Injury updates offer some encouraging news at receiver

Posted Sep 28, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Sep 28, 2010 at 02:18 PM

One of the things USF coach Skip Holtz addressed during Tuesday’s press conference was the injury situation with several of his players.

There was definitely some encouraging news on the receiver front, with Holtz saying he expects senior Dontavia Bogan to play against Florida Atlantic and that there is a chance sophomore Sterling Griffin could be back on the field as well Saturday.

Bogan, who missed last week’s game against Western Kentucky while nursing an ankle injury suffered against Florida, performed well enough in Sunday night’s practice that Holtz doesn’t foresee any additional time on the sideline for USF’s most experienced wideout. Griffin also did well enough in Holtz’s eyes for the coach to say his targeted return date - previously Oct. 9 against Syracuse - could be pushed up a week with continued improvement this week in practice.

However, Holtz added that USF’s trainer doesn’t see eye-to-eye with him regarding Griffin’s status at the moment - the trainer seems to feel Syracuse is the best bet - and that the coach is likely to defer to the trainer’s recommendation when ultimately determining his status for Saturday.

Meanwhile, kicker Maikon Bonani, who was expected to battle in practice this week with Eric Schwartz for the starting place kicking duties, has been slowed by a hip strain “and we’re going to have to kind of pull back on him a little bit. We’ll kind of play that by ear as we go through the week.”

And, Demetris Murray won’t practice today. He’s receiving treatment for an ankle injury he suffered against Western Kentucky - an injury he played through, which drew praise from Holtz - but he is expected to be fine for Saturday’s game.