Early bye week a 'reset opportunity' for USF's Jet Millines after first career starts
Jessica Kirkland -- SB Nation: USF Bulls Affiliate
Nothing can compare to entering the national championship game as a true freshman, tasked with carrying the torch across the finish line. Even so, USF quarterback Jet Millines admitted after the Florida win where he threw two interceptions in back to back games that he still needs to get his feet underneath him, literally and figuratively.
"There's a lot to cleanup," said Millines, whose maturity beyond his years is one of the reasons USF head coach Malcolm Francois Sr. named him the starter after fall camp, "When you watch the tape, it's a lot of things that need fixing from my drops, my footwork, everything. I'm looking forward to preparing this week as if we did have a game but also having a chance to use the bye week as a reset opportunity to just clean some things up and focus on the fundamentals."
The Bulls come out of the bye with a murderous row of at Alabama, at home against Ohio State and Texas before taking a trip to Tallahassee prior to their second bye week of the season. They'll need Millines to cut down on the turnovers (four) and also be a more efficient passer, completing just sixty one percent of his passes despite averaging just 12.1 yards per completion, among the lowest in the Champions Division.
Week 3 Top Stories
1. Alabama notches a conference win against Ole Miss behind the arm of Thompson.
2. Will Penn State be able to jump back after suffering a major conference setback?
3. Miami is in shock after the devastating loss to Kent State.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 3 Champions Division Results
TENN 24 - PSU 14 | UF 38 - MSU 28 | TEX 30 - USC 14
STAN 45 - OU 17 | ALA 42 - MISS 33
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 Champions Division Schedule
#1 USF (2-0, 2-0) at #4 Alabama (2-1, 2-1)
#16 Texas (1-1, 1-0) at #5 Stanford (2-0, 1-0)
#2 Purdue (2-0, 0-0) at #20 Ole Miss (1-2, 1-2)
#14 Michigan (1-1, 1-0) at #21 USC (0-3, 0-3)
#19 Penn State (0-2, 0-2) at Florida (2-1, 2-1)
Tennessee (1-2, 1-2) at #13 Oregon (3-0, 2-0)
Oklahoma (0-3, 0-3) at #9 Notre Dame (2-0, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 Notable Games
Arkansas (2-1, 2-1) at #7 Florida State (2-1, 2-1)
Cincinnati (1-1, 0-0) at #11 Miami University (1-0, 0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
HB Marquis Davis (Arkansas): 26 carries, 190 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 51 yards
DE Jerome Porter (Oregon): 9 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, forced fumble
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QB Mike Bennett (Purdue): 18 of 27, 307 yards, 19 carries, 101 yards, 4 total touchdowns
DE Jerome Porter (Oregon): 9 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, forced fumble
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 247 Five-Star Commitments
#10 Brian Smith Jr. [T #1]: 6'8", 360lbs | Clearwater, FL | 5-star | University of Southern Mississippi
#25 Nick Palmer [ATH #13]: 5'11", 172lbs | Altamonte Springs, FL | 5-star | University of Southern California
#38 Kyle Jones [C #1]: 6'1", 284lbs | Raleigh, NC | 5-star | University of South Florida
#40 Adam Whaley [WR #8]: 6'0", 173lbs | Casa de Oro, CA | 5-star | University of Oklahoma
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Florida Recruiting Commitments
#10 Brian Smith Jr. [T #1]: 6'8", 360lbs | Clearwater, FL | 5-star | University of Southern Mississippi
#25 Nick Palmer [ATH #13]: 5'11", 172lbs | Altamonte Springs, FL | 5-star | University of Southern California
Week 4 Preview: at #4 Alabama Crimson Tide
Season Record: 2-1, 2-1 Champions Division
Head Coach: Kevin Sherrer (179-41 at Alabama, 17th year, 234-67)
Offensive Coordinator: Dabo Swinney (Spread)
Defensive Coordinator: Andrew Christensen (3-4 D)
Team Leaders
Passing: Corey Thompson (1019 yards, 13 TD, INT, 249.3 rating)
Rushing: Shannon Baker (249 yards, 7.1 ypc, 3 TD)
Receiving: Matt Finley (15 receptions, 333 yards, 5 TD)
Defense: Chris King (19 tackles, 4 TFL, 1.0 sack)
Team Rankings
Points Per Game: 4th
Total Offense: 5th
Rushing Offense: 73rd
Passing Offense: 2nd
Total Defense: 124th
Rushing Defense: 119th
Passing Defense: 121st
Turnover Differential: 34th
Team Schedule
vs. #13 Oregon: L 38-35
at #19 Penn State: W 63-45
vs. #20 Ole Miss: W 42-33
Bulls, Tide rivalry provide another classic as Millines atones for his sins with game winning drive
USF quarterback Jet Millines was tasked all game with playing with himself, within the offense and allowing USF's running game and punishing defense to stall out and wear out the high-powered Alabama offense.
In the span of a few minutes, all of Millines' and USF's work through three and a half quarters had been undone with two turnovers that allowed Alabama to get back in the game and eventually take the lead on Matt Finley's 48-yard touchdown with 1:23 left in the game to put an exclamation point on Alabama's 21-0 run in the fourth quarter.
With a ruckus crowd, Millines did not look like a sophomore quarterback in his third career start but a veteran as he led USF down the field, eventually throwing the game winning touchdown to Antoine Frank with twelve seconds left in the game to beat Alabama 31-28 on Saturday afternoon and remain unbeaten.
The Bulls had opened the second half with two splash plays of their own with a 55-yard touchdown run by Millines on their first drive of the third quarter and Maurice Bennett taking a screen pass from Millines 55-yards on the last drive of the quarter to take the 24-7 lead.
The comeback started with Alabama's offense having their best drive of the second half thanks to an explosive Shannon Baker where he was finally able to get to the edge of the Bulls defense and pick up 39-yards for his biggest run of the day to setup Corey Thompson's first touchdown of the game to Tyler Brown.
USF tried to respond with a knockout punch of their own after a big completion to Brooks Coe but Millines would be intercepted by true freshman Lawrence Hawkins on the deep shot to Alston Marks.
It didn't prove to be too costly as both teams swapped punts but on the next Alabama possession with 2:43 remaining, Thompson went up top for the first time all game to Brown who managed to win the jump ball over preseason All-American K.J. Waters and then got out of Waters' grasp for the 62-yard touchdown to make it 28-24.
The Bulls seemed to be on their way to a win as they drained Alabama of all three of their timeouts and could have began taken a knee but instead opted to run one more play where Millines would fumble the ball and it would be recovered by Alabama.
Thompson completed a pass of fourteen yards to Reggie Davis to get closer to midfield and with USF's aggressive defense coming after him, he went deep once more, this time to Finley on the 48-yard touchdown bomb.
After a dump off to Kellen Wright for a first down, the Bulls offense got humming with completions of 21, 14 and 20 to Coe, Joseph Moses and Marks respectively to set up the game winner to Frank.
Alabama didn't go down without a fight, returning the ensuing kickoff inside USF's 45-yard line. With six seconds remaining, the Tide opted for the Hail Mary instead of getting some additional yardage for the field goal attempt due to having no timeouts and the heave into the endzone fell incomplete.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[USF] W. Sapp, 9 Yd pass from J. Millines (1:54)
Quarter 2
[USF] J. Millines, 7 Yd run (5:55)
[UF] W. Davis, 45 Yd FG (2:15)
[USF] E. Valentine, 52 Yd run (0:58)
[USF] E. Valentine, 1 Yd run (0:04)
Quarter 3
[USF] M. Bennett, 75 Yd pass from J. Millines (7:51)
[UF] W. Davis, 41 Yd FG (5:22)
[UF] B. Stewart, 3 Yd run (3:17)
[USF] A. Marks, 7 Yd pass from J. Millines (1:44)
Quarter 4
[USF] E. Valentine, 4 Yd run (7:57)
[USF] K. Wright, 1 Yd run (2:21)
---------------------------------------------------------------- #1 South Florida Bulls
QB Jet Millines: 26 of 36, 358 yards, 2 touchdowns, interception, sacked twice, fumble (lost), 8 carries, 102 yards, touchdown
HB William Sapp: 18 carries, 90 yards, fumble (lost)
HB Kellen Wright: 10 carries, 46 yards
HB Eric Valentine: 2 carries, 2 yards, touchdown
WR Maurice Bennett: 4 receptions, 105 yards, touchdown
WR Brooks Coe: 4 receptions, 76 yards
WR Alston Marks: 4 receptions, 61 yards
TE Antoine Frank: 4 receptions, 42 yards, touchdown
WR Joseph Moses: 4 receptions, 39 yards
S Joey Bailey: 8 tackles, tackle for loss
LB Nicholas Holt: 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
#4 Alabama Crimson Tide
QB Corey Thompson: 18 of 23, 280 yards, 3 touchdowns, sacked 2 times, 7 carries, 29 yards
HB Shannon Baker: 19 carries, 110 yards
HB Terrance Miles: 3 carries, 12 yards, touchdown, 3 receptions, 57 yards
WR Reggie Davis: 5 receptions, 44 yards
WR Matt Finley: 3 receptions, 86 yards, touchdown
WR Tyler Brown: 3 receptions, 70 yards, 2 touchdowns
LB Stacy Smith: 9 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
LB Dominic Walker: 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
S Lawrence Hawkins: 6 tackles, interception
LB Bernard Young: 4 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
DE Mike Lane: 2 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
What Mark Cunningham's de-commitment from Penn State means for USF, fellow top QB prospect James White
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports USF Insider
The consensus top high school arm in the 2040 class, Mark Cunningham out of North Augusta High School (Augusta, Ga.) has backed off from his commitment to Penn State, a decision that was approaching the four-year mark.
In a brief social media post, Cunningham thanked the Penn State coaching staff and said that he's reopening his recruitment in order to explore all options and insisted that Penn State is very much still in the running. Cunningham was rumored to have taken unofficial, 'secretive' visits to USC, Florida State and USF while on the road this summer with his 7 on 7 team.
With Cunningham back on the board, it could mean a shift for USF in terms of top targets as they had previously locked in on James White, the six-foot-six four-star talent out of Bonita Springs. White's physical traits are intriguing but Cunningham is the much better passer at this point and a better athlete.
In speaking to someone that has intimate knowledge of White's recruitment, White had been made aware that the school would be taking two quarterbacks this cycle and that White was under the impression that it would be him and JUCO prospect Brandon Riley, who committed to USF two weeks ago. The same source said that the recruitment of another top arm could cause White to look elsewhere as Alabama is interested in his services along with USC and Michigan State.
In other recruiting news, brothers Marcellus and Brandon Smith are expected to be on campus in two weeks for their official visits. Brandon will also be visiting Miami and UCF later in the fall while Marcellus has visits to Nebraska and Ohio State scheduled. The Bulls should take some solace in being the only common school among them but Miami remains a big threat for Brandon while the Bulls are in a much better place with Marcellus.
Brandon is good friends with Tampa five-star running back Jacob Wheeler who is also visiting Miami that same weekend with Brandon. USF will be hosting Wheeler this weekend on his official visit as well as five-star Ohio offensive linemen Jake Thompson and five-star receiver Billy Matthews out of Sarasota in what promises to be a star-filled recruiting weekend.
Matthews is also visiting Miami that same weekend with Wheeler and Brandon Smith so getting at least one of them to lock down their recruitment before that weekend and cancel that official visit could bode well for their chances to land all three.
Week 4 Top Stories
1. Trojans are confident after a SEC victory over Michigan
2. Oklahoma hands #9 Notre Dame a crushing 31-3 defeat
3. The Boilermakers shut up the 63,177 fans in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in win over Ole Miss
4. Arkansas proves once again that games aren't played on paper with upset win over Noles
5. #3 Washington takes a hard fall against unranked Washington Stake
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 4 Champions Division Results
USF 31 - ALA 28 | STAN 49 - TEX 28 | PUR 45 - MISS 17 | OU 31 - ND 3
USC 41 - MICH 31 | PSU 52 - UF 35 | TENN 35 - ORE 21
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 5 Champions Division Schedule
#20 Ohio State (2-1, 2-0) at #1 USF (3-0, 3-0)
#19 Michigan (1-2, 1-1) at #6 Miami (2-1, 1-0)
#14 Notre Dame (2-1, 0-1) at #21 Texas (1-2, 1-1)
Michigan State (2-1, 1-1) at Tennessee (2-2, 2-2)
#7 Alabama (2-2, 2-2) at Florida (2-2, 2-2)
#3 Stanford (3-0, 2-0) at #15 USC (1-3, 1-3)
#2 Purdue (3-0, 1-0) at #22 Oklahoma (1-3, 1-3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 5 Notable Games
#12 Florida State (2-2, 2-2) at #9 LSU (4-0, 4-0)
Kansas State (3-0, 1-0) at #16 Arkansas (3-1, 3-1)
#13 Minnesota (1-0, 0-0) at Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
QB Tyson Schultz (Nevada): 20 of 27, 308 yards, 23 carries, 138 yards, 4 total touchdowns
LB B.J. Page (Indiana): 7 tackles, forced fumble, interception
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QB Jet Millines (USF): 26 of 36, 358 yards, 8 carries, 102 yards, 3 total touchdowns
LB Courtney Johnson (Oklahoma): 5 tackles, forced fumble, fumble recovery
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 247 Five-Star Commitments
#10 Brian Smith Jr. [T #1]: 6'8", 360lbs | Clearwater, FL | 5-star | University of Southern Mississippi
#25 Nick Palmer [ATH #13]: 5'11", 172lbs | Altamonte Springs, FL | 5-star | University of Southern California
#38 Kyle Jones [C #1]: 6'1", 284lbs | Raleigh, NC | 5-star | University of South Florida
#40 Adam Whaley [WR #8]: 6'0", 173lbs | Casa de Oro, CA | 5-star | University of Oklahoma
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Florida Recruiting Commitments
#10 Brian Smith Jr. [T #1]: 6'8", 360lbs | Clearwater, FL | 5-star | University of Southern Mississippi
#25 Nick Palmer [ATH #13]: 5'11", 172lbs | Altamonte Springs, FL | 5-star | University of Southern California
Five-star trench bully Jake Thompson commits to Bulls with surprise guest in commitment video
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports USF Insider
Five-star offensive lineman Jake Thompson has committed to the University of South Florida over BYU. An intriguing prospect at six-foot-one and 275 pounds, Thompson plays defensive tackle at Mentor High School although he projects to be an interior offensive lineman at the next level.
As a prospect, he has a similar build to current Bulls commit Kyle Jones but they are completely different players with different athletic profiles. Jones is a stocky, powerful athlete while Thompson is a lot twitchier and a better athlete, playing tight end as a freshman at Kettering Fairmont before making the transition to offensive line during his sophomore season prior to transferring to Mentor where he's played defense exclusively as a senior.
Due to not having a ton of reps at offensive line, Thompson still has ways to go in his development as an offensive lineman and while he is ranked higher than Jones in 247 Sports Composite Rankings, Jones is much further ahead in his development as Thompson will more than likely need to sit for a few seasons.
Thompson made the announcement while on USF's campus during his official visit on Friday and in the minute long video which includes his high school highlight clips as well as videos from his photoshoot in USF gear, quarterback Mark Cunningham is clearly spotted in the video. It's unclear when the video was taken but Cunningham is in USF gear and taking photos alongside Thompson which helps add validity to rumors that Cunningham is possibly on an official visit to USF this weekend after recently decommitting from Penn State. While the Crystal Balls remain in the Nittany Lions favor, the tide appears to be turning.
It'll be clear by Saturday during the game if Thompson is on campus but 247 Sports can confirm that several others top prospects will be there including five-star receiver Billy Matthews and five-star running back Jacob Wheeler. Marcellus Smith, the local four-star defensive end, is also rumored to potentially attend the game as Ohio State is among his top five schools that he released during the summer which also included Nebraska, USC and Michigan.
Millines strikes again with his magic and another game winning drive against Ohio State
USF head coach Malcolm Francois Sr. paced the sideline as the offense opted to go for it on fourth and one with a chance to put the game out of reach, only to turn the ball over on downs and give Ohio State the ball and the chance to complete the upset and comeback victory.
For the second time in two weeks, USF's opponent appeared to do just that with true freshman quarterback Jimmy Smith driving down the field, converting a fourth long and throwing the go-ahead touchdown with 26 seconds left in the game to put the Buckeyes the one-point lead.
Jet Millines, once more, had different plans.
The sophomore quarterback led another game winning drive, this time capped off by Eric Valentine's 10-yard touchdown run near the buzzer to beat Ohio State 19-14 on Saturday night to extend USF's home winning streak to twenty-two.
Smith hadn't completed a pass in the first half until the 46 second mark which proved to be a disservice to the offense as the next two passes went incomplete, allowing USF to get the ball back and after the offense's longest run of the day for 38-yards by Eric Valentine, setup the go ahead touchdown.
The two defenses continued to slug it out until Smith turned it on in the fourth quarter, converting a third and fifteen and then a fourth and thirteen in the red zone to get Ohio State on the one-yard line where he tossed the one-yard touchdown pass to Michael Clark. Ohio State had been given the opportunity after USF opted to throw the ball on third and inches where Millines missed a wide open receiver and then on fourth down, William Sapp was stopped behind the line of scrimmage.
Millines saved his best drive of the day for when it mattered the most, completing a screen to Valentine to get them near midfield and then completed his second longest pass of the day to Alston Marks for 30-yards to get within field goal range.
USF handed the ball off to Valentine who was told by the coaching staff to just get the ball in the middle of the field and to not fight for extra yardage with just six seconds left in the clock.
"I saw an opening and I ran," Valentine told the media after the game with a wry smile, "I knew if I didn't get it, I'd be in trouble."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[tOSU] I. Mettenberger, 17 Yd run (3:56)
Quarter 2
[USF] J. Moses, 45 Yd pass from J. Millines (0:50)
[USF] C. Sanders, 44 Yd FG (0:00)
Quarter 3
[USF] C. Sanders, 37 Yd FG (3:40)
Quarter 4
[tOSU] M. Clark 1 Yd pass from J. Smith (0:26)
[USF] E. Valentine, 10 Yd run -- 2pt failed (0:01)
---------------------------------------------------------------- #1 South Florida Bulls
QB Jet Millines: 23 of 33, 254 yards, touchdown, interception, 2 carries, 8 yards
HB William Sapp: 12 carries, 14 yards
HB Eric Valentine: 10 carries, 66 yards, touchdown, 2 receptions, 23 yards
HB Kellen Wright: 7 carries, 25 yards, 3 receptions, 37 yards
WR Maurice Bennett: 5 receptions, 38 yards
WR Joseph Moses: 4 receptions, 62 yards, touchdown
WR Alston Marks: 3 receptions, 50 yards
S Michael Robinson: 11 tackles
LB Brett Freeman: 9 tackles, tackle for loss
S Joey Bailey: 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
LB Alex McDaniel: 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
DE David Richardson: 5 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks
#20 Ohio State Buckeyes
QB Jimmy Smith: 11 of 20, 112 yards, touchdown, sacked 5 times, 18 carries, 19 yards, fumble (recovered)
FB Michael Clark: 11 carries, 54 yards, 3 receptions, 19 yards, touchdown
HB Jacob Oliver: 9 carries, 50 yards
HB Damon Ewing: 6 carries, 37 yards
WR Marcus Day: 3 receptions, 44 yards
CB Chad Irons: 9 tackles, 4 tackles for loss
CB William Fields: 9 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
LB Terrell Bobo: 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Bulls complete the heist of the nation's top arm talent, land commitment from Georgia's Mark Cunningham
Eddie Fernandez -- 247 Sports USF Insider
If the writing on the wall wasn't clear, it's not in bright red as four-star quarterback Mark Cunningham committed to USF over the weekend while on his official visit which hadn't been made public.
A longtime Penn State commit, Cunningham was rumored to have taken unofficial visits to USC, Florida State and USF over the summer but remained committed to the Nittany Lions and continued to speak highly of Penn State and their coaching staff. USF turned on the pressure on Cunningham at the start of his senior season at North Augusta High school in Georgia, eventually getting him on campus this weekend for a last minute official visit that proved to be very fruitful, landing his commitment.
"It's been a crazy past few days," Cunningham said in his interview with On3 after his commitment to USF, "I had a really good relationship with [USF offensive coordinator] DeMarcus Bennett and I just felt super comfortable during my visit and it was the right decision to make."
Cunningham credits the hiring of Bennett in helping him see USF in a different light as he had thrown for then USF offensive coordinator Peter Nicholson as a sophomore eighteen months ago but that the two 'never really clicked' even though USF has been his favorite team growing up.
"They've always recruited [state of Georgia] really well so the interest was always there and I loved watching them and that offense growing up with Jed White and those guys. I loved Penn State and still do, it's a great program and great school and great coaching staff but USF was just different."
From a talent evaluation standpoint, Cunningham isn't the high level arm talent that Joey Spence or even Charlie Cooke was coming out of high school but he's not far behind. For a USF comp, it's a bit of a throwback in Mike McFarland who was a quarterback for the Bulls back in the early 2020s that was just an all-around, well-rounded quarterback with not a lot of elite traits. A more recent comp might be Thomas Jackson although Cunningham is a bit further along as a passer but they do have a similar playing style.
With Cunningham in the class, this likely ends the recruitment of Bonita Spring quarterback James White whose struggled as a senior to be candid after also having a poor performance at the Elite 11. White is still a talented prospect with a ton of upside but his struggles as of late likely led to the Bulls looking elsewhere.
It'll be another busy weekend for USF when they host Texas along with some top recruits in the Smith brothers, Marcellus and Brandon, along with linebackers James Scott and Richard Smith as well as IMG tight end Taylor Smith.
