USF's Malcolm Francois Sr. fires back at critics of program's handling of Clarence Sullivan situation
Sean Caesar -- The Athletic Writer
USF true freshman safety Clarence Sullivan was all over the field on Friday night during the Bulls' spring game, leading the game with fourteen tackles, including a bone crushing hit on receiver Scott Price that was perhaps the highlight of the night.
While Sullivan was showcasing his talent inside of the confines of Raymond James Stadium, there was a protest earlier on the outside condemning USF's football program for the signing of Sullivan who had previously been accused of being involved in the armed robbery of three female student athletes at IMG Academy. The charges were later dropped but the student organization 'Bulls Protect Women' organized a protest outside of the stadium objecting to Sullivan's presence on campus.
"I don't know how you can say you value the safety of your students and actively bring someone to our campus, to our ecosystem that has been accused of these things," said one student.
While the protest was meager in size, about a dozen or so protesters, it certainly caught the media's attention and that of USF head coach Malcolm Francois Sr.
"It's certainly their right," Francois Sr. said of the protesters, "I applaud them for exercising that right and getting their message out there but they're wrong, misinformed and I believe misguided. There's a lot of injustices in the world and this isn't one of them, whether you want to believe it or not, Clarence [Sullivan] is one of the victims in this situation."
Francois Sr. urged both the media and protesters alike to read the now public records of the incident where Sullivan was eventually cleared of wrongdoing by the Bradenton Police Department.
"He never should have been arrested in the first place," Francois Sr. added, "I think that's the true shame in all of this. There are certainly learning lessons on his behalf that we've spoken to him about at length prior to his arrival and continue to, with both him and everyone else in our program."
"Trey [Davis] would be the first one to tell you today that he arrived here with some character issues and behavioral traits that he was still working on," Francois Sr. clarified, "If we thought for a second that was the case with [Sullivan] based on the circumstances we're talking about, he's not here. He's here because he's a great kid, comes from a great family and the thing he did wrong that night was trust the wrong person, befriend the wrong person and continue to protect said friend. I don't think that's a character flaw, that's something we all learn as we grow older is who to even let in our space and we feel confident that this isn't a pattern of behavior that we're concerned with."
More details on the incident that led to Sullivan can be found here.
With new ten-team Champions Division, it's iron on top of iron as Bulls look to climb on top once more
Adriana Castillo -- usfwire.usatoday.com
USF will start the trek to defense its national championship status with a visit to No. 1 Alabama in their very first game without its starting quarterback from last season, four starting offensive linemen, its top defensive tackle and edge rusher, one of its top linebackers and four starters from the secondary of a unit that finished top ten in the country last year.
No biggie.
The road to repeat will be a tough one for USF but even with all those chips stacked against them, they enter the season as the number two ranked team in the country.
Ten Best USF Players
1. LB Kyle Locher, Senior
2. TE Jeff Rutledge, Junior
3. HB Jacob Wheeler, Sophomore
4. OLB E.J. Young, Junior
5. HB Kellen Wright, Junior
6. WR Carl Graham, Sophomore
7. DT Brandon Smith, Sophomore
8. QB Mark Cunningham, Sophomore
9. CB Travis Jones, Rs Sophomore
10. C Kyle Jones, Sophomore
Schedule
Aug. 31 at #1 Alabama
Sep. 7 vs. #19 Rutgers
Sep. 14 vs. #4 Stanford
OPEN
Sep. 28 vs. #8 Ohio State (Homecoming)
Oct. 5 at #14 Michigan (night game)
Oct. 12 vs. #21 USC (blackout game)
OPEN
Oct. 26 vs. #12 Purdue
Nov. 2 vs. #3 Oklahoma (senior Day)
Nov. 9 at #9 Miami (night game)
Nov. 16 at #4 Oregon
Nov. 22 at #11 UCF (night game)
Nov. 30 at #5 Michigan State
Preseason All-Americans
TE Jeff Rutledge, Junior (first team)
OLB E.J. Young, Junior (first team)
LB Kyle Locher, Senior (first team)
Preseason All-Champions Division
TE Jeff Rutledge, Junior (first team)
DT Brandon Smith, Sophomore (first team)
OLB E.J. Young, Junior (first team)
LB Kyle Locher, Senior (first team)
WR Carl Graham, Sophomore (second team)
LB Noah Wester, Senior (second team)
K Chris Sanders, Junior (second team)
What to watch for on offense: Rhett Lashlee returns to Tampa to coordinator USF's offense and he has a tall task in front of him with a revamped offensive line, a three-man quarterback battle and not a ton of experience at receiver either.
The silver lining? The Bulls might have two of the nation's more promising running backs in Jacob Wheeler and Kellen Wright, not to mention five-star Dominique Shelton that redshirted last season but is another talented running back out of the backfield.
What to watch for on defense: Through the ups and downs of a season, USF's defense has survived through it all in recent years to consistently field a top 25 unit and some years, a top ten unit. The Bulls defense lost a lot of talent to the draft but return at least one highly productive player at each level of the defense in defensive tackle Brandon Smith, edge rusher E.J. Young, inside linebacker Kyle Locher and defensive back Travis Jones.
They also have a five-star safety in Clarence Sullivan whose received rave reviews in the spring for his play and could be a potential early impact player.
The team will be far better if... the offensive line stays healthy and proves to be productive. The Bulls have just six scholarship offensive linemen with only one of them having starting experience.
While void of depth and experience, they're not void of talent with left tackle Garrett McTaggart being a prized recruit, as was guard Steve Bailey, returning center Kyle Jones and guard Ray Anderson.
The Schedule: With the new ten-team format, the Bulls will play every single member of the Champions Division -- all of which are ranked -- and their out of conference schedule is no joke with home games against Rutgers, who won the national championship two years ago, USC who was part of the Champions Division last season and the Knights, coming off one of their best seasons in recent school history.
It all starts with the road trip to Tuscaloosa to begin the season against the preseason top ranked Crimson Tide who will be coming off a game against #8 Ohio State, last year's runner up in the college football playoffs. After that, there are no breathers with games against Rutgers, Stanford, Ohio State, Michigan USC, Purdue and Oklahoma.
The lone bright spot is that six of USF's first eight games are at home but they then end the season with four straight road trips with potentially bad weather at both Oregon and Michigan State.
Best offensive player: By season's end, it might be Wheeler or Wright but tight end Jeff Rutledge has a Chris Wallace type quality to him at making plays look effortless and always finding a way to get open and make a play when the team needs him.
Best defensive player: It's Locher who made the switch from safety to linebacker last season and won a bunch of awards and was an All-American in his first season at the position. With another offseason under his belt and continuing to grow into the position, Locher is projected to once again be one of the better linebackers in the entire country and one of the best defensive players overall.
Key players to a successful season: It's tough to see anyone other than Mark Cunningham start in the first game against Alabama as it'll be a tough environment to throw freshman quarterback Rashad Woodard into, despite him having perhaps the best spring of the three quarterbacks. Jacob Venckus remains an option but he didn't play last year for a reason and was beaten out by Cunningham when he was a true freshman. If Cunningham can improve from an impressive freshman season where he split playing time with Jet Millines, the sky is the limit for USF's offense.
Defensively, the Bulls have a lot of intriguing talent in their defensive backfield but the most proven commodity is redshirt sophomore Travis Jones who was a Freshman All-American last season as a nickel corner.
He'll be making the jump to CB1 this season and has some talented guys around him in four-stars Akeem Smith, Charlie Robinson, Ernest Jones and Ronald Berry with the last two being true freshman. With Michael Robinson gone, the Bulls also need to replace their safety blanket in the deep third, likely a former three-star corner in Fred Rankin who is a redshirt senior but has all of six tackles in four years at USF.
The season will be a success if...USF makes the playoffs.
Key game: Even with a loss against Alabama ad Stanford, USF can still make the playoffs under the current format as they just need to finish in the top four. By the Ohio State game, however, they need to be humming. It'll be a good measuring test game against a team they beat just a few months ago but in complete different circumstances and a different roster.
Game by Game Predictions
Aug. 31 at #1 Alabama: L
Sep. 7 vs. #19 Rutgers: W
Sep. 14 vs. #4 Stanford: W
OPEN
Sep. 28 vs. #8 Ohio State: L
Oct. 5 at #14 Michigan: W
Oct. 12 vs. #21 USC: W
OPEN
Oct. 26 vs. #12 Purdue: W
Nov. 2 vs. #3 Oklahoma: W
Nov. 9 at #9 Miami: L
Nov. 16 at #4 Oregon: W
Nov. 22 at #11 UCF: L
Nov. 30 at #5 Michigan State: W
South Florida Bulls open fall camp for 2041 season
Anthony Washington -- The Tampa Bay Chronicles
South Florida opens fall football practice on Friday, in preparation for its 29th season under head coach Malcolm Francois Sr and in pursuit of their eight undisputed national championship.
As expected with success, USF saw a mass exodus of talent and experience throughout the offseason with early departures, graduation and the departure of offensive coordinator DeMarcus Bennett to UCF to be their next head coach. With that being said, USF is still one of the favorites to hoist up that trophy at the end of the season.
Here are the biggest storylines heading into camp at each positional group:
Can Kyle Locher evolve into an every down linebacker for the Bulls?
The uber talented senior was awarded with the No. 1 jersey last month, becoming the first defensive player to earn that honor in over a decade. Locher posted impressive numbers last season in his first year at linebacker after making the switch from safety, recording 95 tackles and 21 tackles for loss along with a team leading five interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns.
Locher primarily played in USF's sub package last season and remains undersized for the position at six-foot-three and 211 pounds. Locher is focusing on becoming someone that can stay on the field regardless of the down and instance and offensive personnel. While he may go back to safety at the next level, USF needs Locher to continue to learn the nuances of the linebacker position and elevated his level of physicality which is already impressive for his size.
Can Mark Cunningham continue to separate himself from the pack?
After a competitive battle in the spring between Mark Cunningham, Jacob Venckus and Rashard Woodard with the true freshman Woodard probably having the best practices of all three, Cunningham really impressed the coaching staff with his work in the summer workouts.
The Georgia native also organized a team trip to spend a few days in Georgia on a cabin retreat according to sophomore receiver Carl Graham. Cunningham showed some natural leadership skills last season when put in a tough position of rotating at quarterback with a team favorite in Jet Millines. Cunningham proved to be tough, decisive and played some important downs throughout the season.
He'll need to improve on his turnover rate, throwing an interception on nearly five percent of his throws but the talent is there for Cunningham to work well in Rhett Lashlee's offense as he's a pretty good athlete as well.
What does the final lineup look like in the defensive backfield?
Outside of outside corner Travis Jones, who played a different role last season at nickel, there's a bunch of unknown in USF's defensive backfield as Jones is the only returning starter with K.J. Waters, Bryan Carter, Michael Robinson and Cody Fuller in the NFL.
Akeem Smith and Charlie Robinson played some last season as USF's fourth corner but will now compete for that CB2 spot while true freshman Ernest Jones and Ronald Berry will try to push for playing time as well, either opposite of Jones or at nickel.
At safety, it's an interesting mix of options with veterans Fred Rankin, Anthony Gunn and Joel McDonald who have been here for multiple seasons but haven't played much and weren't heralded recruits. True freshmen Julian Harrell and Clarence Sullivan were just that and come in with a lot of expectations of being USF's next great safeties to hail out of IMG Academy.
Just how good is true freshman Scott Price?
The former five-star receiver certainly looked the part at USF's spring game with the true freshman receiver from Tampa leading the game with five receptions. He's a bit slimmer than Carl Graham but they have similar games with good after the catch ability and a willingness to get physical, whether as a runner, blocker or pass catcher when dealing with press coverage.
USF receiver's coach Marco Mason has been gushing about Price's ability since he arrived in the spring and USF head coach Malcolm Francois Sr. is also extremely high on Price, calling him one of the more well rounded receivers USF has ever recruited.
"He's right up there," Francois Sr. told the media after the spring game, "There are other guys that were more elite in one category than him but in terms of being the overall package, I can't think of too many guys we've had come in as true freshman and be ready to start right now. We'll feel good right now playing a game with [Price] as our WR1."
Those are high praises from a coach that has been around a few greats at the position.
Will USF's offensive line hamper the loaded running back room?
USF's running back room is stacked with three five-star running backs and a talented player in Victor King who can certainly play and produce at plenty of other schools. The offensive line room? Not so much.
The lack of depth has been a topic all spring with just six scholarship players on the unit and just one with starting experience. Lashlee loves to lean on his running game to open up everything else that he does in the passing game. In his lone season at USF as their offensive coordinator, three players finished with at least 100 carries with quarterback Jed White leading the way with 201.
Can USF's talent at running back overcome a less than stellar offensive line or will that unit bring down what should be an elite running game?
USF's recruiting class off to blazing start with trio of commitments headlined by five-star receiver
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports USF Insider
Five-star receiver Eddie Shaw, four-star cornerback Lamar McNair and three-star offensive linemen Josh Henry committed to the University of South Florida on Saturday during the Green and Gold Bash.
The yearly event was filled with top prospects from both the 2042 class and beyond with five-star receivers Shaw and Frank Paris being the headliners. Paris, the Texas native, released a top five of Stanford, USF, Utah, Oregon and Oklahoma over the summer and said he enjoyed watching USF's offense during the scrimmage that was held. Paris added that he was excited about Shaw's commitment and he would enjoy being his teammate at the next level.
Listed at six-foot-two and 225 pounds, there are a lot of similarities between Shaw and a pair of former five-star prospects on USF's roster right now in Carl Graham and Scott Price. They are all bigger receivers that are athletic enough to create separation with their combination of explosiveness, physicality and spatial awareness. Shaw isn't as polished of a receiver as Price and doesn't have the run-after-the-catch ability of Graham but he's a good mixture of both and a sure-fire candidate to complete for playing time as a true freshman. Purdue, UCF, Michigan and Miami were involved in Shaw's recruitment.
USF's impressive run on receivers is rivaled by their cornerback recruiting, landing another top ten talent at the position in Michigan's McNair. They beat out Oregon, Stanford, Purdue and Utah for his commitment. McNair isn't as fast as last year's signings Ernest Jones and Ronald Berry and relies more on good position and proper technique. Can he ever truly be an outside corner with the lack of size and out of this world speed? Probably not but the same would have been said of Travis Jones who after a year of redshirting, turned into a pretty good nickel corner for the Bulls.
Speaking of projects, Josh Henry is certainly one. He started out on the defensive line before moving to offensive tackle during his junior season which is where USF is recruiting him at.
The Bulls desperately need to fill out that offensive line and are going after some top prospects both in-state and out of state in four-star offensive tackle Sam Jefferson and three-star tackles Blake Mitchell and Kyle Wilson. On the interior, they're targeting two of the nation's top prospects in Kyle Walton and Nick Ryan.
2042 USF Recruiting Class
WR Eddie Shaw [WR #4]: 6'2", 225lbs | Greenville, MS | 5-star | 4.44 40-yd dash, 245 Bench Press Max, 280 Squat Max
CB Lamar McNair [CB #9]: 5'9", 192lbs | Fenton, MI | 4-star | 4.50 40-yd dash, 240 Bench Press Max, 240 Squat Max
OL Josh Henry [ATH #72]: 6'4", 278lbs | Belle Glade FL | 3-star | 5.04 40-yd dash, 400 Bench Press Max, 570 Squat
2042 USF Recruiting Board
HB Justin Thomas [HB #1]: 5'9", 180lbs | Fort Myers, FL | 5-star | Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Ohio State, USF
WR Frank Paris [WR #2]: 6'2", 196lbs | El Campo, TX | 5-star | Stanford, USF, Utah, Oregon, Oklahoma
G Nick Ryan [G #1]: 6'2", 291lbs | Plymouth, NH [IMG] | 5-star | Alabama, USF, USC, Michigan, Miami
TE Mike Morris [TE #1]: 6'1", 218lbs | Lancaster, OH | 5-star | Oklahoma, Ohio State, Miami University, USC, USF
DE John Potts [DE #2]: 6'4", 257lbs | Sidney, NE [IMG] | 5-star | Alabama, USF, BYU, Oregon, Michigan
S Mike Mason [S #2]: 6'4", 212lbs | Venice, FL | 4-star | USF, Miami, Alabama, Florida, UCF
C Jasper Nobles [C #1]: 6'1", 259lbs | Tampa, FL | 4-star | Alabama, Ohio State, USF, Michigan State, Oregon
G Kyle Walton [G #4]: 6'1", 267lbs | Miami, FL | 4-star | USC, Alabama, Texas, Penn State, USF
CB Thomas Felder [CB #5]: 6'1", 180lbs | Bowling Green, KY | 4-star | USF, Penn State, Texas, Michigan State, Oregon
OLB Joe Jackson [OLB #9]: 6'1", 217lbs | Miami, FL | 4-star | Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, USF
DT Brent Craft [DT #14]: 6'2", 280lbs | Sanford, FL | 4-star | USF, Southern Miss, FAU, North Texas
TE Joe Wilson [TE #12]: 6'6", 243lbs | Clearwater, FL | 4-star | FAU, USF, UCF, Florida State
T Sam Jefferson [T #6]: 6'4", 272lbs | Thomaston, GA | 4-star | USF, Florida, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Alabama
ILB Eric Robinson [ILB #35]: 6'0", 216lbs | West Palm Beach, FL | 3-star | USF, Miami, Florida, Alabama, UCF
T Kyle Wilson [T #20]: 6'7", 275lbs | North Druid Hills, GA | 3-star | USF, Stanford, Purdue, Georgia Tech, Penn State
T Blake Mitchell [T #65]: 6'3", 288lbs | Delray Beach, FL | 3-star | USF, Florida, FIU, UCF, South Carolina
USF names Mark Cunningham starting quarterback following latest fall scrimmage
Heather Watts -- ESPN.com Senior Writer
USF head coach Malcolm Francois Sr. has worked hard to make competition an ethos of USF's football program in his quarter century plus tenure with the Bulls as their head coach. In perhaps a rare move, the veteran head coach has ended all speculation of who USF's starting quarterback for next season will be, naming sophomore Mark Cunningham the team's starter for the 2041 season.
"I think it's pretty clear to say that Mark's our starting quarterback," Francois Sr. told the media after USF's second fall scrimmage on Friday. "And we feel very good about that."
The Georgia product threw fifteen touchdowns last season in a part time role, rotating with Jet Millines last season at quarterback. Cunningham and Millines rotated throughout the season but towards the end and in the postseason, Millines took all of the meaningful snaps during USF's championship run.
Cunningham competed with redshirt junior Jacob Venckus and Rashad Woodard throughout the spring and summer for the starting job. Woodard might have had the better spring out of the three but ultimately, Cunningham's experience turned out to be the deciding factor.
"We felt comfortable playing Mark last season as a true freshman because of all of the talent around him," Francois Sr. said when asked about the difference from last season when a starter was never officially named and this season, "We had an experienced enough team to handle a carousel at quarterback, we certainly don't have that experience this season throughout the offense so you need someone in there to calm guys down, get guys into the right spot and make plays at crucial moments and Mark's that guy for us."
USF opens the season in three weeks against Alabama.
Week 1 Top Stories
1. Season opener is a success for Alabama as they handle #8 Ohio State.
2. The Gators edge out Penn State despite the 111,793 fans in Happy Valley.
3. Florida State starts their season off right with a win over Colorado.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 1 Champions Division Results
ALA 33 - OSU 21
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 2 Champions Division Schedule
#2 USF (0-0, 0-0) at #1 Alabama (1-0, 1-0)
#7 Stanford (0-0, 0-0) at #3 Oklahoma (0-0, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 2 Notable Games
#23 Florida (1-0, 1-0) at #10 UCF (0-0, 0-0)
#21 USC (0-0, 0-0) at Georgia Tech (0-0, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
QB Melvin Ingram (Alabama): 23 of 27, 325 yards, 26 carries, 109 yards, 4 total touchdowns
DE Jalen Gray (San Diego State): 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery
-------
QB Melvin Ingram (Alabama): 23 of 27, 325 yards, 26 carries, 109 yards, 4 total touchdowns
LB David Timmons (Alabama): 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack, forced fumble
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 247 Five-Star Commitments
#16 Eddie Shaw [WR #4]: 6'2", 225lbs | Greenville, MS | 5-star | University of South Florida
#20 Erik Brothers [ATH #10]: 5'11", 187lbs | East Lasing, MI | 5-star | Michigan State University
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Florida Recruiting Commitments
None
Week 2 Preview: at #1 Alabama Crimson Tide
Record: 1-0, 1-0 Champions Division
Last Season Record: 10-3, 6-3 Champions Division
Head Coach: Jonathan Henry (1-0 at Alabama, 1st year, 14-1)
Offensive Coordinator: John Burns (Spread)
Defensive Coordinator: Charlton Warren (3-4 D)
Returning Career Leaders
Passing: Melvin Ingram (315.4 yards per game, 44 TD, 11 INT, 198.9 rating)
Rushing: Melvin Ingram (39 yards per game, 3.4 ypc, 5 TD)
Receiving: Andy Bowen (59 receptions, 62.8 yards per game, 4 TD)
Defense: Bernard Young (213 tackles, 48 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, 5 PBU)
Bulls release first official depth chart of the season ahead of anticipated opener against Alabama
Cooper Byrd -- Dynasty Sports Staff Writer
The University of South Florida released its first official depth chart of the season on Thursday and as expected, Mark Cunningham is the listed starter at quarterback, one of fifteen sophomore or younger players that are starters or co-starters.
Five-star receiver Scott Price is one of them, getting the start at the coveted X receiver position opposite of Brooks Coe with Carl Graham, the team's returning leading receiver, listed as a starter in the slot. Receivers coach Marco Mason had expressed throughout the spring and fall that Graham has been cross training at all three positions.
The other notable freshmen starting are the two safeties in Julian Harrell and Clarence Sullivan who are co-starters at their respective positions behind seniors Fred Rankin and Joel McDonald. The true freshmen have a long way to go when it comes to their coverage skills but their athleticism and physicality will likely be utilized on early downs to stop the run, something USF struggled against last season.
In other news that was revealed through the depth chart, Travis Jones was awarded the No. 2 jersey, given to the team's top defensive back and the No. 4 jersey, given to the team's fastest player, was awarded to sophomore corner Akeem Smith.
Heisman hopeful Melvin Ingram can't seize the moment, blunders against No. 2 USF
Alabama's Melvin Ingram was knocked out of the game last season where the Crimson Tide edged out the 61-56 victory over USF thanks to a record breaking performance from Terrance Miles.
Dominic Walker's interception of USF's Mark Cunningham gave the Heisman hopeful an opportunity to have an early season Heisman moment. USF's defense had a different idea.
The Bulls intercepted Ingram four times, including twice in the fourth quarter to escape Tuscaloosa with the 31-20 victory on Saturday during their season opener.
Walker's interception came at seemingly the perfect time for Alabama as they were trailing 24-20 in the fourth quarter and Walker returned the interception within USF's ten-yard line. On first and goal, Ingram threw a risky pass into the endzone which was plucked by Charlie Robinson. It was Ingram's third interception of the day and his second which negated a USF turnover.
With possession once more, Jacob Wheeler ripped off a 45-yard run before putting the nail in the coffin with his third touchdown of the day to put the Bulls up eleven points with three minutes left in the game.
Robinson would intercept Ingram on the next possession as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[USF] J. Wheeler, 10 Yd run (5:03)
[ALA] J. Gibson, 31 Yd FG (2:20)
Quarter 2
[ALA] J. Gibson, 45 Yd FG (5:46)
[USF] S. Price, 10 Yd pass from M. Cunningham (1:03)
[ALA] J. Gibson, 34 Yd FG (0:22)
Quarter 3
[ALA] S. Allen, 59 Yd run -- 2pt (7:43)
[USF] J. Wheeler, 4 Yd run (5:48)
Quarter 4
[USF] C. Sanders, 40 Yd FG (7:36)
[ALA] J. Gibson, 52 Yd FG (5:16)
[USF] J. Wheeler, 9 Yd run (3:06)
---------------------------------------------------------------- #2 South Florida Bulls
QB Mark Cunningham: 26 of 32, 250 yards, touchdown, 2 interceptions, sacked twice, 5 carries, 20 yards
QB Rashad Woodard: 2 of 3, 14 yards, 4 carries, 24 yards, fumble (recovered)
HB Jacob Wheeler: 19 carries, 130 yards, 3 touchdowns, fumble (lost), 8 receptions, 58 yards
HB Kellen Wright: 10 carries, 61 yards, 3 receptions, 22 yards
WR Carl Graham: 4 receptions, 61 yards
WR Brooks Coe: 4 receptions, 47 yards
WR Scott Price: 4 receptions, 45 yards, touchdown
LB Kyle Locher: 13 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, interception
OLB E.J. Young: 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
CB Charlie Robinson: 1 tackle, 2 interceptions
CB Ernest Jones: 1 tackle, tackle for loss, interception
#1 Alabama Crimson Tide
QB Melvin Ingram: 20 of 33, 218 yards, 4 interceptions, 6 carries, 36 yards
HB Scott Allen: 22 carries, 196 yards, touchdown
WR Geordon Ademilola: 6 receptions, 60 yards
WR Tyler Wade: 4 receptions, 52 yards
TE William Cutler: 4 receptions, 48 yards
WR Andy Bowen: 2 receptions, 42 yards
S Lawrence Hawkins: 9 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
LB Dane Kuntz: 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
OLB Bernard Young: 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
OLB Dominic Walker: 4 tackles, interception
