2010 USF Bulls

One week after the Jim Leavitt firing, Skip Holtz was introduced at an on-campus rally. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here,” the new head coach began. "We came to the University of South Florida because we want to win championships and we want to win a national championship in Tampa." When one fan yelled out, “Beat Florida,” Holtz quickly responded, "That's why I’m here!”

National Signing Day would come just a few weeks later and two players were highly ranked by the recruiting expects. Todd Chandler, a defensive tackle out of Miami Northwestern High School, and Terrence Mitchell, a cornerback from Hillsborough High School, were considered four star recruits. "I feel good about the class we have," Skip Holtz said. The new head coach added, "What made this one so hard, this one was fire, ready, aim. We didn't have a lot of opportunities to really sit down and decide where we wanted to target.”

Jason Pierre-Paul was the highest USF player ever selected in the NFL draft at number fifteen by the New York Giants. The defensive end was the second first round selection in school history. It was a historic draft, as five players would be selected. Safety Nate Allen was picked by Philadelphia in the second round and cornerback Jerome Murphy went in the third round to St. Louis. Wide receiver Carlton Mitchell was selected by Cleveland in the sixth round and defensive tackle George Selvie by St. Louis in the seventh.

Due to the construction at the USF Athletics District, the team held part of its preseason training camp at the Vero Beach Sports Village. The trip to the old Dodgertown site was the first time USF held training camp off-campus. Skip Holtz commented, “I don't know that we will move off campus every year, but it certainly was necessary this year due to the construction." He felt it the team would have a chance to bond and eluded to the head coaching change. "We've got to come together as a team. We've got to take our complaints or any problems that we've had with the way things have transpired, we've got to put it behind us and move forward."

On the Bulls first offensive play of the season B.J. Daniels hit Dontavia Bogan on a 59 yard touchdown pass. Mistakes on special team did allow Stony Brook to take a 14-7 lead, then it was all USF after that. Daniels (15 of 22 for 264) threw for two scores and ran for another, as converted QB Evan Landi lead all receivers with 6 catches for 104 yards. Bobby Eveld (9 of 12 for 119 yards) tossed a TD pass in his first collegiate action. The defense picked off Seawolves QB Michael Coulter (9 of 21 for 112 yards with a TD) four times in a 59-14 rout. Skip Holtz said afterwards, “There are probably a million things I could harp on, but we’re 1-0.”

On their first drive at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, USF went 96 yards on 17 plays with B.J. Daniels hitting tight end Andrew Ketchel for the opening score. The game stayed that way until a Daniels interception set eighth ranked Florida up for the tying score just before halftime. The Bulls were driving for the go ahead score, before a fumble turned the tide for good. Daniels did some good things, such as carrying the ball 17 times for 107 yards, however, his passing numbers were anemic (5 of 20 for 84 yards) and poor decisions lead to four picks. Behind the running of Jeff Demps (139 rushing yards with a TD) and the passing of John Brantley 18 of 31 for 172 yards with 2 TDs), the Gators capitalized on four of the Bulls five turnovers. A close game was turned into a rout and USF lost at Florida Field 38-14. Skip Holtz commented, “Outside the turnovers, it would have been a great football game that would have gone down to the wire. The difference was Florida did not turn it over.” Daniels admitted, “We all make mistakes in the moment. There is definitely stuff I can work on.”

Willie Taggart, Western Kentucky’s first year head coach, became the first person to meet USF as both a player and a head coach. Taggart lead the Hilltoppers to victories over the Bulls in 1997 and 1998. On a Mo Plancher touchdown run, USF lead 7-0 at the break. Demetris Murray got the ground game going in the second half and finished with 115 rushing for his first career 100 yard game. B.J. Daniels (7 of 11 for 57 yards with an INT) had a quiet night, but did drive in for a 1 yard score. Kawaun Jakes (19 of 37 for 221 yards with an INT) tossed a TD pass for WKU, as did Bobby Rainey on halfback option pass. Eric Schwartz missed two field goal attempts in the 24-12 victory. Skip Holtz commented, “We’ll smile tonight. We’ll scream tomorrow. A lot of things we can improve on…It wasn’t our best effort, but we found a way to get the win.”

The Bulls rolled against Florida Atlantic with Mo Plancher leading the way with two touchdown runs and B.J. Daniels (14 of 19 for 155 yards) tossing a 38 yard TD pass to Dontavia Bogan. Seven different players recorded a sack of Owl QB Jeff Van Camp (17 of 22 for 136 yards with an INT), which equaled the school record. After the 31-3 victory, Skip Holtz commented, “Probably one of the most complete efforts, with offense, defense and kicking, that we’ve played so far this season. But we can’t be satisfied. We can’t settle for where we are right now.”

The homecoming game against Syracuse was scoreless after the first quarter and tied at 3 at the half. The Orange had a 6-3 lead before Lindsey Lamar returned a kickoff 94 yards to give USF a 9-6 advantage. Delone Carter finished with 105 yards rushing and Syracuse marched 98 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown with Ryan Nassib (12 of 22 for 129 yards) hitting Marcus Sales on a 3 yard touchdown pass. The Bulls had their chances and B.J. Daniels (9 of 23 for 124 yards) was picked off twice inside the Orange 15 yard line. Craig Marshall lead the USF defense with three sacks in a 13-9 loss. Skip Holtz said afterwards, “Offensively, you can’t score three points in a conference game and expect to win. It’s really frustrating. This is a down locker room right now.”

The Bulls went back on the road to face twenty-fifth ranked West Virginia. While Mountaineers QB Geno Smith (24 of 31 for 219 yards) tossed a pair of scoring passes, B.J. Daniels (20 of 30 for 119 yards) threw three interceptions. One of the picks was a momentum changer at the end of the first half and the USF offense converted just 1 of 11 third downs. Skip Holtz had plenty to say after a 20-6 defeat, “In eight quarters, we've put up nine points as an offense. We have to take a hard look at where we are, what we're doing, who we're doing it with, how we're doing it. We can't continue going the way we're going right now. We've got to put some points up. We're playing way too well on defense. They deserve better." Daniels added, "It's tough. It's real tough when you don't do your job as far as scoring. We're not going to give up. We still have more than half the season left.”

B.J. Daniels (13 of 16 for 286 yards) had a big night at Cincinnati with two touchdown passes and two scoring runs. The Bearcats kept the pressure on with Zack Collaros (30 of 53 for 463 yards with an INT) tossing three TD passes and three receivers having 100-yard games, Marcus Barnett (174 yards), Armon Binns (158 yards) and D.J. Woods (137 yards). USF allowed a team record 590 total yards, including a record 512 passing yards, but the offense saved the day in a 38-30 victory. After the Bulls first victory at Cincinnati, B.J. Daniels stated, “It means a lot to get a win, but there are a lot of different things we can still build on as a team. It’s just one game. We still have a lot more games to go.”

B.J. Daniels (10 of 17 for 149 yards with an INT) threw TD passes to Evan Landi and Dontavia Bogan, as USF and Rutgers were tied 17-17 at the half. Mo Plancher rushed for a career high 135 yards, but his fumble at the goal line almost spelled disaster. Offensive lineman Jacob Sims recovered the fumble in end zone for the decisive fourth quarter score in a 28-27 victory over the Scarlet Knights. Skip Holtz commented, “We were 0-2, on the outside looking in, everybody’s saying it’s broke. We didn’t flinch. We didn’t change what we were doing.” After the 100th victory in the history of the USF football program, Daniels added, "We're not going to give up, no matter what."

Trailing 14-3 in the second quarter at Louisville, and with the USF offense struggling, Lindsay Lamar gave the Bulls a boost with a 100 yard kickoff return. Demetris Murray rushed for 106 yards and B.J. Daniels (11 of 19 for 87 yards) hit Dontavia Bogan in the back of the end zone on a 48 yard TD pass to put USF up 21-14 in the fourth quarter. Cardinal running back Bilal Powell ran for 140 yards and the third TD pass of the afternoon by Justin Burke (16 of 30 for 146 yards with an INT) tied the game with 1:21 left. Maikon Bonani had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, however, he was wide on a 52 yard field goal attempt. Louisville had the ball first in overtime and the USF defense had a huge stop on fourth and inches at the 5 yard line. Bonani kicked a 37 yard game winner and the Bulls had their first win at Louisville. After the 24-21 victory, Skip Holtz said, “Statistically this game wasn’t pretty, but they believed. They competed. It was a great team win.”

In the first half, South Florida and Pittsburgh exchanged field goals and it was 3-3 at the break. The Bulls and Panthers each scored a third quarter touchdown and it was 10-10 going into the final period. Tino Sunseri (11 of 16 for 142 yards) was sacked four times, but tossed a TD pass to Ray Graham. The Bulls score came on a 45 yard reverse by Terrance Mitchell. Dion Lewis rushed for 105 yards and his TD run gave Pitt a 17-10 victory. B.J. Daniels (15 of 29 for 132 yards with an INT) commented, “We didn’t do enough, obviously. We need to get the that ball in the end zone.” Skip Holtz added, “We certainly didn’t play our best game.”

USF had a 3-0 halftime lead at Miami, before backup quarterbacks sparked both offenses. True freshman walk-on Bobby Eveld replaced B.J. Daniels (4 of 12 for 39 yards), who was hobbled by a leg injury, and Jacory Harris (12 of 18 for 110 yards with an INT) came in for the ineffective Stephen Morris (8 of 17 for 78 yards with an INT). Demetris Murray ran for a score and the Bulls were up 10-0 in the middle of the third quarter, then the Hurricanes scored 17 unanswered points. With two minutes left in the fourth, Evald (8 of 15 for 120 yards) dove in from 1 yard out and the game headed to overtime. Mo Plancher lead the Bulls with 101 yards rushing, while the ‘Canes Leonard Hankerson lead all receivers with 127 yards. In OT, UM kicked a field goal and Murray dove into the pile from a yard away to give USF it first win over the Hurricanes. After the game, Miami fired head coach Randy Shannon. Skip Holtz said of the 23-20 victory, “We grew up a little bit today as a program. This is the level we want to compete at.” Dontavia Bogan added, “I’m a senior. I’ve got a few games left. I didn’t want to have any regrets after this game.”

Bobby Eveld got his first start at quarterback against Connecticut. The Bulls and Huskies exchanged field goals in the first quarter, then Lawrence Wilson returned a Bobby Eveld interception 55 yards for a score and a 10-3 at Uconn lead at the half. A few field goals later and Connecticut was up 16-6 in the fourth quarter. Eveld hooked up with Dontavia Bogan on a 28 yard TD pass and the third field goal by Maikon Bonani tied the game with 1:19 left. QB Zack Frazer (13 of 29 for 112 yards with an INT) did enough to get the Huskies close and it came down to a 52 yard field goal attempt. Dave Teggart was good, his fourth field goal of the game, with 23 seconds left. Eveld (22 of 41 for 195 yards) was picked off three times in a 19-16 defeat. Skip Holtz said, “It hurts to lose a game like this, especially as hard-fought as it was."

The Bulls sixth straight bowl appearance was at the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte. USF and B.J. Daniels started slow, with Daniels missing his first three passes, including an interception that set up a Clemson field goal. The Bulls QB would get hot and completed his next 14 passes, including TD throws to Demetris Murray and Dontavia Bogan. The Bulls got a little sloppy before the half and the Tigers drew within 17-13 at the intermission. Touchdown runs by Mo Placher and Daniels put the Bulls up 31-13 in the fourth quarter. Clemson made it close at the end. Tajh Boyd (13 of 23 for 112 yards with an INT) tossed two TD passes to Brandon Ford, with a successful onsides kick recovery in between, in a span of 64 seconds. The Bulls held on for a 31-26 victory. Daniels (20 of 27 for 189 yards), who was named the bowl’s MVP, commented, Daniels “It means a lot to finish the season like this.”

Lindsey Lamar was named Big East Special Teams Player of the Year. He was the first USF player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a season and set a school record with 899 kickoff return yards. Joining Lamar on the All Big East First Team were center Sampson Genus and defensive lineman Terrell McClain. Skip Holtz reflected, “Looking back I’d say this season was very positive. We’re three plays away from being 11-2 and winning the Big East and being in a BCS bowl. When you think about that, it’s one of the more rewarding years I’ve had.”

USF would lose sixteen seniors, including center Sampson Genus, receiver Dontavia Bogan, linebacker Sabbath Joseph , defensive end Craig Marshall, defensive tackle Terrell McClain, running back Mo Plancher, safety Mistral Raymond, kicker Eric Schwartz, tackle Jacob Sims and linebacker Donte Spires.

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2010 USF Bulls Results

2010 USF Bulls Statistics

2010 Big East Standings

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