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USF held its customary press conference Tuesday, with Marlon Mack, Auggie Sanchez, and coach Willie Taggart taking questions. We were there tweeting out highlights - here they are with annotations.
Live at USF press conference. Marlon Mack on the first FSU-USF game: "BJ Daniels, he lit them up that day."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Daniels completed only eight passes in his first college start, but hit two long passes and ran for over 100 yards in the Bulls’ 17-7 win.
Mack says there's more confidence from USF than last year. "We do have the confidence that we do."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Auggie Sanchez to the podium. 13th in the nation in tackles this season.
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Sanchez on his targeting ejection at FSU last year: "I just sat in the locker room. Mad, upset."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Sanchez was tossed for the penalty in last year’s game in Tallahassee. He also missed the Maryland game as a result.
Sanchez on the crowd: "We just want to see as much green and gold in the stadium as possible."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Sanchez on FSU last year: "We were kind of in a bad situation with some young guys in there." Points to suspended players, new 4-2-5 scheme.
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
In addition to Sanchez’s ejection, USF played last year’s game without the suspended Tashon Whitehurst and Nigel Harris.
Willie Taggart on FSU: "It's a big game because it's the next game."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Credit to Taggart for steering USF through the trap game situation last week at Syracuse, even as it appeared the team was going to fall victim to it down 17-0.
Taggart on using Flowers like Lamar Jackson: "That's how you get yourself beat. We're not trying to be (UL), we're trying to be the Bulls."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
This is a smart thing to say. Flowers may be as fast and elusive as Jackson, but they have different passing talents and the teams run different systems. You can’t just take someone else’s gameplan wholesale and use it yourself.
Taggart on Dalvin: "He's a great back, you've got to get guys to the ball." "We've got to do a better job than what we did last year."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016
Dalvin Cook ran 30 times for 266 yards and three touchdowns against USF last year. Whether he’s healthy enough to do that again is anyone’s guess.
Taggart on recruiting Davin Cook: we had him come out. Our RB coach at the time, Telly Lockett, was his HS coach but he decided to go to FSU
— Vinnie Portell (@VJPortell) September 20, 2016
To be fair, not really surprising the top overall prospect in Florida and a consensus five-star chose FSU coming off their 2013 national championship.
Coach Taggart on tailgating for FSU-USF: "Tailgate starts at 7am, closes at 11am."
— The Daily Stampede (@StampedeSBN) September 20, 2016