|
Fast Starts
The numbers from Grothe's first three games of 2008, show that he is off to the best start of his career. Below are the top totals for passing yards over any three consecutive games during his career. Passsing yards - Three Consecutive games
|
Total Yards |
Game-by-Game |
Dates |
|
880 |
364/237/279 |
11/11/06 to 11/25/06 |
|
818 |
247/189/382 |
10/18/07 to 11/3/07 |
|
781 |
180/364/237 |
11/4/06 to 11/18/06 |
|
780 |
96/346/338 |
8/30/08 to 9/12/08 |
|
757 |
382/181/194 |
11/3/07 to 11/17/07 |
? Grothe has passed for 1,175 yards this season, which is the third-best five game total of his career.
Total Touchdowns - Three Consecutive Games
Grothe accounted for eight touchdowns - seven passing and one rushing - in the first three games, which tied a career best over that length of time:
|
TD |
Year |
Dates & Totals |
|
8 |
2008 |
Aug. 30 - 2 |
Sept. 6 - 3 |
Sept. 12 - 3 |
|
8 |
2007 |
Oct. 6 ? 2 |
Oct. 13 ? 4 |
Oct. 18 -2 |
|
8 |
2007 |
Nov. 3 ? 2 |
Nov. 10 ? 3 |
Nov. 17 ? 3 |
|
8 |
2006 |
Sept. 23 ? 1 |
Sept. 29 ? 3 |
Oct. 7 ? 4 |
|
8 |
2006 |
Sept. 29 ? 3 |
Oct. 7 ? 4 |
Oct. 14 ? 1 |
Passing Touchdowns - Three Consecutive Games
Grothe has slung seven TD passes in the first three games of 2008. He had never thrown more than six in any three-game stretch prior to 2008. He had tossed four or more in a three game period on nine occasions. Below are his best totals.
|
TD |
Year |
Dates & Totals |
|
7 |
2008 |
Aug. 30 - 2 |
Sept. 6 - 3 |
Sept. 12 - 2 |
|
6 |
2006 |
Sept. 2 ? 2 |
Sept. 9 ? 1 |
Sept. 16 ? 3 |
|
5 |
2007 |
Nov. 3 ? 1 |
Nov. 10 ? 2 |
Nov. 17 ? 2 |
Grothe now has eight TD passes, which is his best total over any five game stretch in his career. He has never had more than seven TD passes in any five game stretch.
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
Keeping Tabs on Grothe
Against NC State, turned in a third mistake-free performance in as many outings ... Threw for 259 yards and a TD, rushed for 68 yards 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 is 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.
Grothe Trends
? Grothe has thrown 107 passes since his last interception (fourth quarter versus UCF) ... He has not thrown an interception in four of five games this season ... He has completed 67 passes (64.4 percent) during the streak without an interception ... Grothe had nine career games without an interception prior to 2008 (5 in 2007 and 4 in 2006).
? 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.
? He has now thrown a TD pass in 25 of 31 career games. 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
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 7,255 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 | |
