USF Athletics

Bulls Get In A Good Scrimmage in Bucs' 'Awesome' Indoor Facility

August 17, 2019

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, AUG. 17, 2019 – Continuous rains in the Tampa Bay area forced USF indoors for the Bulls' last big scrimmage of fall camp that took on an NFL-type feel thanks to a strong relationship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With less than two weeks to go before the season kicks off, head coach Charlie Strong's Bulls were able to run through well more than 100 plays Saturday inside the Bucs' state-of-the-art indoor facility at the AdventHealth Training Center.

"I just appreciate the Bucs for allowing us to come in and get our work in because it's been raining all week," Strong said. "… Overall, today was a lot of plays and a lot of good plays."

Starting quarterback Blake Barnett (Corona, Calif.) made a fair share of those plays, throwing three touchdown passes and scrambling for first downs on the 100-yard FieldTurf playing surface.

"We kind of got spoiled today coming in and being able to use the Buccaneers' facility," Barnett said. "This indoor, it's awesome. The turf is really nice."

So was Barnett's final touchdown pass of the day, a 10-yard strike to starting running back Jordan Cronkrite, who made a diving, one-handed catch in the back of the end zone. Cronkrite (Miami) also picked up numerous first downs, including one on a 22-yard run, during a strong outing for the senior.

"I'm really appreciative of the Bucs organization for letting us come here and practice with the bad weather outside. It's a beautiful facility," Cronkrite said. "… I've never even been to an NFL game before, so this was like my first time going to anything like this. It was a pretty great experience for me."

Strong commended the Bulls as a whole for staying mentally tough throughout a very rainy week and making sure they put in the work for the season opener against Wisconsin that takes place in primetime at Raymond James Stadium on Friday Aug. 30. On Wednesday, for example, USF had to gear up for practice three separate times due to storms before practicing again the next day.

"You hate it for our players because I may tell them one time and then I have to call them back and say, 'Hey, we can't come at this time. We have to come at this time because I think the storm is coming,'" Strong said. "I think once we get that facility built, then we won't have to worry about that."

Strong noted fundraising progress has been "good" for the planned USF Football Center. Vice President Athletics Michael Kelly, who was in attendance at Saturday's scrimmage, said during the summer the program has logged more than $20 million in donations for the indoor training facility that will benefit all USF teams.

"That would be something I think would help take this program and put it in a better opportunity to further succeed," Barnett added. "With that though, we're doing everything we can to make this team as good as possible. (Weather is) not holding us back from anything. It's just pretty much an annoyance at this time."

Ford Built for Big Plays
Sophomore Johnny Ford continued his fantastic fall camp at slot receiver Saturday, taking a screen pass the distance on a 36-yard touchdown connection from quarterback Jordan McCloud (Tampa).

Ford (Miami) later showed of his elusiveness and speed, turning a short pass from Blake Barnett into a 40-yard touchdown reception.

"Bulls fans are pretty aware of the fact that if you get Johnny Ford in space, it's a dangerous sight," Barnett said. "He was able to do that today. He's been doing it all camp. He's been working really hard and continuously getting better at this offense and maturing as a young player as well."
 

Nobody's catching @_jdf20. Johnny Ford to the ??!#BullStrong ???? pic.twitter.com/ZIMehEXuU9

— USF Football (@USFFootball) August 17, 2019

More Touchdowns for the Offense

• In addition to his TD tosses to Jordan Cronkrite and Johnny Ford, Blake Barnett made more magic happen in the red zone by finding Mackey Award candidate Mitchell Wilcox (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) in the end zone for a 12-yard score.
• Like Barnett, Jordan McCloud was sharp on an interception-free day for the quarterbacks. Aside from his big play with Ford, USF's No. 2 QB set the Bulls up at the 5 with a 35-yard pass to senior receiver Kevin Purlett (Miramar, Fla.). Two plays later, senior back Trevon Sands (Miami) capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
• The day's other rushing touchdowns were produced by sophomore back Dave Small (Lauderhill, Fla.) from 2 yards out and sophomore quarterback Augie DeBiase (Ponte Vedra, Fla.), who showed his toughness on a 28-yard scoring run.

 
Defense Brings the Pressure, Gets Takeaways and a Score
The secondary shined in USF's first scrimmage of the fall a week ago and Saturday was the defensive line's opportunity to shine.

Constant pressure was applied, especially early, which resulted in coordinator Brian Jean-Mary's defense racking up numerous sacks. Senior end Kirk Livingstone (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led the sack attack with three trips to the quarterback and production continued with line mates like junior Tyrik Jones (Plantation, Fla.) and sophomore Rashawn Yates (Port St. Lucie, Fla.).

"We have a bunch of guys that can make plays from the end position, from 3-technique and also nose (tackle)," said Livingstone, who recorded sacks on back-to-back plays.

While the Bulls did damage up front, freshman linebacker Damaurez Bellamy (DeLand, Fla.) delivered for the defense with a sack that resulted in a safety. Despite no interceptions, USF's defense still finished with two takeaways thanks to fumble recoveries by freshman end Jason Vaughn (Auburndale, Fla.) and senior linebacker Trent Shaw (Lutz, Fla.).
 
Bulls Bits

• KICKERS ON TARGET: USF kickers went a combined 3-for-3 on field goal attempts Saturday. Junior and Groza Award candidate Coby Weiss (Gainesville, Fla.) was good from 27 and 35 yards out. Freshman Spencer Shrader (Lithia, Fla.) definitely had the distance on his 39-yarder a week after easily making a 53-yarder.
• THOR RETURNS: Former USF offensive lineman Thor Jozwiak (2011-15) showed the Bulls support at practice Saturday and he's still making an impact in the Bay area as a teacher/offensive line coach at Clearwater High School. Thanks in part to his friendly, outgoing personality, Jozwiak was a fan favorite during his USF career and made sure to greet a current Bull that shares his Mohawk-wearing sense of style – junior safety Brock Nichols (Naples, Fla.), who recorded a sack later in practice.
• MORE SPECIAL GUESTS: The Bulls were happy to see another familiar face in former USF/NFL linebacker Sam Barrington at practice Saturday. Senior linebacker Trent Shaw (Lutz, Fla.) is a huge Bucs fan and got a big kick out of also seeing Shelton Quarles watching the scrimmage from the stands. Quarles is the Buccaneers' Director of Football Operations and was a Pro Bowl linebacker on their Super Bowl XXXVII title team.

 
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22^nd season of football, and 19^th 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 150^th 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.
 
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