South Florida vs Charleston Southern Recap

Forget the fact that South Florida won a football game by 59 points on Saturday night. The Bulls truly lost what mattered most to them.

USF and Coach Jim Leavitt have played three cupcake games in 2009, so the core of this team's schedule has yet to commence. How utterly devastating it is, then, for the Bulls to face their most meaningful collisions without their heartbeat, their soul, their sustainer through good times and bad.

Yes, in what is one of the saddest stories of this young college football season, Matt Grothe--not the flashiest athlete, not the supreme specimen, not the kind of kid who will dominate an NFL combine, but the most fearless competitor to be found on a gridiron--was knocked out for the rest of the year with a left knee injury suffered in the first half of a 59-0 victory over FCS-based Charleston Southern. USF finally got off to the quick start it needed, but that 21-0 first quarter burst was long forgotten when Grothe left the field at Raymond James Stadium, never to return... not just for the night, but for the rest of 2009.

Grothe had just become the Big East's all-time yardage leader. He led USF to a No. 2 national ranking in the 2007 season. He captained this program with distinction, winning high-profile national TV games against the likes of West Virginia ('07) and Kansas ('08) while piloting the Bulls to three bowl games in as many seasons. Matt Grothe is nothing less than the most famous and successful quarterback in South Florida's football history. He's the reason why this young program has remained relevant and respected in the college football community.

And now he's gone.

A season, like life, will go on because it has to. It's a terrible shame Matt Grothe won't be able to strap on the pads all the while. Say a prayer for a young man and his loved ones. Spare a thought, too, for a football family that just suffered the cruelest imaginable fate.

> Find a great selection of USF hats & apparel and more online along with Big East football jerseys from Big East Fans partner sites.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer