Colleges

This year, Bulls DT comes up big

Aaron Harris, undersized and overmatched last season, has bulked up his body and game.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published November 2, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Brian Cassella | Times] USF's Aaron Harris sacks UCF's Michael Greco. Harris, nicknamed Aunt Jemima last season because he was always on his back like a pancake, is tied for fifth in the Big East with five sacks.

TAMPA - When he took over as USF's defensive line coach, Dan McCarney went straight to video of last year's games, trying to learn as much as he could about his new players.

Defensive tackle Aaron Harris, a freshman last season, stood out, but not the way he has this fall.

"I watched every snap of every game, and he was really undersized last year," McCarney said. "The guys called him Aunt Jemima, because he was on his back so much, like a pancake. ... He's a different player this year. He's made tremendous progress."

As a sophomore who has now started 13 straight games, Harris is no longer battered on the field. With five sacks, he is tied for fifth in the Big East, and he's enjoying football much more than he did as an overmatched freshman, expected to redshirt but pressed into duty by injuries to other linemen.

"I didn't like it too much, but I had to deal with it," said the 6-foot-4 Harris, who has added 20 pounds in the past year, up to 260. "It was nice to get the experience to get ready for the next year. I'm starting to learn where the blitz is coming from, how it all fits together. I'm a lot more comfortable with the defense now."

USF leads the nation in tackles for loss, averaging 9.6 per game, and Harris is third on the team with eight. He and senior Richard Clebert provide interior pressure to drive quarterbacks toward sophomore end George Selvie, Harris' roommate and best friend, and the nation's sack leader with 13.5 this season.

"He and George are almost joined at the hip," said McCarney, who said Harris is the smallest "three technique" tackle he's worked with in more than three decades of college coaching.

Harris' height and athleticism have helped him this season, and McCarney expects even bigger things once Harris can add some bulk to his frame.

"(Leavitt) and I were just talking about him yesterday," McCarney said. "We'll get another 20 pounds of strength and mass and power on him, and he'll be an all-Big East guy before long."

Much is made of Selvie's only Division I scholarship offer coming from USF, but the Bulls were one of the only programs from a BCS conference to recruit Harris, who went to high school in Williston (pop. 12,000), about 20 miles south of Gainesville.

He'd grown up an FSU fan, with relatives in Tallahassee, but his only other offers were from non-BCS programs such as Bowling Green, Central Florida, Troy and Florida Atlantic.

"USF reminded me of my high school team, of the family environment in Williston," said Harris, who said he was only the second player from his high school in 24 years to earn a college football scholarship.

If the Bulls are to end a two-game losing streak on Saturday at home against Cincinnati, they'll need strong play from the defensive line, which has allowed opposing running backs to go over 150 yards in back-to-back games.

Harris will be a major part of that, and next season, he'll be the most experienced interior lineman on USF's roster, a leader at a critical position. He looks at improvement as a daily challenge, but he's encouraged by how far he's already come in two seasons.

"I feel like I'm doing a lot better than last year," Harris said. "Every game, I'm trying to build on the last game. I know I can do better, but I feel like I'm doing well."

[Last modified November 1, 2007, 19:55:40]