Tampabay.com
AUGUST 24, 2008

Official depth chart shows a few surprises

Six days before its season opener against Tennessee-Martin, USF released its official depth chart, with a few notable changes to the Bulls' starting lineups ...

-- As first reported here this week, sophomore A.J. Love is one of the starting receivers, moving ahead of sophomore Carlton Mitchell, who has been limited by injuries since spring drills. Love isn't the only receiver moving up the charts, as redshirt freshman walk-on Jeffrey "Pookie" Wilson is listed on the second-team offense, ahead of several scholarship receivers.

-- Sophomores Mike Ford and Jamar Taylor are listed as co-starters at the second running back position, with senior Ben Williams listed as the first starting running back.

-- Sophomore Terrell McClain, who hasn't gotten too much attention in the last three weeks, is listed as USF's starting nose tackle, ahead of sophomore Sampson Genus, the converted offensive guard who has been discussed as a starter since preseason practice started.

-- The offensive line has five players with at least one full year's experience as a starter, with four seniors -- left tackle Ryan Schmidt, left guard Matt Huners, center Jake Griffin and right tackle Marc Dile -- and sophomore right guard Zach Hermann.

-- Sophomore David Bedford, a highly touted junior college transfer, is not listed on the two-deep, with sophomore Craig Marshall and redshirt freshman Patrick Hampton listed as the second-team ends.

-- USF coach Jim Leavitt has stuck with last year's primary return specialists, with Marcus Edwards listed as the punt returner and Jerome Murphy and Taurus Johnson listed for kickoffs.

-- The only true freshman to crack the two-deep is kicker Maikon Bonani, who is listed as the backup kickoff specialist. Junior Delbert Alvarado is the starting kicker and punter, with senior Justin Teachey listed as the second option for place-kicking and punting.

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