By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
VERO BEACH - The Bulls have spent plenty of hours
looking at film of Monday's scrimmage and more time needed to be invested in
the evaluation period before some initial roster decisions can be made
official.
"There is a little bit of jostling that's going on, on the
depth chart right now. As soon as we meet with all the players, I will release
that," said head coach Skip Holtz of USF's first depth chart of the fall.
One of the hottest position battles going on in camp has
been for the No. 2 quarterback spot and both candidates - junior Bobby Eveld
and redshirt freshman Matt Floyd - spent much of Tuesday's practice throwing to
receivers during team drills with coaches looking on.
"Coming out of it, I thought Matt had the better scrimmage
yesterday," Holtz said. "As I said before, those two have gone back and forth.
Every day you walk off the field and say, 'Today, I'd give it to Bobby. Today,
I'd give it to Matt. Today, I'd give it to Bobby.' They've just gone back and
forth."
Holtz said many things can happen after the first depth
chart is released, but he did reveal who has the early edge in the competition
to back up senior B.J. Daniels.
"Right now Matt would be the two," he said.
Offensive coordinator Todd Fitch noted that the consistency
level of both quarterbacks has improved since the spring and added a twist to
the philosophy of having a No. 2 and No. 3 signal caller.
"It's a good problem to have because if you ever do have an
injury with your starter, you're going into a season or a stretch of games with
really an unproven guy," he said. "You may have to play two at that point to
win the games you need to win, so that's how I look at it. If both are able to
do certain things in conjunction with each other, you may have to do that if
one is not a complete starter at this stage in their career."
Another popular position battle has been at the open
cornerback spot opposite of Kayvon Webster and the coaching staff could be very
busy determining who the winner is going to be heading into USF's season opener
at home against UT-Chattanooga on Sept. 1.
"I think we've got some guys that are playing really well.
We've got a lot of talent there when you look at George Baker, Ken Durden,
(Chris) Bivins, Fidel Montgomery and Josh Brown," Holtz said. "You start going
through the names, we have more talent than we've ever had to choose who that
guy is going to be. But at this point, I don't feel like anybody has just
stepped up and really taken it over."
Good News on the Injury Front
Running back Bradley Battles went down early in Monday's
scrimmage with a rolled ankle and wide receiver Ruben Gonzalez had a wrist
issue, but Holtz was happy to find out both injuries were not serious ones.
"Both of those (X-rays) came back negative, so both of those
players I would expect back in about a week or so," he said. "It's great news
because you have a guy like Bradley, as well as he was playing you hate to see
that as a possible surgical procedure that he would miss the season for. Great
news coming on the injury front and we just have to keep getting healthy."
The Bulls also got good news on the defensive line after
many of the team's big names were held out of Monday's scrimmage.
"Cory Grissom was out; Elkino Watson missed most of it, but
was back out here today for practice. Then you had Todd Chandler, who has been
out for a couple of days, he was back out here today," Holtz said.
Grissom was a full go Tuesday as the team practiced in
shorts. The senior defensive tackle hasn't practiced in pads since injuring his
ankle late in the spring.
"It feels really good to be back out here with the guys,
working on my craft and getting ready for the season," Grissom said.
Grissom has done work on the side for much of fall camp and
called Tuesday's action with the rest of the linemen "a big step." Tuesday was
the first time he's really got to sharpen up in pass rush situations and said
he felt good doing it.
Quote of the Day
"I know they're sore and beat up. This is what everybody
considers a dog day. It's no longer the emotion of beginning of camp, and the
end of camp is not in sight yet. They can't see the light at the end of the
tunnel. These are the dog days, but I really like the attitude and the way
they've come out working." - Holtz on Tuesday's practice.
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