Bulls to continue wearing No. 63 decals to honor Selmon

Posted Sep 7, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Sep 7, 2011 at 08:38 PM

There are a number of options USF is still considering to honor Lee Roy Selmon, but one way the Bulls will do so is by continuing to wear No. 63 decals on their helmets like they did in Saturday’s season opener at Notre Dame, coach Skip Holtz said Wednesday.

“There’s nothing we can do that can honor him enough,” senior OG Jeremiah Warren said of Selmon, who passed away at age 56 on Sunday, two days after suffering a stroke at his home in Tampa.

“He’s done so many great things for so many people, not necessarily just for the football team but for USF in general. He’s an amazing person, an amazing man, and to wear his number on the back of our helmets, that is a very respectful thing and I feel it’s great that we’re doing that.”

“It’s definitely something that we’re going to remember. Having it on the back of our helmets, it’s just a small way to symbolize that we’re still thinking of him, we still care about him and appreciate all the things that he’s done for us,” junior QB B.J. Daniels added. “He contributed a lot to this city, and a lot to this team. He’s definitely going to be missed.”

The team will attend the funeral service for Selmon on Friday in Tampa, Holtz said.

MOST MEMORABLE RETURN: Junior KR Lindsey Lamar had plenty of big returns on his way to earning Big East Conference Special Teams Player of the Year honors last season, including a 100-yarder for a touchdown against Louisville and a 94-yarder for a score against Syracuse. Lamar said Wednesday, though, that recovering the onsides kick with 21 seconds remaining to clinch Saturday’s 23-20 win over Notre Dame, which officially was recorded as a 1-yard return, is tops on his list.

“It probably is the No. 1 on my list because even though it was just 1 yard it was just as big as 100 yards,” Lamar said.

Several USF players and coaches recalled watching the play unfold and believing the ball was destined for the hands of Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd before Lamar swooped in at the last possible moment.

“I had an open lane looking across the field where I could see Michael Floyd coming, facing us, and I saw the ball coming right down for him and it was like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’” Holtz said. “All of the sudden I see this white flash just kind of jump up right in front of him and take it. … Woo, was that big. Huge play.”

SPRINKLING IN THE YOUNGSTERS: USF DT Elkino Watson was the lone true freshman to see action against the Irish, but Holtz is hopeful to get a few more some work Saturday against Ball State, mentioning FB Tye Turner and WRs Ruben Gonzalez and Andre Davis as among the more likely candidates.

“Hopefully we can start to work them in a little bit more and give them some work because I think they make us a better football team by the team we get into conference, and that’s one of the things that you try to do in out-of-conference games is turn and get your team ready to play the conference,” Holtz said. “You’ll see a little bit more. I can’t guarantee they’ll all play this weekend, but you’ll start to see a little bit more of them sprinkled in as we start to move forward and they start to feel more comfortable in the offense and defense.”