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USF Extra points

By Compiled by SHARON GINN

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 27, 2000

Player spotlight: Kevin Patullo

Backup quarterbacks -- be they Nos. 2, 3 or 4 on the depth chart -- pretty much all say the same thing. I have to be ready, they say. I prepare like I'm the starter. You never know what could happen, blah blah blah.

Only USF freshman Kevin Patullo means it.

Heck, he's lived it. Just from the opposite perspective.

Patullo was the starting quarterback at Western High in Weston when, in the third series of the first game of his senior season, the tibia and fibula in his right leg snapped in half while he was tackled running the option.

Some told him he would never play again, but 10 weeks later Patullo was back on the field with a metal rod in his leg. He played as a receiver in the regular season finale and helped Western get to the playoffs. Then he played quarterback in the Dade-Broward All-Star Game and helped the Broward team to victory.

The injury derailed his college plans somewhat -- he said Florida, Florida State and Boston College had been recruiting him as an athlete before he broke his leg -- but didn't really slow him down. He was less scared of returning than grateful for the chance.

Patullo knows he could be injured again. Or it could be Bulls starter Marquel Blackwell. "I never know when I'll be called on," he said. "You could be standing there, freezing, it's 20 degrees, and they go "Kevin get in.' "

If Blackwell is injured during a close game, it may not be Patullo who goes in. Coach Jim Leavitt won't name a backup, saying he isn't sure whether Patullo or senior Mike Usry would go in in such a situation.

But the Bulls are trying to get Patullo as much work as they can. He has played well, going 3-for-4 for 39 yards and rushing twice for 19 yards against Southern Miss, and not so well, going 0-for-4 against Liberty.

"He's a lot further along than I thought he would be, but he's still got a ways to go," offensive coordinator Mike Canales said. "I think he's progressed. He's taken advantage of all his opportunities when he's gotten them.

"He's enthusiastic. He brings that to the table. That's always fun, because a lot of times we've had to calm him down."

Patullo, comparable to Blackwell in his mobility, would rather run the ball than anything else. He returned punts and kicks in high school. The fact that he was injured on an option play doesn't even give him pause. It's just another reason to go all out.

"I learned a lesson that you never know when your last play (might be)," Patullo said. "If something happens . . . you just accept it."

Great grads

It's safe to say no team in modern-day football can match the Bulls' rapid ascent so far -- from nonexistence to Division I-A in four seasons. But USF has no answer for Connecticut in at least one category: notable alumni.

The Huskies boasts in their media guide two astronauts (Franklin Chang-Diaz and Richard Mastracchio), a Pulitzer Prize winner (Les Payne), the president of the Julliard School (Joseph W. Polisi), the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps (Samuel Jaskilka) and the guy who played Horshack (Ron Paolillo).

And USF? Its media guide has just about every big play and minor record chronicled but no list of famous alumni. (It boils down to, more or less, Gallagher, the comedian. And Melissa from The Real World.)

Iron men

Center Joey Sipp may be the only USF player to start all the team's 40 games -- he spent the first season at guard -- but two other Bulls have been nearly as durable as Sipp. Defensive end Shawn Hay has started 38 games and played all 40, missing starts in 1997 and this season. Long snapper Ryan Benjamin may not count as one of the 22 starters, but he has missed just one quarter, at Elon in 1997.

Quotable

"You're not going to get a fair answer from me. I think they're all great. They're all great players and they all need to go to the NFL and win a Super Bowl."

-- Jim Leavitt, claiming all of his seniors deserve to be first-round draft picks, when asked specifically about cornerback and NFL prospect Anthony Henry.

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Gary Shelton