USF offense coasting through opponents

TAMPA (FOX 13) - It's no coincidence that USF's offense refers to itself as the "Gulf Coast" offense. It's already coasting through opponents this season.

"We want to score 70 [points] a game," said wide receiver Rodney Adams. "We want to break the scoreboard. We preach on, we want to keep putting our foot on the pedal. We don't want to stop. If we can go to 100, we want to go. We can't slack off."

The Bulls have already posted more than 1,100 yards of offense, and have outscored opponents 104-37. Nine individual players have put points on the scoreboard only two games into the season.

"The defense never knows who's going to get the ball, because we have so many play-makers," said Adams. "We have D'Ernest [Johnson] coming out of the backfield, so I mean, pick your poison!"

"It's not just a three-headed monster with Adams, Quinton and Marlon," said Coach Taggart. "You've got a lot of guys out there that's contributing now and again I think that helps being in the system for year two and especially with some of the younger guys, they have a better understanding so now they can come in and play and contribute."

It all starts with quarterback Quinton Flowers.

Last year, players who knew Flowers during his pre-college days had a conversation with Coach Taggart that would solidify his role on the team.

"We need Quinton to be like [what] he was in high school," Taggart recalled. "He made plays, we need him to be that guy... His teammates wanted it from him, and once he gave them what they wanted, then everybody started to play a lot better including himself."

The USF offense has blossomed with Flowers under center. In their first two games, the Bulls offense has averaged more than 540 yards per game. That speaks volumes to the evolution of Quinton Flowers.

"It's like a caterpillar blossomed into a butterfly," said Adams. "He was this quiet young kid, you know, didn't really know how everything worked. Now he's just a beast. He can do it all. He's reading defenses and distributing the ball [any] which way he can. It's great to see. He's becoming that player that everybody wanted him to be."

Flowers is their leader, and that's exactly what they needed him to be.