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Early spring observations show room for growth for USF football

 
USF wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (83) during Spring football practice at the University South Florida on Monday, March 28, 2016. OCTAVIO JONES   |   Times 

USF wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (83) during Spring football practice at the University South Florida on Monday, March 28, 2016. OCTAVIO JONES | Times
Published March 30, 2016

TAMPA — After four days of spring football practice at USF, this much can be ascertained for sure: The offensive players are wearing white jerseys, the defensive players are in green and the quarterbacks are wearing red.

Any assessments beyond that are swan dives into conjecture. So far, the Bulls have held exactly one practice in full pads. After one Republican caucus, Ted Cruz was in command. After one Seinfeld episode, NBC nearly pulled the plug on the series. After one quarter against McNeese State in 2013, the Bulls led by five.

Hence we're holding off on that depth chart for now, and offering some random observations instead. After four practices, this is what we've noticed:

1. N.C. State transfer Marquez Valdes-Scantling is brimming with upside — emphasis on up. The Lakewood alumnus (6 feet 5, 206 pounds) has brandished the ability to burst downfield and outjump smaller defenders, a skill coach Willie Taggart wants to maximize. But he has dropped some throws, too.

"He's a player, but he's still got to be consistent," Taggart said after Saturday's practice. "I talked to him earlier, 'If you're going to be that guy, you've got to catch all those balls.' He had too many dropped balls, and the thing you like about him, I really didn't have to get on him. He was getting on himself."

2. The Bulls are operating at a brisker pace — especially on offense — than they did at this time last year. This looks like a team that already has spent a year entrenched in the zone-read-based "Gulf Coast Offense." Confusion over alignments and signals seems reduced, which stands to reason.

3. The defense will be hard-pressed to match the energy it exuded under former coordinator Tom Allen. The players insist it's there, it's just not quite as glaring — yet.

To those who followed this team closely last year, that energy characterized the unit as much as the relentless disruption created by the front four and the centrifugal force of Jamie Byrd's hits. Which is to say, it's essential to the defense's success.

The energy "is not how it was before, and that's something we talked about as a staff," Taggart said Monday. "And we want to see improvement in that amongst everyone — coaches and players. I thought we got a little more of it (Tuesday) than we did in the past couple of practices, but that's something we stressed this past week, that we want to see more energy."

4. The first four defensive ends in Monday's practice rotation — Juwuan Brown, LaDarrius Jackson, Vincent Jackson and Greg Reaves — have combined for one tackle at the Division I level.

Which isn't to suggest the outlook is totally bleak. Senior Daniel Awoleke (21 tackles in '15) recently was granted another year, two returners (Josh Black, Mike Love) are rehabbing foot injuries and more juco help is on the way (Tramal Ivy, Frank Johnson). But as concerns go, this is the most prominent one on defense.

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5. All four Division I transfers who sat out last season — Valdes-Scantling, QB Asiantii Woulard, MLB Cecil Cherry and S Austin Hudson — appear way too talented to stay out of the playing rotation. In Woulard's case, that could make things a little dicey, and Taggart has reiterated Quinton Flowers is the starting quarterback. But all four appear talented enough to contribute significantly in 2016.

SANDERS, WEBER HONORED: Junior RHP Phoenix Sanders, who yielded five hits in a complete-game shutout of Dartmouth on Friday, was named American Athletic Conference pitcher of the week on Monday. Sanders needed only 92 pitches — and only three in the eighth inning — to notch the Bulls' first complete game in three years.

Meantime, Bulls senior Erica Nunn and junior Juli Weber were named the conference's pitcher and player of the week, respectively, for softball. Nunn went 3-0 with a 0.32 ERA in four appearances last week; Weber hit .450 with five extra-base hits in as many games, including a walkoff RBI double in a 3-2 win against Northwestern.

The softball team's school-record win streak stands at 21 entering Friday's 6 p.m. home game against Houston. The Bulls (29-9) slipped into the top 25 at No. 23 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll released Tuesday. They're 24th in this week's USA Today/NFCA Division I coaches poll.

DISHONORED? Bulls senior Courtney Williams (22.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.6 assists) likely will be a top-10 WNBA draft pick next month, but the voters of the Associated Press All-America teams didn't consider her one of the nation's top 15 players.

Too bad Williams, an AP honorable mention for the second year in a row, averaged only 21 points and eight boards in three nationally televised games against Connecticut. Facetiousness aside, Williams set an NCAA Tournament record by accounting for 65 percent of her team's points (31 of 48) in the Bulls' 48-45 first-round win against Colorado State.

And that season scoring average? It currently ranks ninth in Division I.

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.