USF 2008 Preview
(August 22, 2008)

The University of South Florida football team started last season with six victories, including wins over Auburn and West Virginia, and the Bulls were ranked number two in the country. Three straight losses dropped USF out of the polls, then three wins earned the team a spot in the Sun Bowl. There was a lot of exposure for the 2007 Bulls and now there are expectations for the 2008 season. USF is ranked 19th in the AP preseason poll and 21st in the coaches poll.

USF returns ten starters on offense and six starters on defense from last year's 9-4 team. What can we expect, position by position, from the 2008 Bulls and how does the battle in the Big East Conference look? Head coach Jim Leavitt is ready. "I'm excited about our program, as much as I ever have been." The only coach in USF history continued, "We have a talented football team this fall. We have a lot of guys that haven't played a lot of football that are going to be counted on to do very well. But we do have a lot of players back as well, so we've got a mixture."

Big East Pre-Season Poll

1) West Virginia 189 (22)

2) South Florida 149 (1)

3) Pittsburgh 128 (1)

4) Rutgers 110

5) Cincinnati 98

6) Connecticut 97

7) Louisville 69

8) Syracuse 24

Poll of media members covering the Big East, three from each school, released 7/29/08. First place votes in parentheses.

The one thing junior quarterback Matt Grothe needs to do is cut down on the interceptions. He is an explosive playmaker who accounts for much of the Bulls offense and has been the team's leading rusher the past two seasons. Some would like to see him run less, but he is a weapon that is hard to defense. Playing behind Grothe has limited his opportunities, but senior backup Grant Gregory has shown he can run the offense. There is some debate whether highly touted freshman B.J. Daniels will redshirt, but he could be the QB of the future. Leavitt said of Grothe, "He's got to protect the football. He makes so many plays when he's scrambling and he releases the ball at the end. He's always got his eyes downfield. I don't want to take that away from him. He's got to know how to protect the football and still be aggressive. He understands that we don't want the other team to have the ball. He runs it so much, and he'll continue to run the ball. I'm not going to sit here and say Matt's not going to run the ball."

At the running back position, there is the hope that sophomore Mike Ford would eliminate the running back by committee approach. Senior Ben Williams has earned the right to play and sophomore Jamar Tyler is a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield. Speedy sophomore Aston Samuels is injured and junior Moise Plancher is coming off an injury. Speaking of Ford, Leavitt remarked, "He has a lot of talent, but it's too early to tell how good he is really going to be. It's all there, if he continues to improve and do the right things. He has a chance to be a great back, but we will just have to wait and see how it plays out." On Williams, the coach added, "As much as Ben's too slow, too small, too good, you can't get Ben out of there. He is a football player. He blocks as good as anybody we have. He protects the football."

The Bulls return several receivers that could have breakout seasons. Senior Taurus Johnson, junior Jessie Hester, Jr. and sophomore Carlton Mitchell all have good hands, have made key catches and will see plenty of action this fall. Senior Marcus Edwards will play at receiver and is a weapon at punt returner. Sophomore Dontavia Bogan showed flashes last year and sophomore A.J. Love should see more passes thrown his way this season. Senior Cedric Hill has locked up the tight end position with junior Ben Busbee providing depth. Leavitt comented on Taurus Johnson, "Taurus, the last two years, he's been our Offensive Playmaker of the Year."

More From Coach Leavitt

On playing UCF and other Florida schools.

"What happens is, I don't know how many Florida teams I really want to play. We've played everybody, pretty near. I don't know how many times we want to play a bunch of them, because the emotion is so high in this state. You all recruit the same players, you get on that field. No matter who, we're playing Central Florida, FAU, FIU, it's tough. So that's the hard part. We played everybody. We've got Florida on our schedule a couple of times. I wish they'd come ... the Swamp, I'm sure that's an exciting place to play. I haven't been there. I'd love to see that happen in Tampa too though. I don't foresee that happening."

How did last season change things as your recruiting has gone this year?

"It helps. Certainly a lot more players are looking at the University of South Florida as a place to go. They understand a BCS conference. I think getting to No. 2 shows there's a chance. There's a chance you could play in a national championship game. Doesn't mean you will or you won't, it just means you've got a shot. We broke through that. Players see that, see there are a lot of exciting things happening. Recruiting's tough. It's always tough, but we're getting a lot more players.”

Senior experience returns to the offensive line with tackle Marc Dile, Ryan Schmidt and center Jake Griffin. Sophomores Zach Hermann (guard) and Jake Sims (tackle) have also had plenty of playing time. This group could be strengthened by the return of senior Matt Huners from injury.

Junior Delbert Alvarado has not been the most consistent place kicker around, but he has been steady at punter. Senior Justin Teachey will continue to handle kickoffs and a freshman Maikon Bonani could put pressure on both of them.

Turning to defense and the defense line, junior George Selvie lead the nation in tackles for loss in 2007 and was the Bulls first All-American. The attention on Selvie can only help the other returning starters, senior end Jarriett Buie and junior tackle Aaron Harris. Sampson Genus seems to have the inside track on starting nose tackle over fellow sophomore Terrell McClain. Leavitt remarked, "Our defensive front's going to be really interesting because there's a lot of talent there."

Ben Moffitt will be hard to replace at middle linebacker, but with seniors Tyrone McKenzie and Brouce Mompremier the Bulls will continue to be physical. Juniors Chris Robinson and Kion Wilson, depending on his return from injury, will battle to replace Moffitt in the middle. Another player getting praise from the coaching staff is sophomore Sabbath Joseph. On replacing Moffitt, Leavitt said, "Tyrone McKenzie is an awfully good football player. We think we've got a couple of guys who can play at a pretty high level. Tyrone McKenzie is one. Brouce Mompremier could move over to the middle too, but we'd like to keep him at Will linebacker, where he was last year. We've got Kion Wilson, he's got a lot of ability, but we don't know what he can do yet, because he didn't practice much this spring. We've got Sabbath Joseph, who's as good an athlete as we've ever had at linebacker. Those are the guys we're counting on."

While cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams have moved on to the NFL, the Bulls still have depth in the secondary. There are seniors Tyller Roberts, Carlton Williams, Louis Gachette and Danny Verpaele, along with juniors Nate Allen and Jerome Murphy. Speaking of Nate Allen, Leavitt said, "I think he is one of the best free safeties in America. I wouldn't trade him for anyone." The coach added, "I think Jerome Murphy and Tyller Roberts are outstanding corners. They've played a lot of football. I'm not concerned with those guys. They'll do well."

West Virginia is the favorite to win the Big East. The Mountaineers have a new coach, Bill Stewart, but players like QB Pat White and RB Noel Devine could make them national title contenders. Many are high on Pittsburgh with a strong defense and potentially great running back in sophomore LeSean McCoy. Ray Rice is gone, so QB Mike Teel has to step up if Rutgers is going to be contender. Connecticut, last year's surprise co-champions, still has a good defense and running game, but the passing game is weak. With Ben Mauk gone, there at QB questions for Cincinnati. Louisville is rebuilding after the departure of Brian Brohm and the defense needs work. Syracuse again has few offensive weapons, a weak defense and is the consensus pick for last.

The 2008 schedule will offer challenges. A home game against Kansas and a game at North Carolina State highlight the non-conference schedule. If the Bulls can get on a roll, a December 6th game at West Virginia could decide the Big East Championship.