South Florida vs Florida State Recap

College athletics is rarely as inspiring and uplifting as it was in Tallahassee, Fla., on the afternoon of September 26, 2009.

A group of young men from Tampa had just lost their foremost leader, the best quarterback in a young football program's very brief history. A team that had circled its in-state showdown with big, bad Florida State for the past several months was suddenly thrust into combat without Matt Grothe, the field general who kept the University of South Florida Bulls a cohesive and competitive unit. With new quarterbacks struggling all over the country (Aaron Corp at USC, Kirk Cousins at Michigan State, Larry Smith at Vanderbilt, and others), it didn't seem likely that USF could stroll into Tallahassee and beat Bobby Bowden's Seminoles with backup-turned-starter B.J. Daniels.

Remember, this was the Florida State team that crushed BYU in Provo, Utah, a week earlier. This was the Florida State team that displayed a fearsome level of athleticism on both sides of the ball, giving the Bulls reason to think that Daniels's debut would encounter more than a few roadblocks.

But while everyone was talking about USF's offensive limitations, people forgot about the other side of the ball, and the other leader in USF's stable: George Selvie.

Yes, the best defensive end South Florida has ever known is someone who received plenty of help from teammates Jason Pierre-Paul and Craig Marshall. Pierre-Paul forced the fumble that Selvie recovered in the fourth quarter, giving the Bulls a field goal and a decisive two-possession lead. Marshall harassed FSU quarterback Christian Ponder, preventing the Seminole signal caller from pushing the ball down the field and generating the big plays the Bulls so desperately wanted to prevent. Yet, for all the assistance he most certainly gained, the focus should rightly fall on Selvie.

The senior superstar commands not only attention, but immense respect and trust in the Bulls’ locker room; one can be sure that this dynamic pass rusher prevented his teammates from pouting about the loss of Grothe, the Big East’s all-time total yardage leader. How delightfully redemptive it must be for Leavitt, the USF coach, to see one of South Florida’s two emotional anchors pick up the slack for the other leader. George Selvie had Matt Grothe’s back, and as a result, the game South Florida craved so completely turned into an even better story than the Bulls ever dared to hope for.

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B.J. Daniels, for his part, held the fort quite admirably in Doak Campbell Stadium. His stat line wasn't gleaming (8-of-22 completions for 215 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions), but he produced two game-breaking pass plays to provide scoring punch. But as marvelously as the Bulls' brand-new quarterback competed on this day, the true story was that USF's defense was able to make Daniels' two touchdown drives stand up. What Matt Grothe couldn't do, George Selvie managed to achieve anyway. Now, a season that could have rested on life support is suddenly thriving and flourishing.

Inspiring, indeed. The University of South Florida has found a rally-round-the-flag moment for all time.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer