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By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, NOV. 11, 2014 – Head coach Willie Taggart opened up the quarterback competition last week during the Bulls' bye and Quinton Flowers seized the opportunity.

The true freshman from Miami has been named the starter for USF's test at SMU 8 p.m. Saturday after impressing his coaches and his teammates with solid play and his increased knowledge of the offense.

“I think every decision we make is what's best our football team. This past week we gave him more reps than we had before. Before he wasn't getting a lot of reps, so he really wasn't able to show us exactly what he can do,” Taggart said Tuesday. “…He's shown when he's going against our defense in practice some of the things he can do.”

USF fans have gotten a small taste of what Flowers can do during three games this season when he mostly ran the read-option against NC State, ECU and Houston. Coaches opened up the playbook during the bye week and Flowers showed he's capable of an increased workload after preparing well for the chance to shine.

“He's a lot different today than he was in August,” offensive coordinator Paul Wulff said. “He's learned the system and he's getting more and more comfortable. He's nowhere near where he can be from that standpoint but he surely has grown. He's worked hard and he deserves this opportunity.”

Flowers got a scholarship opportunity to play quarterback at USF after becoming a three-time team MVP at Miami Jackson High School. The dual-threat signal caller racked up 6,042 yards passing and 2,002 yards rushing with 32 touchdowns in his four-year varsity career. The four-star recruit was rated as the No. 9 dual-threat QB in the nation by 247Sports and Flowers chose USF after receiving offers from Alabama, Florida, Miami, Nebraska, Texas and Tennessee among other programs.

“He's everything you want from a football player,” senior receiver Andre Davis said. “He can run, he throws a nice deep ball, so he definitely can bring another element to the offense.”

Flowers clocked in at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash in high school but Taggart doesn't expect his speedy new starter to be Superman and said it's important for other Bulls to do their part on offense.

“His teammates have to help him, they have to play well,” Taggart said. “Quinton is going to make mistakes, those things are going to happen, and you want to limit them and he understands that, too. That's a big part of that position is not making those mistakes and being smart with the football.”

Taggart said Flowers won't be limited from a play-calling standpoint and the offense's other playmakers are focused on helping the Bulls get back on track in Dallas.  

“We're just going to make him feel comfortable and make him feel like he's back in high school so he can do his thing on the field,” sophomore receiver Rodney Adams said. “Hopefully he can make plays and we can make plays for him.”

Flowers competed for the starting spot with sophomore Mike White and junior Steven Bench, who will battle for the backup spot in practice this week.

“If their opportunity comes again I want those guys to be ready to take advantage of it,” Taggart said.

Bulls Make Good Use of Bye Week

Competition has been open at other positions for players to step up and the bye week allowed the Bulls to get tough in the process. First-team and second-team units clashed with each other with lots of live tackling, which was something new for Taggart on a typical off week during the season.

“They really got after it. It got competitive and it was really good to see out of our football team,” Taggart said. “We're trying to be physical and I thought we got some good work in."

Starting linebacker Auggie Sanchez appreciated the opportunity and said the bye week definitely benefitted the Bulls.

“We hit a lot more just to have that physical mentality,” Sanchez said. “I think coming into this game we'll be prepared and I think we'll have a better game than we've had in the past few.”

Sanchez Happy to Give Williams a Boost

Northeast High School graduate Auggie Sanchez and members of the USF football staff headed to St. Petersburg for a special reason last Thursday.

Northeast High School's Leshawn Williams, who lost his right leg below the knee after suffering an injury in a football game last month, got a surprise visit from the Bulls at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and Sanchez said he loved every minute of it.

“That was big-time for me and it really hits home,” Sanchez said. “He was really shy and didn't know what to say. It was awesome.”

The Bulls presented Williams with a special gift that included a personalized USF jersey framed with photos of Williams in action. 

“I had to reach out to him just because I love Northeast and I love everything about it. In any way I could help them it was big-time for me,” Sanchez said.

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