2007 USF Bulls

USF was starting to get some respect from the national media. The Sporting News ranked the Bulls 21st and Sports Illustrated ranked them 25th in their preseason rankings.

Mike Ford had an impressive debut with South Florida. He had six carries for 83 yards with two touchdowns and caught a pass for a third score. Matt Grothe (23 of 39 for 238 yards) threw a career high number of passes and also connected with Amarri Jackson on a TD catch. George Selvie lead the defense and tied the team record by recording four of the Bulls six sacks. Elon put up a good fight and, after a scoreless first quarter, USF lead 7-3 at the half. Freshman QB Scott Riddle (33 of 54 for 210 yards with a TD and an INT) was steady and receiver Terrell Hudgins (14 catches for 92 yards with a TD) had a big night. Jim Leavitt said, "It turned out to be something ugly," but the Bulls topped the Phoenix 28-13. Grothe felt, "We definitely need to get better, but I think we played better than what showed on the scoreboard."

The seventeenth ranked Auburn Tigers and 82,617 fans awaited the Bulls at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Matt Grothe and Mike Ford had short touchdown runs and USF jumped to a 14-3 lead after the first quarter. Brandon Cox (16 of 35 for 165 yards with 2 INTs) threw a TD pass and Auburn was on top 17-14 at the half. The Bulls could not turn five Auburn turnovers into points and Delbert Alvardo missed three field goal attempts in a scoreless third quarter. Alvardo tied the game with a 38 yard kick midway through the final quarter, but his fourth miss of the game keep the game tied. With 2:54 left, Auburn kicker Wes Byrum made his second long field goal of the night and the Tigers were in front. With just 55 seconds left, Alvardo got some redemption when his 18 yard field goal sent the game to overtime. Auburn got the ball first and settled for a Byrum kick on its OT possession. Grothe (18 of 27 for 184 yards) hit Jesse Hester on a 14 yard pass for the receiver's first career TD and a dramatic 26- 23 victory. After the school's first win over a SEC opponent, Jim Leavitt said, "There's no question that's a big win for us. There was so much adversity in the game, I am proud of the battling we did." On the winning TD play, Grothe said, "It was so emotional when he caught it. I wasn't sure what happened. It took me a minute to realize we had just won the game. This is my all-time favorite win because it happened on my birthday."

After the upset win at Auburn, many expected USF to be ranked in the top 25, but they fell just short. The Bulls had a bye week and when the polls came out the following Sunday, South Florida was ranked for the first time. USF was 23rd in the AP media poll and 24th in the USA Today coaches poll. Jim Leavitt's comment, "It is nice and we certainly appreciate the ranking, but we have to put all our focus on North Carolina and that game this weekend."

USF put North Carolina away early at a drizzly Raymond James Stadium. A 78 yard drive ended with a Mike Ford touchdown run, an 82 yard drive was capped by a Matt Grothe (17 of 30 for 230 yards) to Ammari Jackson TD catch and the Bulls were up 14-0 after one quarter. Delbert Alvarado went 3 for 3 on field goals and USF was up 30-3 after the third. The first career TD for freshman Jamar Taylor stretched the lead to 37-3. George Selvie continued his hot start recording three of the team's four sacks and Tar Heels freshman quarterback T.J. Yates (11 of 27 for 85 yards) was intercepted four times. The Bulls out-gained UNC 428-164 in total yards and Grant Gregory (1 of 3 for 4 yards) saw his first action at QB. After the 37-10 victory, Jim Leavitt said, "There are so many distractions, but they seemed to be pretty focused. It was a very good win for us, for our program. We know we're playing a great, great team coming in here Friday night and we're excited about the challenge." Mike Jenkins was charged up, "Right now, we're on a track to run the table, beat West Virginia, go on and keep winning out."

There was more than just a buzz, when the eighteenth ranked Bulls faced number five West Virginia, the highest ranked team to ever play in Tampa. The school's first sellout saw a couple thousand students camped out overnight to get student tickets and tickets were being sold for several times their face value online. Tampa Mayor, and USF alum, Pam Iorio hosted a banner on City Hall proclaiming it Green and Gold Day. The tallest building in Tampa, the 36 story SunTrust building, was bathed in green and gold lights. A Friday night national television and a record 67,012 fans at Raymond James Stadium saw USF reach the big time.

The Grohawk

It could have been receiver Carlton Mitchell, linebacker Ben Moffitt, or center Jake Griffin who started the Mohawk haircut craze. By the West Virginia game, in a show of team unity, there were about 40 Bulls sporting Mohawks. Soon students, and even team mascot Rocky the Bull, had the haircut. Things really took off when someone in the media began calling Matt Grothe's haircut a "Grohawk." The QB talked about it, "I told my parents about two minutes after I did it. I thought my mom was going to kill me. I told her I wasn't the only person on the team that had one, and she settled down. It's my head."

Ben Moffitt fired up the stadium returning the first of his two interceptions 26 yards for a 7-0 USF advantage after one quarter. Matt Grothe (11 of 20 for 135 yards with 2 INTs) heaved a 55 yard TD pass to Carlton Mitchell and the Bulls stretched it to 14-3 at the half. A third quarter run by Jamar Taylor and it was 21-3. The Bulls had four turnovers, but forced six turnovers by West Virginia. Pat White (12 of 18 for 100 yards with an INT) left the game late in the second quarter with a thigh bruise and backup QB Jarrett Brown (11 of 20 for 149 yards with 2 INTs) had a fourth quarter TD pass for the Mountaineers. After the 21-13 victory, thousands of fans stormed the field. Later, the public address system told those fans to exit the field through "Gate C, that's Gate C as in conference championship." Moffitt said, "It's a huge statement win." The always focused head coach stated, "Our goal was not to beat West Virginia. It was to win the Big East." Leavitt continued, "I wont let my guard down because we're only 1 and 0 in the Big East. I know you want me to take off my shirt, and dance, and hug, and kiss, and all that. I feel good like that, but I'm really thinking about the next game."

Everyone expected USF to take a jump in the polls, but few expected the Bulls to leap to sixth in the AP poll and ninth in the coach's poll. Athletic Director Doug Woolard commented, the football program "has captured the attention of people across the country." Jim Leavitt's predictable response, "Getting ready for FAU. That's all my mind has been on."

USF fans headed south and helped give Florida Atlantic its largest crowd at Fort Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium. The Bulls played sloppy with four turnovers, three fumbles and a pick, and with the score 7-7 FAU fans were chanting "over-rated" at the half. Actually the Owls could have been in front, but Warley Leroy missed three first half field goals. Rusty Smith (23 of 47 for 259 yards with an INT) tossed three touchdown passes and FAU never gave up. USF would have to grind out a victory with 302 yards on the ground. Ben Williams ran for a career high 186 yards and a school record four TDs, including a 54 yard scoring run. Matt Grothe (17 of 27 for 122 yards) also had a career high 120 yards on the ground and ran 32 yards for a TD on fourth and one. George Selvie had a sack and set the team season record in just five games. USF totaled 424 yards, while FAU had 411, in a 35-23 Bulls victory. Brouce Mompremier commented, "Sometimes we played like a number six team and sometimes we didn't."

USF was fifth in both polls and played before a second straight sellout at RJS. Quarterback Kyle Israel (5 of 11 for 13 yards) ran for a touchdown and Central Florida pulled within 10-7 in the first quarter. From that point on the Bulls just dominated the Knights. Not only did Matt Grothe (15 of 28 for 212 yards) throw for two scores, he rushed for 100 yards and two more TDs. Grothe left the game in the third quarter and Grant Gregory (4 of 6 for 125 yards with 2 TDs) and Anthony Severino (1 of 2 for 28 yards) both threw the first touchdown passes of their careers. Taurus Johnson had two TD grabs and Carlton Mitchell had 107 yards and a TD on just two receptions. Lead by a school record 365 passing yards, the Bulls out-gained UCF 543-145 in total yards and the visitors had to punt eleven times. Defensive lineman Aaron Harris, a sophomore from Williston High School, recorded three of the team's four sacks. USF had the best start in team history and its eight game winning streak was tied for the longest in the nation. After the 64-12 rout, Grothe said, "We weren't trying to run the score up on them. We're that much better than them."

The rise in the polls would continue the next day. The Bulls were second in the AP poll with eleven first play votes, third in the coaches poll and most importantly second in the first BCS rankings. School president Judy Genshaft said, "This is un-Bull-ievable. When this occurs for the first time, it's very special." Jim Leavitt commented, "It's nothing I can control. We're just going to keep banging it out and practice hard and try and get ready for the next game."

Rutgers had a record crowd when the Bulls came to town for a Thursday night game. The hosts opened their bag of tricks, as the Scarlet Knights set up a field goal with a fake punt and scored a touchdown on a fake field goal. Matt Grothe (17 of 34 for 247 yards with an INT) ran for a score, tossed a TD pass to Jesse Hester and USF lead 17-13 at the half. The Bulls hurt themselves with ten pentlaties for 99 yards, including having a touchdown called back on a forward lateral on a blocked field goal return. While Rutgers lost three fumbles, the defense sacked Grothe seven times and the USF defense could not stop Ray Rice (181 yards rushing). Mike Teel (11 of 29 for 179 yards) threw two scoring passes to Tiquan Ubderwood (5 catches for 114 yards) and Rutgers had a wild 30-27 victory. Receiver Marcus Edwards said, "Rankings don't mean that much when you're on the field. All that stuff goes out the window. It comes down to who scores the most points and they scored more than we did tonight." Jim Leavitt was working on damage control, "Our goal was to win the Big East Conference and that's very much in play."

USF, now ranked 11th by the AP, 12th in coaches poll and 10th in the BCS, played a miserable first half in the Connecticut rain. Andre Dixon finished with 167 yards rushing and Scott Lutrus returned a Matt Grothe (16 of 30 for 189 yards with 2 INTs) interception 23 yards for a score giving UConn a 16-0 lead at the half. The Bulls came back in the second half with a Grothe TD run and the QB finished with 146 yards on the ground. The Bulls left plenty of points on the field. Delbert Alavado made two field goals, but missed two others. A blocked punt should have been recovered in the end for a TD, however, the Bulls had to settle for a safety. One TD was called back on a penalty, USF was penalized ten times for 79 yards, and Grothe was intercepted in the end zone. Two fourth quarter drives got down to the Huskies 1 yard line and USF came away with three points. George Selvie did record two of the team's three sacks in what was UConn's first victory over a ranked team. After the 22-15 loss, Jim Leavitt commented, "We couldn't have played worse in the first half. That was probably as bad as you can play." Nose tackle Richard Clebert added, "We're playing as if we're overrated.

USF was ranked 20th (AP, 21st in coaches and 18th in BCS) for homecoming against Cincinnati. It was a wild first quarter with Trae Williams returning an interception 73 yards for a touchdown and Mike Jenkins returning a kickoff 100 yards for score, which was the longest play in school history and gave the Bulls a 14-7 lead. The Bearcats recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for TD, returned an interception for a score, Ben Mauk (13 of 31 for 162 yards) tossed his second of three TD passes and 24 unanswered points gave Cincinnati a 31-14 lead after the first. It was the most points USF had ever allowed in a quarter. The Bulls killed themselves with a school record eight turnovers, four fumbles and four interceptions. Matt Grothe (31 of 54) threw for a USF record 382 yards and a TD, but his record tying four picks could not be overcome. Carlton Mitchell had seven catches for 110 yards in the Bulls 38-33 loss. Jenkins said afterwards, "It's real difficult for us right now, we're just playing for pride."

The unranked Bulls set a team record for total yardage at Syracuse. USF had 582 yards, exactly double the 291 yards for the Orangemen, and held Syracuse to just 15 yards rushing. Mike Ford rushed for 134 yards with two scores and Aston Samuels ran for 101 yards on two end around plays. Matt Grothe (12 of 22 for 181 with an INT) threw two TD passes and ran for another. Cameron Dantley (21 of 38 for 276 yards with 2 INTs) did toss a TD for the home team. Even with 16 penalties for 144 yards, the Bulls rolled 41-10. Ben Moffitt said of Jim Leavitt trying to motivate the team by presenting them with a shovel the night before the game, "It's just a symbol for our team, telling us we have to dig. We have to dig down deep and through whatever adversity comes our way."

Paint Up

After the West Virginia game, head coach Jim Leavitt praised the support that students had given the team. He was quoted in the school newspaper, the Oracle, as saying, "To come out and see the end zone right down here and how loud they were was unbelievable. I just love our students and we couldn't do it without you. Seeing the emotion and the body painting - I need to get my body painted green and gold one of these times and do that." On December 12th, Leavitt did "paint up" for a men's basketball game against UAB. He joined the student section in cheering on the Bulls to a 68-58 victory.

USF tied the school record by forcing seven turnovers in the home finale against Louisville. Brain Brohm (18 of 37 for 213 yards with a TD and 3 INTs) was held in check and the Bulls intercepted four passes, including one returned 64 yards by Trae Williams for a touchdown. Matt Grothe (17 of 23 for 194 yards with 1 INT) threw for two scores and ran for another, while Mike Ford rushed for 140 yards and a pair of TDs. Harry Douglas did catch eight passes for 136 yards with a Cardinals TD and USF was penalized 11 times for 95 yards. The Bulls were up 20-3 after the first quarter, 41-10 at the half and rolled to a 55-17 victory. Mike Jenkins commented, "The whole defense did a great job." Jim Leavitt added, "It was a great win. We won in all three phases."

It was 35 degrees at kickoff in Pittsburgh and the Bulls started cold. After trailing 14-10 at the half, on the first play of the second half, an 80 yard TD run by Matt Grothe put USF up for good. While Grothe (17 of 23 for 159 yards) was sacked five times, Mike Ford ran for two scores. Nate Allen and Trae Williams returned interceptions for TDs and the Bulls pulled away. USF did lose two fumbles and were penalized 11 times for 70 yards. The Panthers closed the gap with three TDs in the final seven minutes. LeSean McCoy ran for three scores and Pat Bostick (24 of 37 for 298 yards with 3 INTs) tossed two TD passes. When it was over, the Bulls won 48-37 for the school's first victory in temperatures below 45 degrees. Jim Leavitt remarked, "This team very well could be a 12-0 team. I think we all know that. There are some that we did wrong, some calls that were very controversial, kicking things, turnovers...It was pretty frustrating during that stretch."

USF finished 23rd in the final regular season AP poll, 25th in the USA Today coaches poll and 21st in the BCS. The Bulls accepted a bid to play in the Brut Sun Bowl against Oregon. Jim Leavitt said, "For them to invite the University of South Florida is an absolute honor. This game is going to be big for the University of South Florida and for our program. I'm overwhelmed by the invitation."

Oregon lead 18-14 at the half, before USF suffered a complete collapse in the second half of the Sun Bowl. The Bulls turned the ball over five times after the break and Oregon scored 31 unanswered points. Game MVP Jonathan Stewart rushed for a Sun Bowl record 253 yards with a touchdown. Red-shirt freshman Justin Roper (17 of 30 for 180 yards) threw four TD passes in his first career start, as the Ducks out-gained the Bulls 533 to 353 in total yards. Matt Grothe (18 of 35 for 197 yards with a TD) left the game early in the fourth quarter with a concussion and Grant Gregory (6 of 11 for 39 yards) came into the game. Both Grothe and Gregory had two interceptions and each had a pick returned for an Oregon score. The Bulls allowed the most points in team history and the most in Sun Bowl history in a 56-21 defeat. Jim Leavitt remarked, "Second half, I can't explain what happened. I don't think I could mess up that bad at halftime with my motivational speeches, I obviously did."

George Selvie received plenty of recognition for a season that he lead the nation in tackles for loss (31.5) and was second in sacks (14.5). He was the first consensus All-American in USF history, the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-Big-East First Team. Mike Jenkins was also named All-American by the American Football Coaches Association and to the All- Big-East First Team. Ben Moffitt was also named All-Big-East First Team. After a slow start, Delbert Alverado set team records for extra points (52), field goals (19) and points scored (109).

USF had the largest increase in average attendance in college football. After averaging 30,222 in 2006, the Bulls averaged 53,170, an increase of 22,948 per game. USF was the only team in FBS (Division I) to defeat three conference champions, as the Bulls beat West Virginia (Big East), Central Florida (Conference USA) and Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt).

South Florida would lose 16 seniors. Starting tackle Walt Walker and wide receiver Amarri Jackson would leave the offense. Major losses on defense were Mike Jenkins, Trae Williams and Ben Moffitt. Also graduating on the defensive side were tackle Allen Cray, ends Woody George and Jarritt Buie and nose tackle Richard Clebert.

Related Links

2007 USF Bulls Results

2007 USF Bulls Statistics

2007 Big East Standings

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