USF Bulls Radio

B.J. Daniels’ role on the University of South Florida football team changed drastically late in the second quarter of Saturday’s game. The redshirt freshman, who hasn’t started a game, now finds himself as the starting quarterback against Florida State this weekend.

Senior starting quarterback, and face of the program, Matt Grothe went down with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his left knee in the game against Charleston Southern on Saturday. Grothe will be out for the remainder of the season.

“This isn’t the way I envisioned it, my heart goes out to Matt,” Daniels said. “I told him I was going to pray for him and that it’s in my hands, and I have to show up.”

You would think that the redshirt freshman out of Tallahassee, Fla. would be nervous for his first start at the collegiate level, but Daniels is excited and confident in being the starting quarterback for the Bulls. Head Coach Jim Leavitt is aware of Daniels’ silent confidence.

“B.J. has always acted like he has been the number one guy,” Leavitt said.

Offensive coordinator Mike Canales agrees with Coach Leavitt.

“B.J. breaths confidence, B.J. has the mind set that you want,” Canales said. “It’s his finest attribute.”

Daniels has Grothe and his coaching staff behind him but most importantly, he has his teammates support.

“Most of my teammates were texting me, saying that they were behind me,’’ Daniels said. “I feel like I have the guys behind me, and we talked about playing for Matt.”

Daniels has watched and learned from Grothe over the last year. Grothe, now out for the season, expects to be called Coach Grothe.

“I know he’s really excited,” Grothe said. “You could tell at practice he was trying to be perfect.”

Matt Grothe, who has not only been the starting quarterback since 2006 but, the face on I-275 in the Tampa area. Grothe is USF and now that he will never play another down at USF, he says the team is in good hands.

“He’s going to do some incredible things while he’s here, he’s going to win us championships,” Grothe said. “I am excited for him and ready to see him out there on Saturday.”

Daniels attended Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Fla. His senior season, Scout.com rated him the 44th best quarterback in the country. Rivals.com ranked him 8th in the country for dual threat quarterbacks and as having the strongest arm nationally. Daniels is majoring in visual and performing arts at USF, but he will have his first test against FSU on Saturday at noon.

His time is now, but he is not he only athlete in his family. Daniels has two Uncles that played college sports. Uncle Paul, played basketball at Auburn with Charles Barkley and Ramon Lester played defensive line at Auburn.

In the Charleston Southern game Daniels ran eight times for 105 yards and was 10-13 for 149 yards and one touchdown. On the season he has two rushing and two throwing touchdowns.

USF will take on FSU on Saturday at Noon. Listen on Bulls Radio WMNF 88.5 HD 2 Tampa. Pre-game will start at 11.

Photo courtesy: Jacob Tillman