Strength in Unity.

[Soapy]

Spencer bolts for draft as Walker transfers to Georgia Southern
Cooper Byrd -- Dynasty Sports Staff Writer

Steven Bench's final pass being an interception after yet another rally from the quarterback might be a poetic end to his USF career. Bench, who had an up-and-down sophomore season in Malcolm Francois' first season, ends his USF career with 42 touchdowns and 44 interceptions.

Bench's career was filled with dazzling performances followed by bonehead decisions and he will be missed. So will redshirt junior safety Jalen Spencer, who declared for the draft. Spencer was a three-year starter at USF that was an all-conference selection the last season. Bench and Spencer's absence from the two-deep next season will be a reflection of what promises to be a rebuilding year as they also lose senior all-american Zack Bullock and all-time leading receiver D'vario Montgomery and tight end Sean Price.

A young player that won't be around for that rebuild is receiver Chris Walker. The Georgia receiver is transferring to Georgia State after catching sixteen passes last season as a sophomore.

2016 Players Leaving » Career Stats
#7 Chris Walker (WR, Sophomore): Transfer (Playing Time) - Georgia State » 16 receptions, 189 yards, 2 touchdowns.
#30 Jalen Spencer (S, RS Junior): Declared Early » 121 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions.
#2 Steven Bench (QB, Senior): Pro Draft » 564 of 781, 6999 yards, 42 touchdowns, 44 interceptions, 267 carries, 1246 yards, 4 touchdowns.
#52 Zack Bullock (LB, RS Senior): Graduation » 212 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 5 interceptions.
#66 Brynjar Gumundsson (G, RS Senior): Graduation » 29 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, sack.
#29 C.J. Garye (S, RS Senior): Graduation » 105 tackles, interception.
#11 Matt Floyd (QB, RS Senior): Graduation » 3 of 6, 42 yards.
#12 Sean Price (TE, Senior): Graduation » 160 receptions, 1967 yards, 9 touchdowns.
#1 D'vario Montgomery (WR, Senior): Graduation » 162 receptions, 2246 yards, 9 touchdowns.
#64 Thor Jozwiak (G, RS Senior): Graduation » 10 pancakes, 8 sacks given up.
#58 Brant Meier (LB, RS Senior): Graduation » 101 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, interception.
#23 Kenneth Durden (CB, RS Senior): Graduation » 120 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions.
#85 Ruben Gonzalez (WR, RS Senior): Graduation » 63 receptions, 805 yards, touchdown.
#4 Chris Bivins (CB, Senior): Graduation » 101 tackles, 4 interceptions.
#33 Tye Turner (FB, RS Senior): Graduation » 10 carries, 75 yards, 6 touchdowns.
#91 Eric Lee (DE, Senior): Graduation » 24 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.
#67 Max Lang (T, RS Senior): Graduation » 7 pancakes, 12 sacks given up.
#42 Corian Hamilton (OLB, RS Senior): Graduation » 50 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 6 sacks.

[Soapy]

Bulls land Northern Illinois defensive end Lance Carroll as #WatchTheFinish trends
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports USF Insider

USF head coach Malcolm Francois seems to do his best recruiting after receiving a major extension, landing three-star offensive tackle Darren Charles last season in the eleventh hour. Charles would start at left tackle as a true freshman this past season.

Francois already got a head start on signing day, landing a transfer from Northern Illinois in the form of redshirt freshman defensive end Lance Carroll. Carroll is from Delray Beach, Florida and redshirted last season.

The Bulls currently have the sixth best recruiting class in the country and with the departure of a few players such as Chris Walker and Jalen Spencer, there is now more space for USF to go after a few targets.

The top one is safety Dan Johnson, the five-star recruit out of Alpharetta, Georgia. For obvious reasons, this is a longshot for the Bulls as Clemson has entered the picture and Johnson is a long time commit of Air Force.

Five-star Zac White is an interesting one. At one point, he was all USF and seemed ready to commit before their late season struggles gave way to UCF. The team not having a plan at quarterback has reportedly been an issue for White while White not willing to commit has reportedly rubbed Francois and the rest of the coaching staff the wrong way. Nevertheless, he is a five-star talent and you take those.

Four-star defensive tackle Rian Williams is another one that is going to be tough for the Bulls. Williams has always been considered a Boston College lean before a late push by USF and now, NC State has dominated the picture since his visit.

Other names to watch are three-star cornerback Marcus Hardy out of Georgia, three-star receiver Ron Abrams out of Kentucky and three-star receiver Scott Diggs out of Scottdale, Georgia.

[Captain Canada]

Got the bag, now do the job

[Soapy]

Bulls land not one but two five-star recruits in historic National Signing Day
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports USF Insider

"He can sell sand to the desert."

That was a quote from a Power 5 position coach when asked about the recruiting prowess of USF head coach Malcolm Francois. On National Signing Day, Francois proved those words to be true.

USF signed not one but two five stars -- a first in program history -- to land a top-ten recruiting class, another first in program history. USF got National Letters of Intent from both five-star safety Dan Johnson and five-star athlete Zac White. They also landed three-star receiver Scott Diggs for good measure.

While the Bulls weren't able to land four-star defensive tackle Rian Williams, that is hardly a topic in Tampa as USF's 10th ranked recruiting class is not only the best in the American Athletic Conference, it is the best among all Group of Five schools and second in the state of Florida behind Florida State.

"This is going to be a class that people talk about for decades," said Johnson, "Coach Francois told me to come down here and be a part of something special, start a legacy down here and really, I want to be a part of that"

USF's dominance of the state of Georgia was a hot topic. They landed two of the top three players in the state and of the state's fourteen 4-star players, USF got four of them. In comparison, Georgia Tech -- who last played in the BCS National Championship Game the last time they were on a field -- landed just one.

Simply put, USF landed a program defining type of recruiting class with a program changing player like Johnson. Francois has been described as being 'infatuated' with Johnson's skill set at six-feet tall with legit sub 4.36 speed.

Recruiting Class
ATH Zac White [ATH #3]: 5'10", 218lbs | Jesup, GA | 5-star
S Dan Johnson [S #1]: 6'0", 204lbs | Alpharetta, GA | 5-star
WR Jay Stevens [#15 WR]: 6'0", 193lbs | Grenada, MS | 4-star
ILB Mark Bennett [#13 ILB]: 6'1", 235lbs | Hallandale, FL | 4-star
WR Corey Sharp [#28 WR]: 6'1", 192lbs | Fair Oaks, GA | 4-star
ATH Franklin Sapp [#43 ATH]: 6'3", 186lbs | Dock Junction, GA | 4-star
HB Brian Reynolds [#21 HB]: 6'0", 225lbs | Crystal Springs, MS | 4-star
WR Matt Hill [#37 WR]: 6'1", 198lbs | Miami, FL | 4-star
ATH Fred Hooper [#56 ATH]: 6'1", 264lbs | East Naples, FL | 3-star
DT Jamey Little [#31 DT]: 5'11", 289lbs | Jacksonville Beach, FL | 3-star
OLB Shelton Richardson [#19 OLB]: 6'1", 220lbs | Tampa, FL | 3-star
WR Scott Diggs [#99 WR]: 6'2", 191lbs | Scottdale, GA | 3-star
OLB Derek O'Neill [#102 OLB]: 6'3", 220lbs | Miami, FL | 2-star
OLB Rob Matthews [#121 OLB]: 6'2", 214lbs | Zephyrhills, FL | 2-star
S Mike Clark [#84 SS]: 6'2", 190lbs | Jacksonville, FL | 2-star
G Quinton Payne [#102 G]: 6'6", 330lbs | Tampa, FL | 2-star
G Brian Brown [#116 G]: 6'0", 309lbs | Bonita Springs, FL | 2-star
OLB Matt Thompson [#166 OLB]: 6'6", 226lbs | Myrtle Grove, FL | 2-star JUCO
DT Anton Tate [#150 DT]: 5'11", 268lbs | Hialeah, FL | 1-star JUCO

Top 25 Recruiting Classes
1. Notre Dame
2. LSU
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. USC
6. Michigan
7. Florida State
8. South Carolina
9. Georgia Tech
10. USF
11. Louisville
12. Ole Miss
13. California
14. Tennessee
15. Miami
16. Ohio State
17. Stanford
18. Michigan State
19. Navy
20. Nebraska
21. Georgia
22. Wisconsin
23. Oklahoma
24. UCLA
25. TCU

Top 10 :e150: Recruits
1. Nate Elliott [HB #1]: South Carolina
2. Corey Koch [TE #1]: Notre Dame
3. Seth Lester [WR #1]: Iowa State
4. David Logan [HB #2]: Marshall
5. Darron Jones [ATH #1]: Wisconsin
6. Isaac Adams [TE #2]: Florida State
7. Sam McCoy [ILB #1]: Texas
8. Clint Perez [ILB #2]: Florida
9. Kyle Myrick [CB #1]: TCU
10. Justin Bennett [ATH #2]: UCLA

[Captain Canada]

Yessir!

[Soapy]

Yessir!

I don't think you understand how hyped I was. Not sure if you've played the game before but i was behind 2000 points for Johnson and down about 50 points for White. I decided to go all in on Johnson but at the last minute, switched over and gave White about 3000 points.

I won White by 600 points

[Soapy]

2016 USF Bulls football preview: Who replaces Bench at quarterback?
Cooper Byrd -- Dynasty Sports Staff Writer

Steven Bench wasn't the perfect quarterback but he was able to get things done and used his feet to keep drives alive and orchestrate a top ten offense in the country. With Bench in the draft now, USF must find a replacement at quarterback and among them are mostly recruits that came in with a lot of hype but haven't been lighting up the practice field.

A look at USF’s quarterback situation:

Projected depth chart
#5 Grant Oliver, Rs So. | 6'2", 224lbs | 77 ovr, 56 spd, 87 thp, 84 tha
#9 Steven McKenzie, Rs Fr. | 6'1", 211lbs | 73 ovr, 68 spd, 77 thp, 78 tha
#15 Mario Greer, Rs Fr. | 6'1", 195lbs | 71 ovr, 67 spd, 80 thp, 79 tha
#11 Brandon Tidwell, Fr. | 6'3", 195lbs | 64 ovr, 72 spd, 77 thp, 78 tha

Expected starter: Oliver has the slight edge, if nothing else because of the extra year with the playbook and having actually played a bit last season.

Major storyline: Oliver is the better passer and perhaps better quarterback but is he a good fit for this team? The offense was at its best when Bench was able to utilize his legs to add something to the running game and Oliver is notoriously heavy footed. Without that added element, what does the offense look like?

The Bulls will also need to manage how the competition is handled as keeping all four quarterbacks on the roster is going to take some delicacy.

[djp73]

any of them athletes got a bit of an arm?

[Soapy]

any of them athletes got a bit of an arm?

no, one of my house rules is not recruiting athletes at QB

[djp73]

56 speed