Senior Leadership Helping USF 'Stay the Course'
NEXT GAME: USF (0-1) at Georgia Tech (0-1)
DAY/TIME: Saturday/2 p.m.
LOCATION: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta
TV/RADIO: ACC Network/1250 AM, Bulls Unlimited
SERIES: USF leads, 1-0 (49-38 win in 2018)
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, SEPT. 3, 2019 – Head coach
Charlie Strong said USF has to move quickly past the season opener and his Bulls have followed suit.
In preparation for Saturday's test at Georgia Tech, players have been highly motivated in practices this week with a mission of showing the nation what the program is truly capable of.
"Week 1 doesn't define us. We've still got 11 more opportunities," said senior defensive end
Greg Reaves (Bradenton, Fla.). "We can't let last week beat us. We have another opportunity ahead of us. Let's just go 1-0 this week."
"It's tough to get popped in the mouth the first game," senior tight end
Mitchell Wilcox (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) added. "But this team is built for adversity and can deal with it. We're going to bounce back, I'm sure of it."
Confidence after the Wisconsin defeat is still flowing throughout the team and positive energy is being generated by players like Wilcox, Reaves and the rest of the solid senior leadership in place that Strong commended during the preseason. One of those 17 seniors pushing the team past the loss is starting quarterback
Blake Barnett (Corona, Calif.), who had plenty of critics after a performance that saw the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award candidate make solid throws early on drives that stalled due to drops.
"Blake is a great leader. He's stayed positive throughout all this," Wilcox said. "People tried to come after him after the game. It's not all his fault. It's a team effort and we all gotta be better on the offensive side of the ball."
Speaking for the defense, Reaves said "missed assignments" three times to reporters after reviewing the game film and used the word "anxious" to describe the Bulls' feelings about fixing past mistakes. That's what this week has been about for a team that's eagerly awaiting Saturday's chance at redemption.
"We've just gotta bring the young guys along," Wilcox said. "If they're contributing – special teams, anything – they've gotta follow the older guys and just really work hard to stay the course."
Sails 'Blessed to Be Here'
Despite falling to Wisconsin (now ranked No. 17/16), USF scored a big victory in the first week of the season when junior transfer
KJ Sails (Tampa) was declared eligible to play right away by the NCAA.
"I'm just blessed to be here and happy to play in front of my friends and family," the talented cornerback said. "My son got to see me play again, so that's always a blessing."
Consider it a belated birthday present for Sails' son, King, who turned 2 on Aug. 13 and now gets to see his father play all season. For Sails, every day moving forward feels like his birthday (actually May 2) after a summer of waiting on the word since transferring from North Carolina.
"Things like that, it's out of your control," he said. "It was definitely stressful, but I just took a step back and let the NCAA do what they do. I appreciate them for that."
Sails said he was doing school work at the Selmon Athletics Center when he received a call last Wednesday from Coach Strong, who took a funny route to breaking very good news.
"He kind of messed with me a little bit. I was like, 'Oh, man, I didn't get cleared?" Sails said with a smile. "He was like, 'No, you're in, you're in.' I was like, 'Dude.' I came in and hugged him and everybody. We were so happy."
Elation continued for Sails last Friday night, when he made his first start as a Bull before finishing with two solo tackles (one TFL), a fumble recovery and a 17-yard punt return in his homecoming game.
"The adjustment has been good. Guys like Mike (Hampton), a lot of the older guys kind of took me in and showed me how things are done here," Sails said. "We've got a good relationship already and it's good to be home, closer to friends and family, people that I love dearly. It's always a blessing for that."
BULLS BITS
REAVES RETURNS TO THE EDGE: One game back at his old edge rusher position, one sack in the books for senior Greg Reaves, who finished the season opener with four tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss. Reaves, who led USF with 14.0 tackles for loss in 2017, is happy to be back at defensive end after posting a career-high 89 tackles in 2018 while playing the final seven games at linebacker. "It was awesome getting out there to go against a pretty good offensive line, just to try to work my talent, work my ability and (use) things I'd been working on all camp," he said.- SOLID FOUNDATION OF SENIORS: While USF has a solid foundation of 17 seniors, Georgia Tech (0-1) is lean in the category. The Yellow Jackets have the third-fewest seniors on any NCAA Division I FBS roster this season with 11. Texas A&M has the fewest (6), followed by Coastal Carolina (10).
- CATCH THE USF FOOTBALL RADIO SHOW: Fans can meet head coach Charlie Strong and hear all about the team heading into Week 2 by attending the USF Football Radio Show on Thursday from 7-8 p.m. at World of Beer on East Fowler Ave (near the USF campus). Get more info, including the radio show season schedule, HERE.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed 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.
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– #GoBulls –
