USF Injury Updates

Safety Tyson Butler strained his hamstring, doubtful for Saturday. (Picture: www.gousfbulls.com)

From Greg Auman - Safety Tyson Butler is the newest member to join the short list of aches and pains for the Bulls. Butler missed practice yesterday with a hamstring strain, making it possible he could miss the game on Saturday as a key reserve.

Holtz has a policy that players that do not practice on Wednesday and Thursday will not play on Saturday, so it would appear that Butler will sit and rest up this weekend.

Quenton Washington Out for UTEP

Quenton Washington won't play this week.

From Adam Adkins - After a rough game against FAMU, senior cornerback Quenton Washington has been shut down for the week and will miss the game against UTEP.

Defensive back coach Rick Smith stated that Washington had been struggling and was in jeopardy of losing his job at least for a few series and now he will miss the week and game.

Washington has been dealing with a knee injury since Vero Beach, nothing major, but something that has been nagging him and has probably been slowing him down quite a bit. By taking the week off and sitting out the game, he should near full strength for the Big East season opener next week at Pitt.

Junior George Baker has been playing well and will probably get the start against UTEP. Sophomore JaQuez Jenkins, who returned from missing the last week with a hamstring issue, will help add depth and could get plenty of playing time as well as a reserve or in nickel package.

Skip Holtz Names Team Captains for Notre Dame

Senior safety Jerrell Young (number 1) has been named one of the four starting captains for the game on Saturday (Picture: www.TBO.com)

After waiting a few days, Coach Holtz finally announced who the team captains are for the Notre Dame game (2 days away!)

They are cornerback Quenton Washington, safety Jerrell Young, center Chaz Hine, and quarterback B.J. Daniels.

Washington and Young are two starting senior members of the No Fly Zone. Washington has been impressive all off season and Young has shown his ability to make the big play. Chaz Hine moved from guard to center in just the past few weeks, but the former walk-on has excelled not only on the field but also in the classroom. The final member is Daniels. In the 12 years Holtz has been a coach, he has never named a junior a team captain until now.

Daniels has really impressed this off season, growing into the offense and also becoming more of a vocal leader on the field (check out the story from Adam Adkins today about his maturity this off season, a great read). After a rough 2010 season, he is doing and saying everything right and will hopefully lead the team to victory on Saturday. Congrats to these great players for this honor.

Washington Anchoring the Corner

Quenton Washington helps anchor a talented USF secondary (Picture credits go to usfnation.com)

The Bulls have speed on defense and one of their top players is corner back Quenton Washington. Washington will be entering his senior season this year and he hopes to end his impressive career on a high note as the Bulls hope to take home the Big East title in 2011.[keep reading]