With the Penn State quarterback direction heading down a different path, Steven Bench opted to transfer to South Florida in hopes of getting a better chance to start this season. This weekend that opportunity will finally come. South Florida will start Bench at quarterback as the 0-3 Bulls host the undefeated Miami Hurricanes in Tampa.
“He’s still not there where he knows our offense completely, so we’ve got to be smart with what ask him to do,” USF coach Willie Taggart said according to an ESPN.com report. “We don’t need him to be Tom Brady. We want him to be Steven Bench.”
So who is Steven Bench?
Bench is a Georgia native who was not heavily recruited, but accepted a scholarship offer from Bill O’Brien at Penn State, a good first step for O’Brien’s recruiting plan to move south. Bench backed up Matt McGloin and played only s a last resort last season. In a week two game against Virginia Bench filled in for an injured McGloin and completed two of eight pass attempts. That was Bench’s only football action in 2012, his freshman year. Bench practiced with the Nittany Lions in the spring but O’Brien chose to move in a different direction with the quarterback position with the addition of junior college transfer Tyler Ferguson and incoming blue chip quarterback Christian Hackenberg. Bench transferred to South Florida after learning he would be the odd man out in State College. His transfer came under the NCAA sanctions allowing all Penn State scholarship players to transfer to another program without having to sit out a season, a sanction that has now expired.
Bench’s first college start will come against a tough Miami defense. Miami is ranked 11th in the nation against the pass with opposing quarterbacks completing just 51.1 percent of their pass attempts. Miami has intercepted six passes and allowed just one passing touchdown. That includes two red zone interceptions and the Hurricanes have not allowed a red zone touchdown pass.
Bench will be the third starting quarterback for South Florida early in the season. Matt Floyd lost the starting job very early in the year in a season opening loss to McNeese State and Bobby Eveld was yanked last weekend against Florida Atlantic. The Bulls are ranked 113rd in the country in passing offense, averaging 135 yards per game through the air.