ACL injury ends Grothe's era at USF

Shortly before noon Sunday, Matt Grothe stepped inside a medical office on the University of South Florida campus accompanied by his parents, two younger brothers, his girlfriend and an uncle.

Grothe, USF's star quarterback, had undergone an MRI about an hour earlier, but deep down he already knew the results. Grothe knew he had played his final game for the Bulls.

A doctor delivered the news: a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Grothe's left knee.

A senior, Grothe had just been told his USF career was over. He could not play at Florida State on Saturday. He could not add to his Big East Conference record for total yards. His quest to win the school's first Big East title was over.

Grothe absorbed the news and, according to his father, asked a question: "How long do we have to wait for the surgery?"

Grothe, 23, already is planning a comeback to fulfill his dream of playing professionally next season.

Before it ended prematurely, Grothe had big plans for this season. He planned on leading USF to victories against Florida State and Miami and winning a coveted Big East championship.

However, all that changed Saturday night, late in the second quarter of a 59-0 rout of Charleston Southern.

With three minutes remaining in the first half, USF was only a handful of plays away from trotting into the locker room with a 28- or 35-point lead.

Before the game, USF's coaches had determined that Grothe and some other key starters would not play in the second half so they could rest for Saturday's tilt at FSU and to allow younger players to get experience.

That was the plan, anyway.

Second down and short

On a second-and-two play from USF's 22-yard line, Grothe, on a designed running play, ran to the left and dipped outside before he was tripped up from behind. As he planted his left leg, he was tackled by Charleston Southern's Antwain Harvey.

His left knee buckled. His ACL tore.

"The way he was yelling, it tore me apart," USF wide receiver Carlton Mitchell said.

The final play of Grothe's spectacular USF career was a 9-yard gain with 2:54 left in the half.

It seemed like a sick joke. USF's official game sponsor was "Howl-O-Scream," and the Bulls' biggest nightmare came true.

A week after Grothe became the Big East's all-time leader in total offense, his career ended in perhaps the most meaningless game in program history: a win against a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA, that does not even count toward USF becoming eligible for a postseason bowl game.

"You play every play like it's your last, and it could be," said Matt Grothe Sr., Matt's father, fighting back tears. "That's the way he's played his whole career."

Under Grothe, the Bulls reached unprecedented heights. He was the face of not only USF's program, but also the Big East.

"If we were doing a Mount Rushmore for the league," Big East director of communications Chuck Sullivan said, "Matt and (USF defensive end) George (Selvie) would be on it."

At USF's annual Fan Appreciation Day events, Grothe's autograph line was always the longest. Yet, he signed until everyone was accommodated. At this year's event, he spent almost two hours signing 377 items, from bull skulls to body parts.

Grothe was more than just a football player to USF fans.

"Matt's a franchise guy, we all know that," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "What he's (done) in college football is extraordinary. He's one of the great names out there. I feel real bad for him."

Play for No. 8, coach says

After Saturday's game, USF offensive coordinator Mike Canales got emotional talking to the offense about losing Grothe.

"He would give everything he could to be on that field right now and don't you dare take a rep off or a snap off all through practice this week," Canales said. "When you step on the field, you better play your butts off for No. 8, because that's our leader. I think people understand the magnitude of what's going on."

In the second game of his freshman year, Grothe won the starting job. That season, he led USF to six come-from-behind victories and was named the Big East's rookie of the year.

"The best thing about Matt is he has the ability to make the big play at the needed time," said former USF offensive coordinator Rod Smith, now quarterbacks coach at the University of Michigan. "He just has the knack about him. That's what winners have. It's hard to explain.

"He makes a play whenever you need one or (when) we were in a big-time situation. He always came through in the clutch."

Grothe's gunslinger approach - it's no coincidence his favorite player is Brett Favre - endeared him to USF fans.

"Matt, I have never followed and believed in a USF player as much as I have followed and believed in you," Hector Jimenez, a 1996 USF graduate who lives in Georgia, wrote on TBO.com. "Thanks for the four bowls, beating Auburn, the No. 2 and No. 10 national rankings.

"Thanks for making me believe that as long as the game was within reach and you were in the game, USF had a chance to win. Thanks for making USF relevant!"

Grothe issued a brief statement Sunday through the school.

"Obviously, I am disappointed because you never think this could happen to you," Grothe said. "It's a team game, and I am still going to be very involved with my teammates and the coaches. I am going to do everything I can to help the Bulls continue to win."

Grothe, who is scheduled to graduate in December with a criminology degree, will help coach the Bulls the rest of the season, his father said.

"Matthew's taking it well," Matt Grothe Sr. said. "He's still all about USF and anything he can do to help.

"This is a sport where people hit and people run. Unfortunately, this happened, because fans and players thought this would be a real good season, and it still can be. That's still Matt's team."