. Rutgers had five straight completions and then after two misfires quarterback Chas Dodd threw a 34-yard TD strike with 1:08 left that eventually sent the game into overtime.

Cincinnati’s Zach Collaros completed four of his first five passes in the Bearcats winning drive, including a 21 yarder that gave his team a first down at the USF six that led to his two-yard TD run.

Holtz now owns an indistinguishable list of non-accomplishments and failures.
The loss ends the Bulls string of going to six straight bowl games, gives the program (5-7) its first losing season since 2004 and only third since the program first started playing in 1997.

The 1-6 Big East Conference record is the program’s worst since joining the league in 2004 surpassing the previous worst in ’08 when the Bulls had a 2-5 league record. Its worst record in Conference USA was 3-5 in ’04.

As pointed out earlier this week, this is all from a man who is the reported third highest paid coach in the Big East Conference at $1.7 million per season.

USF's Sterling Griffin lost for the year; Bulls hope A.J. Love can step in

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for the USF football team they just did.

Receiver Sterling Griffin, the one shining light for an inconsistent offense, will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his right ankle in Saturday's game against Cincinnati.

Unfortunately, it is the same ankle that caused Griffin to miss all of last season when he dislocated it and fractured the bottom of his fibula.

The sophomore was the Bulls leading receiver and favorite target for quarterback B.J. Daniels showing a knack for getting open and holding onto everything thrown his way. He leads the Bulls with 40 catches for 493 yards.

The Bulls are hoping sixth year senior A.J. Love can return to full health and help out. The Southeast High product missed all of last season with a torn ACL and has seen limited action since injuring his ankle against Pittsburgh.

The one bright spot is the emergence of some new receivers in the Bulls lost to Cincinnati. Redshirt freshman Deonte Welch had a career game with five catches for a team leading 130 yards and showed great promise.

Andre Davis also shined catching four passes for 60 yards, including a 10 yard TD pass with a defender draped all over him and 1:27 left in the game that gave USF a temporary lead.

USF head coach Skip Holtz said reserve cornerback Ricardo Dixon tore his ACL against Cincinnati and is lost for the season.

All the injuries happened in the same end zone where Cincinnati scored the game winning touchdown with 12 seconds left.

A.J. Love catches first TD pass in two seasons

USF put up a lot of points in its 70-17 rout over FAMU last Saturday, but the one touchdown that had to bring the most enjoyment to the coaching staff and players came on the Bulls first touchdown.

A.J. Love, the former Southeast standout who missed all of last season because of an injury, caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from B.J. Daniels less than two minutes into the game. He finished with two catches for 53 yards.

It was the first touchdown reception for Love since he caught two TD passes in the Jan 3, 2010 International Bowl against Northern Illinois. In that game he caught a 47 TD pass and had a 7 yard TD reception to increase the Bulls lead to 20-3 in a 27-3 victory.

Love had three catches against NIU for 56 yards and was considered the Bulls top receiver heading into the spring when he unfortunately tore the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his knee. He missed all of last season and was granted a waiver by the NCAA to receive a sixth year of eligibility.

LEE ROY SELMON TRIBUTE LOCATION

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, USF Bulls and Tampa Sports Authority have responded to inquiries from the public about placement of Lee Roy Selmon tributes.

The three organizations have designated a space at Raymond James Stadium for a temporary memorial to the beloved Selmon.

People wishing to leave tributes to Lee Roy Selmon, the Hall of Fame Buccaneers player and USF Athletic Director, are free to place flowers, cards or remembrances on the tree-shaded mound in the middle of the mass transit drop-off turnaround on Dale Mabry.

Signage for the drop off location near the pedestrian footbridge crossing over Dale Mabry will be displayed Tuesday after 5 p.m., September 6. Drop-offs may begin Tuesday after 5 p.m. and continue through game day on Sunday, September 11. Map to Selmon tribute drop off location - http://www.raymondjamesstadium.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Parking-Map3.png

The Selmon family has suggested that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to further honor Lee Roy’s memory consider making donations to Abe Brown Ministries (813 248 3224) or the University of South Florida Foundation Partnership for Athletics (813 974 2125).

Hornes leaves USF football team

Faron Hornes winding journey to become a Division I football player has apparently ended with one season remaining.

The former multi-purpose standout at Southeast, who took the long route to USF going through junior college amid a family tragedy, has left the USF football team, according to various reports.

There was speculation it was for academics, but USF head coach Skip Holtz would not confirm it.

Hornes left the team’s training facility in Vero Beach just nine days after fall practice began. He joined the Bulls in 2009 under then head coach Jim Leavitt after winning a national championship at Butler Community College.

It was hoped Hornes could be the punt return man USF desperately needed in 2009, but things never worked out for the 5-7, 175 pounder and he eventually lost the job to Terrence Mitchell last season.

In 2010, Hornes had 164 total all-purpose yards. He caught 11 passes for 135 yards that included his only TD, a 70-yarder in a big win against Cincinnati. In ‘09, he was strictly a punt returner and had 16 returns for 80 yards.

In his senior year at Southeast 2006, Hornes was an all-everything standout, playing quarterback, running back and receiver while returning punts and kickoffs. He piled up 1,486 all-purpose yards and averaged 30.2 yards on punt returns and 23.2 on kickoff returns. He averaged 19.6 yards per catch with 30 receptions and 8.4 yards per rush with 40 attempts.

Hornes stayed out of school for a few years to help his mother, who was battling cancer that eventually took her life.

He was the hero in Butler’s 37-30 double overtime victory over Snow College in the 2008 national junior college championship game, catching six passes for 76 yards. He caught a 14 yard TD pass in the first overtime to send the game into a second OT where the Grizzlies won on a fumble recovery off a blocked field goal.

With Butler, he had 32 catches for 433 yards and three touchdowns. He came on strong the second half of the season, highlighted by a 41-yard TD catch in a victory over Hutchinson, which qualified the Grizzlies for the championship game.

Hornes is the third USF player to leave the team during fall pre-season. He follows running back Dontae Aycock, who has given up football and Venice High defensive end Brandon Wilkinson who left because he was looking for more playing time.

Scott weight gain could be making Bulls a little nervous

Substantial weight gain can be good or bad for a running back depending on each player's circumstance.

In the case of USF junior transfer Darrell Scott it has to make people around the Bulls feel a little uncomfortable.

Remember he is the highly touted star who came out of high school in California in 2008 rated the number one running back prospect in the country.

He flubbed at Colorado where he was criticized for being out of shape, which perhaps led to a series of injuries that never seemed to go away.

When Scott signed with Colorado in 2008 he was 205 pounds and eventually got up to 215. USF listed the 6-1 junior at 230 last spring, but on this fall's roster with camp opening today he is listed as at 246.

That's a whopping weight gain. A big worry is that when he put on weight at Colorado Scott reportedly didn't add any power. Scott said during spring that he wanted to get his weight down to 225.

Will USF and Florida ever meet again in football?

Will the University of South Florida ever get a chance to exact revenge against Florida on the football field?

That moment seems further away than ever with a recent report that the final of two games scheduled between the teams has been put off again without a date to play.

The Bulls and Gators met for the first time last season with Florida coming away with a 38-14 victory in Gainesville. The second meeting between the teams had been rescheduled three times with the latest agreement having them meet in 2015.

Now the 2015 meeting has been postponed (or cancelled for those who see this as the end). There is no date to play the game, though the schools still have a contract to meet again in Gainesville.

USF is hesitant about making any long term commitments because of speculation that the Big East Conference will increase its football membership and possibly have a league championship game if it goes to 12 teams.

The Bulls have one non-conference road game next year (at Notre Dame) and four non-conference home games with Ball State, Florida A&M, UTEP and Miami. In 2012 they have non-conference games scheduled with Florida State at home and Miami and Ball State on the road.

USF football program tops BCS schools in APR improvement

The University of South Florida football program produced the largest improvement out of all the BCS conference schools for the second consecutive year in the NCAA's latest Academic Progress Report (APR) that was released on Tuesday.

The APR measures the classroom performance of every Division I student-athlete, composing a score for each team. The report consisted of data from 2006-07 school year to 2009-10.

“We continue to see strong improvement across the department as it relates to APR and we couldn’t be more excited about the direction we’re headed,” said USF Athletics Director Doug Woolard. “Helping our student-athletes graduate is one of the core goals of this athletic department and the progress we’ve made over the last couple of years is promising.We want to continue to build on these positive trends."

In comparison Big East Conference opponents Connecticut and Louisville suffered loses. The UConn men's basketball team, which won the national championship last month, lost two scholarships because of a low APR.

The rating puts the Connecticut men's basketball program's four year rating at 892, below the NCAA minimum score of 925.

Louisville announced that it lost three football scholarships under the NCAA APR penalties. Louisville's latest score in the academic progress rate -- which measures academic eligibility, retention and graduation rate -- was 908.

The USF football program saw another large increase in 2011. After posting a 930 in the 2010 report and producing a 21-point increase, which tied for the largest improvement of any BCS school, the football program increased another 22 points to 952, the biggest improvement of any BCS school this year.

The 952 is tied for 30^th out of the 66 BCS schools, an improvement from 59^th last year, and ranks fourth in the BIG EAST compared to seventh last year.

The program’s annual score increased for the fourth-consecutive year, going from 879 in 2005-06 to 971 in 2009-10.

The men’s basketball program has also continued a positive trend. Last year, the program produced a 37-point jump from the previous year, which was the fifth-best improvement out of the 73 schools in the six major conferences, to 915.

This year, the men’s basketball program improved another 22 points, the 10^th-largest increase, to 937. The 937 is tied for 11^th in the BIG EAST, up from 15^th last year. The 59-point improvement over the last two years is tied for the fourth-largest gain of the 73 schools in the six major conferences.

Of USF’s 18 sports represented in the report, 13 have a positive multi-year APR trend from the 2010 report and 16-of-18 programs have annual APR rates above 950, including eight with perfect rates of 1,000.

The athletic department is led by the women’s tennis program, which received special recognition last week for achieving a perfect multi-year rate of 1,000. Three other programs achieved a rate in the 990s with volleyball at 994, women’s golf at 993 and softball at 991. The men’s tennis program was the top male performer with a multi-year score of 983.

This year’s report comes on the heels of USF’s most successful semester academically on record. The department produced a combined 3.01 GPA for the spring 2011 term, which was headlined by the women’s tennis program at 3.56, the women’s golf program at 3.46 and the men’s golf program at 3.42.

Former USF players coming up big with Tampa Storm

Amarri Jackson and Huey Whittaker, two former USF standouts, continued to spark the Tampa Bay Storm with their pass catching abilities.

Jackson, who played his high school football at Sarasota Riverview, caught three touchdown passes in the Storm’s 51-42 victory over the Spokane Shock on Saturday night while Whittaker caught a team high 11 passes for 123 yards and also had three touchdown passes.

It was the second straight victory for the Storm (4-6) and third consecutive multi-touchdown reception game for Jackson. He is second on the team with 55 receptions for 666 yards and 23 TD catches and leads the Storm with 12.1 yards per reception.

Another area product who is doing well is Sarasota Booker graduate Michael Hawthorne, who leads the Storm with two interceptions. Out of Purdue, he played three years with the New Orleans Saints and spent some time with Green Bay and the St. Louis Rams.

Whittaker tops Tampa with 91 receptions for 1,004 yards and 19 TD catches. The Storm backup quarterback is Grant Gregory, who played at USF and Kansas State. He has thrown for 1,014 yards with 20 touchdowns.

Should USF utilize the speedy Hopkins more

Maybe USF head football coach Skip Holtz should find a way to get the ball to his diminutive but speedy wide receiver Derrick Hopkins.

Only 5-5, 155 pounds, Hopkins is still an unknown factor in football, but in track and field he is becoming a household name.

The sophomore won the 100 meter dash in last week’s Big East Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Villanova’s Jumbo Elliott Track with a blistering time of 10.44 seconds. He has yet to catch a pass or put up an offensive statistic for the Bulls football team.

Also showing his speed was defensive back Kayvon Webster, who was fifth with a time of 10.65 second and Antillio Bastian, who was third (10.58). Hopkins and Webster along with Neaman Wise and David Hunter were also on the 400 meter relay team that placed second.

USF finished fourth in the meet, which was on by Connecticut with Notre Dame second and Louisville third. With his time, Hopkins qualified for the NCAA Preliminary Round meet.

The 5-5, 155 pound Hopkins won the 60 and the 200 meter dashes at the Big East Indoor Meet this past winter with times of 6.77 seconds and 21.30 seconds respectively.

QB Gunsby who got Carnes scholarship leaves USF

Jamius Gunsby, the quarterback who got the scholarship that became available when former Manatee High standout Brion Carnes would not commit to USF, has left the Bulls.

The 6-4, 232 pound freshman has transferred to Georgia Military College in his home state after sitting out spring drills at USF to concentrate on academics.

Carnes was the earliest verbal commit to the Bulls in the class of 2010. However, after former head coach Jim Leavitt was fired, he wavered on that commitment. When Skip Holtz took over the football program he gave Carnes an ultimate about committing and withdrew the scholarship.

It created a rift between Holtz and Manatee head coach Joe Kinnan, which has now been mended according to Kinnan.

In fact, the Bulls are actively pursuing the ‘Canes Mike Blakely, who left Florida this week and Kinnan said USF is in the running just like every other college program.

A native of LaGrange, Ga., Gunsby was a redshirt last season. He fell deeper down the depth chart this spring because he didn’t participate and the emergence of former walk-on Bobby Eveld, who is the backup to starter B.J. Daniels and now on scholarship.

Early enrollee Matt Floyd, third on the depth chart, also looked impressive this spring furthering speculation that Gunsby chances of getting significant playing time were dwindling