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TAMPA - Heavy rains forced USF's football team inside Monday, about 90 minutes into its first practice of the season. Coach Jim Leavitt said he hopes the weather isn't the only thing that improves for today's morning practice.
"It was a pretty average practice," said Leavitt, who ran players through drills in their locker room for about 20 minutes after the team moved inside. "We need to work at a lot better pace, effort, all that stuff. We do have a lot of young guys though."
The Bulls won't don pads until Friday, but several new faces made an impression on Leavitt in their first day. Junior Andre Hall of St. Petersburg, who will challenge senior Clenton Crossley for the starting running back job, looked "smooth," said Leavitt, who also liked what he saw from freshman receivers Marcus Edwards of Mayo and Johnny Peyton of Dade City.
"Marcus Edwards did some nice things at receiver, stood out to me, and Johnny Peyton made some nice catches," he said.
Junior D'Juan Brown made a sideline interception in passing drills, and receiver Bruce Gipson, switching from defensive back this year, reeled in a difficult catch in double coverage.
READY FOR A BATTLE: Quarterbacks Pat Julmiste and Ronnie Banks split time evenly at quarterback, with both setting the tone for what looks to be a hotly contested battle for the starting nod in the season opener against Pittsburgh in four weeks.
"You can tell Ronnie Banks is going to compete with Pat," Leavitt said. "Pat's got the lead right now, but I'll tell you, Ronnie came out and had a pretty good practice. It's going to be a very competitive situation all year between those two."
WAIT AND SEE: One promising late addition to the roster is junior Chauncey Clark, a Lakeland native who starred at City College of San Francisco. He recorded 36 sacks in two seasons at CCSF, including a school-record 21 as a freshman. He's listed as a linebacker but worked primarily with defensive ends Monday. Leavitt said the fact that he hasn't played football since 2002 could limit his impact at a deep position this fall.
"It's probably going to take him a while to get his feet underneath him," he said. "I don't know if he'll be one of the top guys. It's hard for a junior college player to come in and break into this lineup."
ONE IN, ONE UNLIKELY: Freshman linebacker Brouce Mompremier joined the team and practiced, having been cleared by the NCAA Monday. Two of his Miami Edison teammates, receiver Jackie Chambers and running back Chad Simpson, remain in limbo, while another signee, junior linebacker Carlisle Johnson, looks unlikely to join the Bulls.
Johnson, who cannot report until he completes an online English course from Polk Community College, has enough academic problems that Leavitt is questioning his future at USF.
"It's looking more like that may not happen this year," Leavitt said.
BULLS BITS: The unique haircuts of the fall belong to the backup kickers, Justin Teachey and Wharton grad Kyle Bronson, who sport a thin Mohawk and a shaved head with a ring of hair around the back, respectively. ... Of the 100 players at Monday's practice, 42 are freshmen, 16 sophomores, 19 juniors and 22 seniors. The team will practice at 8:30 a.m. today before gathering at Raymond James Stadium for media day.