Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Sports

TBO > Sports

Sophomore Taylor Steps Up For Bulls

By GREGG BECNEL and BRETT McMURPHY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 17, 2008

TAMPA - With University of South Florida RBs Ben Williams (ankle) and Mike Ford (ankle) unable to contribute against Kansas last week, sophomore Jamar Taylor took advantage of his opportunity to show what he can do.

Taylor, who transferred from Alabama before his freshman season, rushed 11 times for a career-high 72 yards and one TD against the Jayhawks. The majority of his yards came in the pivotal third quarter, when USF scored 17 points to take its first lead of the game.

"Jamar did a real good job. I thought he ran with real purpose," Bulls coach Jim Leavitt said. "The amazing thing about Jamar is that he's on our punt return, our kickoff team and on our kickoff return, and running the ball. That's a full duty there. And he does everything at a high level. It's very important to him to play well."

QB Matt Grothe, who along with Taylor is from Lakeland, knew what Taylor was capable of.

"When he transferred here I thought he was going to do big things here. It was just going to be a matter of learning the system," Grothe said.

DYNAMIC DUO: Senior WR Taurus Johnson and S Nate Allen have more in common than just coming from the same high school (Cape Coral).

"They're outstanding players and awfully good leaders because they work so hard in practice. They do most everything right," Leavitt said. "It is neat to see. There is a special relationship between those two guys because of the years they've known each other."

ODDS AND ENDS: K Maikon Bonani was awarded the Lou Groza Award and DE George Selvie was named national defensive player of the week and awarded the Lott Trophy on Tuesday for their performances against Kansas. ... Ford and Williams both practiced and could play Saturday, Leavitt said. ... USF and Under Armour finally signed their five-year deal, which had been in place since November, on Tuesday, making UA the official outfitter of USF athletics. The deal will pay USF $1 million over the life of the contract and provide $1.2 million in apparel for USF's football, baseball, softball, soccer, golf and tennis teams.

Share this: