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Grothe Wins BIG EAST Award | Again | And Again
The Best Start of His Career Grothe continues to hang in the Heisman conversation because he is off to the best start of his career in the passing game and because he is protecting the ball better than ever before. Below are where his seven-game total compare to his freshman and sophomore seasons:
|
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
Passing Yards |
1,388 |
1,368 |
1,552 |
Passing TD |
9 |
8 |
12 |
Completion % |
63.0 |
57.6 |
65.4 |
Passing Efficiency |
143.2 |
122.6 |
151.3 |
Rushing Yards |
460 |
404 |
316 |
Rushing TD |
7 |
5 |
3 |
Fumbles/Lost |
4/3 |
3/2 |
1/0 |
Interceptions |
7 |
8 |
3 |
Grothe's 12 passing TDs are tied for the best output over any seven-game stretch during his career ... He also had 12 from 11/10/07 to 9/12/08.
Four Touchdown Days Grothe had four total touchdowns in the win over Syracuse this season. It marked the third time in his career he had accounted for four TD scores. All three instances have come in October games. Below are the three instances:
Opponent |
Date |
Pass TD |
Rush TD |
Total |
Syracuse |
10/18/08 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
UCF |
10/13/07 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
UConn |
10/7/06 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
Three Passing Touchdown Days Grothe had three passing touchdowns in the win over Syracuse this season. It marked the third time in his career he had accomplished the feat. Below are the instances:
Opponent |
Date |
Pass TD |
Pass Yards |
Syracuse |
10/18/08 |
3 |
248 |
UCF |
9/6/08 |
3 |
346 |
UCF |
9/23/06 |
3 |
174 |
400-Yard Days Matt Grothe had 400 yards of total offense (passing and rushing) against UCF. It was the third time in his career he has reached the 400 yard total. Below are the three instances:
Opponent |
Date |
Pass |
Run |
Total |
Syracuse |
11/11/06 |
364 |
45 |
409 |
Cincinnati |
11/3/07 |
382 |
75 |
457 |
UCF |
9/6/08 |
346 |
54 |
400 | |
|
They Said It... “I've said this many times -- Matt Grothe is the most underrated quarterback in the country. He's as good as anyone out there, anyone you can name.” Pitt LB & First Team All-Big East Performer Scott McKillop
"They're led by probably the most versatile quarterback in the country." NC State head coach Tom O'Brien |
Grothe Trends ? Grothe has thrown 43 passes without an interception dating back to the Pitt game ... He has just three interceptions this season on 191 passes or 1.57 percent of his passes have been intercepted ... Over an entire season that would be the fifth best mark in BIG EAST history ... He had thrown 110 passes without an interception from the fourth quarter versus UCF until his fourth pass against Pitt ... Grothe has 14 career games without an interception, including five this season, five in 2007 and four in 2006.
? He has thrown a TD pass in 27 of 33 career games and in three straight games. He has rushed for a TD in 18 of 33 career games and two straight.
? Junior QB Matt Grothe had an easy day at the office against UT Martin and attempted just eight passes on the day in the blowout win, completing six of them for 96 yards. Two of his six completions went for touchdowns. He had a career high passing efficiency rating of 258.30 on the day. It was the first time, in the 27th game of his career (UT Martin) that he had attempted less than 10 passes in a game and only the third time that he hadn't thrown for more than 100 yards in a game. Keeping Tabs on Grothe Gained 72 yards and a TD rushing and threw for three TDs and 248 yards in the air against Syracuse ... Passed and ran for a TD in upset loss to Pitt ... Streak of 110 passes without an interception was snapped against the Panthers ... Against NC State, turned in a third mistake-free performance in as many outings ... Threw for 259 yards, rushed for 68 yards and a passing TD against the Wolfpack after an efficient outing with 136 passing yards and 48 rushing yards against FIU ... Set a personal-high by completing 11 straight passes at the outset of the NC State game.... His previous best streak of completions was eight... He threw for 208 yards on 15-18 in the first half... It was the third most passing yards in a half in USF history... Led the Bulls to the greatest comeback - down 17 points - in USF history against No. 13 Kansas ... Passed for 338 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 32-45 in win over No. 13 Kansas ... Also rushed for 30 with 28 coming on a TD score against the Jayhawks ... Accounted for 400 yards of total offense - 346 passing and 54 rushing - and three TD passes in overtime win over UCF ... It was the first time in his career he had passed for 300 yards in back-to-back games ... His five TD passes in the first two games is the best two-game total of his career ... Only Marquel Blackwell - 6 TD in 2001 - has throw more in the first two games of a season ... The only other time he has thrown three TD passes was at UCF in 2006 ... Set a career single-game high with a passing efficiency rating of 258.3 against UT Martin ... Completed 6-of-8 passes for 96 yards and two TD ... Two incompletions were dropped by receivers ... Offensive coordinator Greg Gregory graded Grothe out at 100 percent against UT Martin, which was a first for Gregory in 27 years of coaching.
Greatest Comeback in USF History Matt Grothe led the Bulls to the largest come-from-behind victory in program history when he ushered USF back from a 20-3 deficit to Kansas with 3:24 to play in the second quarter on Sept. 12. The Bulls ended up winning, 37-34, on a Maikon Bonani field goal as time expired.
With the score 20-3 , USF reeled off 31 straight points before KU tied the game the game at 34 only to have Bonani hit the game winner.
It was the fifth time in USF history that the Bulls dug out of a 10-point hole. It is the third time USF trailed by 10 points in the second half and come back to win. It was the first time USF has accomplished the feat against a ranked opponent. Below are the other comeback wins that were by 10 or more points.
Deficit |
Opp. |
Date |
Last time behind |
Outcome |
20-3 |
Kansas |
9-12-08 |
3rd - 1:09 |
Won, 37-34 |
14-0 |
New Haven |
11-6-99 |
3rd - 10:53 |
Won, 41-27 |
20-7 |
FIU |
l 9-9-06 |
4th - 2:33 |
Won, 21-20 |
20-10 |
UAB |
11-3-04 |
4th - 12:49 |
Won, 45-20 |
17-7 |
Nicholls St. |
9-6-03 |
3rd - 3:39 |
Won, 27-17 |
Grothe was spectacular in the third and fourth quarters against Kansas. He completed 6-of-6 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter and was 15-19 for 204 yards and two TDs in the second half.
Grothe Will Miss UCF Matt Grothe, who has 8,288 yards combined passing and rushing yards in his career, is going to miss UCF. He had over 1,000 of those passing/rushing yards against the Knights. Below is the breakdown:
Grothe |
Rush-Yards |
Rush TD |
Passing |
Pass TD |
2008 |
20-54 |
0 |
23-40-346 |
3 |
2007 |
16-100 |
2 |
15-28-212 |
2 |
2006 |
21-73 |
0 |
21-31-302 |
3 |
Total |
57-227 |
2 |
59-99-860 |
8 | |