USF Football Holds First Spring Scrimmage
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Tampa-USF Football held their first scrimmage of the 2013 spring season today at the Frank Morsani Football Complex. Everyone has had their eyes on the program since Willie Taggart took over and today was a test of the new mentality that he has instilled into this program.
Through the last couple of weeks, even leading up to today, the depth chart has been up in the air. When asked before the scrimmage whether or not the staff would have a better idea of it, Taggart stuck with that.
"We're not going to have a better idea until training camp," he said. "Every single day it's moving around. It's like a game of musical chairs. Guys have to come out here and have a great day every day. We don't have a lot of time to waste."
The, for lack of a better term, bulls-eye, has been on the quarterbacks and how they have been grasping the offense through these first two weeks. Both Bobby Eveld and Matt Floyd said they are pleased with their progress.
"I feel like making huge strides but at the same time I feel like I have a lot to learn," Eveld said. "Today is going to be another one of those days where I'm going to come out here and try and get better."
"We keep installing every day. New things are getting added on which we expected," Floyd said. "It's been difficult to grasp it, but we've been getting better and better every day."
On to the actual scrimmage now, which started off with a full 11-on-11 segment. Bobby Eveld was the first quarterback to come out and take snaps. His first throw was a completion to Sean Price, who should be a huge weapon in the west-coast/pro-style scheme.
The starting offensive line from left-to-right was Darrell Williams(LT), Brynjar Gudmundsson(LG), Austin Reiter(C), Steven Jacques(RG), and Quinterrius Eatmon(RT). As expected, Marcus Shaw and Michael Pierre split first-team carries. Andre Davis and D'Vario Montgomery started split out at wide receiver with Derrick Hopkins and Deonte Welch rotating in and out.
The defense, as Chuck Bresnahan hinted at, started out in a 4-3 scheme. The front four was Julius Forte, Luke Sager, Elkino Watson, and Tevin Mims. The linebacker core consisted of Zack Bullock, Dede Lattimore, and Reshard Cliett. In the What To Watch For earlier today, we talked about how the secondary, specifically cornerback was a bit of a concern. Torrel Saffold and Brandon Salinas were the first two to get a shot on the outside with the first-team defense. Rounding out the "starters" were Mark Joyce and Jaquez Jenkins at the two safety spots.
On special teams, Emilio Nadelman worked as the place kicker, Mattias Ciabatti worked as the punter, and Marvin Kloss worked as the kickoff specialist. Andre Davis, Torrel Saffold, Derrick Hopkins, and D'Vario Montgomery all worked on receiving punts before the scrimmage started.
It was a bit surprising not to see Kenneth Durden with the first-team defense, but as has been said, this depth chart is not even close to being official. It's just what they started with today and in all likelihood will change at some spots come Monday's practice.
It seemed as if the consequence for making a mistake was to run a lap. Marcus Shaw fumbled and ran a lap. Steven Jacques had a false start on the very first play and ran a lap. Darrell Williams was called for a facemask and ran a lap. You get the theme.
The attention wasn't all on the field today, as USF hosted some recruits. 2014 targets Jimmy Bayes, Chase Litton, and Jarvis Stewart among others were all in attendance.
Players from the 2013 class were on hand for the scrimmage as well. Mike White, Zach Benjamin, and Nigel Harris all looked on from the sidelines.
The injury crew of Lawrence Martin, Thor Jozwiak, Max Lang, and Kameron Davisremained mostly the same, with only one new addition in punter Chris Veron who was in a walking boot. Sterling Griffin and Chris Bivins were both working off to the side.
Josh Appel is the Senior Writer for RunningtheBulls.com. He is a student broadcaster at the University of South Florida. You can contact him at Josh@RunningtheBulls.com. Follow Josh on Twitter at @JoshAppel.