TAMPA – More than 3,200 fans flocked to the USF Campus on a beautiful spring day to watch the annual USF football Spring Game Saturday afternoon at Corbett Stadium.
USF’s new up-tempo offense gave senior quarterback Steven Bench an opportunity to make a big play and the Green Team starter stepped up with a with a 62-yard touchdown run to lead the Green Team to a 10-9 victory over the White Team.
Marlon Mack, the 2014 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, added 83 yards rushing, all in the first half, and 123 all-purpose yards for the Green.
“We divided the team up. Not everybody is playing with who they’ve been playing with all spring long, so it was good,” USF Head Coach Willie Taggart said. “I like to see who really steps up when you’re playing with somebody you’re probably not playing with in the fall, but you still step up and make plays. Usually when you do that, you’re going to be a pretty good player out here for us.”
USF’s defense has shined all spring in the new 4-2-5 system under defensive coordinator Tom Allen and playmakers emerged from both sidelines on a sunny Saturday on campus. Senior linebacker and White Team member Tashon Whitehurst posted a game-high 19 total tackles (11 solo) with a sack and an interception.
USF wraps up its spring next week with weight lifting and a player evaluation period before new talent from USF’s second straight top-rated recruited class in The American arrives in the summer.
“I can’t wait to get back at it already,” Taggart said. “It will be fun to see some of those (new) guys here to get with their teammates and be a part of this.”