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Rodney Adams emerges as key to new USF Bulls offense

 
Rodney Adams caught 23 passes for 323 yards and two TDs for USF last season after spending his freshman season at Toledo. [DEMETRIUS FREEMAN | Times]
Rodney Adams caught 23 passes for 323 yards and two TDs for USF last season after spending his freshman season at Toledo. [DEMETRIUS FREEMAN | Times]
Published Feb. 25, 2015

TAMPA — They can't align themselves horizontally without succeeding vertically. The Bulls' aspirations of spreading the football field hinge on their ability to stretch it.

Flip the ball to playmakers in the flat without flinging it downfield, and the space you're trying to create suddenly shrivels. Defenses creep up, and total yardage creeps down. A brisk tempo means little without some brisk wideouts on the edge.

This is where Rodney Adams comes in. For all practical intents, USF's re-tooled offense and the former Lakewood High star are co-dependent. Neither can work without the other.

"Rodney's got to step up, he's got to be the man," coach Willie Taggart said after Monday's inaugural spring practice of 2015. "His role's going to expand a lot more, and he's going to be a big part of our offense. He has to be."

Three of the top four receivers from 2014 are gone, including all-time leading pass catcher Andre Davis (36 catches, 594 yards, seven TDs in '14). The holdover from that quartet is Adams (23 catches, 323 yards, two TDs), who arrived on campus last winter after spending his freshman season at Toledo.

On Monday his upper torso appeared noticeably thicker, in a good way. Adams acknowledged his 6-foot-1 frame now carries 187 pounds, 10 more than when he arrived. All the better to tote more of the offensive burden.

"I was a puny little guy (last year)," he said.

"I'm ready to step up and be that big-time player in our offense, step up to what (Davis') expectation was. Whatever we need. … I'm right there, just give me the ball and I'll convert big plays."

Ideally, Adams ultimately will be one cog in a collection of skinny-post specialists. Rising sophomore Ryeshene Bronson, a Class 2A state qualifier in the 100-meter dash in 2014, had a 75-yard TD catch against N.C. State last year.

Kentucky transfer A.J. Legree, who sat out last season, had 19 catches in two years in the SEC. Stanley Clerveaux, sidelined last fall by a shoulder injury, is considered by some as the hidden jewel of the '14 signing class. And new signee Jarvis Baxter had 1,200 receiving yards at a Texas junior college in '14.

It's reasonable to presume the Bulls will go only as deep as these guys take them. Adams, presumably, will lead that vertical charge.

"He's one of those guys that can make a guy miss and go the distance," Taggart said, "and we need a lot more of those players."

POWER SURGE: Seven games into the season, the Bulls baseball team is fulfilling new coach Mark Kingston's forecast of better power numbers.

Entering Tuesday night's home game against Florida Gulf Coast, USF had four home runs, only five fewer than it had in all of 2014. Siblings Levi and Luke Borders accounted for three, with Luke hitting a two-run blast in the eighth inning of Sunday's 4-4 tie with Wagner. That game was called after 11 innings so Wagner — located on New York City's Staten Island — could meet its prearranged travel plans.

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ODDS AND ENDS: The softball team (8-7) plays its third tournament in as many weekends when six teams convene on campus Friday for the Under Armour Invitational. The Bulls play back-to-back games against Illinois and Georgia Southern at home starting at 1:45 on Friday before the event switches to Clearwater's Eddie C. Moore Complex on Saturday and Sunday. … Former Bulls distance-running star Christa Benton Stephens' quest for a third Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K title ended prematurely Saturday morning. Stephens, the only cross country All-American in USF history, pulled up with a foot injury after roughly 4 miles. … Word is, nearly 3,000 tickets — not including season tickets — already have been sold for the women's basketball team's Monday night showdown against top-ranked Connecticut at the Sun Dome.

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