Bulls in the NFL: Week 17 Update
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, JAN. 2, 2019 – The NFL playoffs will feature plenty of USF talent as five former Bulls and their respective teams are still in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy.
Marlon Mack and the Indianapolis Colts earned the AFC's No. 6 seed with a 33-17 victory at Tennessee in the final game of Week 17. Mack did his part by posting his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season with 119 yards (4.8 ypc) and a touchdown. USF's former star back finished his solid second NFL regular season with 908 rushing yards (4.7 ypc) and nine touchdowns in addition to 103 receiving yards and another score in 12 games (10 starts).
Mack and the Colts will take on the Texans in Houston on Saturday at 4:35 p.m. (TV: ESPN). Former USF great
Kayvon Webster is in his first season with Houston but is on injured reserve.
On Sunday, Philadelphia rookie defensive tackle
Bruce Hector will see another former USF standout when the Eagles take on
Aaron Lynch and the Bears in Chicago at 4:40 p.m. (TV: ESPN).
Hector has been an inspirational story this season, making the Eagles' initial 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent and playing in eight games with two tackles and a half sack. In his first season with the Bears, Lynch has totaled 16 tackles (13 solo), three sacks and an interception in 13 games (three starts). Lynch has missed the past two games with an elbow injury but the Bears are hopeful to have him for the wild-card round.
Former star USF center
Austin Reiter, now with Kansas City, gets to rest up this weekend with the Chiefs getting a bye as the AFC's top seed. Reiter has started in four of the 11 games he's played in as a first-year Chief and recently was rewarded with a
two-year contract extension.
Find out how other former USF stars fared in Week 17 of the NFL season below.
DE JASON PIERRE-PAUL: The ninth-year pro finished his stellar first season in Tampa Bay with four solo tackles and a sack in the Buccaneers' 34-32 loss to Atlanta. Season stats – 58 tackles (48 solo), 12.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 16 games (16 starts).- WR MARQUEZ VALDES-SCANTLING: The first-year pro caught three passes for 43 yards while starting in Green Bay's 31-0 loss to Detroit. Season stats – 38 receptions for 581 yards (15.3 ypc) and two touchdowns; two rushes for 29 yards (14.5 ypc); one kickoff return for 21 yards and two special teams tackles in 16 games (10 starts).
- DT DEADRIN SENAT: The third-round draft pick totaled one tackle in Atlanta's 34-32 win at Tampa Bay. Season stats – 30 tackles (15 solo) and two tackles for loss in 15 games (two starts).
- DT TERRELL MCCLAIN: The eighth-year pro was not active for Atlanta's 34-32 win at Tampa Bay. Season stats – 17 tackles (nine solo) and a sack in 13 games (five starts).
- DE MIKE LOVE: The rookie totaled two tackles in Buffalo's 42-17 win over Miami. Season stats – five tackles in three games.
- DE ERIC LEE: The second-year pro made one tackle in Detroit's 31-0 win at Green Bay. Season stats – six tackles (four solo) in nine games.
- LB NIGEL HARRIS: The second-year pro played 12 snaps in Tennessee's 33-17 loss to Indianapolis. Harris saw action in two games for the Titans this season.
- RB QUINTON FLOWERS: USF's former record-breaking quarterback joined Cincinnati's 53-man roster but was not active for the Bengals' 16-13 loss at Pittsburgh. Flowers had been on the Bengals' practice squad throughout the season.
- CB KAYVON WEBSTER: The sixth-year pro is on the Houston Texans' injured reserve list. Season stats – one tackle in two games (two starts).
- CB DEATRICK NICHOLS: The first-year pro was released by Arizona on Dec. 29. Season stats – one tackle in two games with Cardinals.
- LB RESHARD CLIETT: The sixth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft is on the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
In just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
