Lost in the insanity of USC losing to Washington, the Texas–Texas Tech rematch, Tyrod Taylor’s heroics and Kiffin v. Meyer: Round 1, was the fate of USF’s senior quarterback Matt Grothe. Grothe tore his ACL on Saturday against Charleston Southern on a second quarter scramble.

It’s the biggest untold story from last weekend. It hasn’t received as much attention as it should have, especially considering the opponents remaining on the Bulls’ schedule. At first glance, Grothe’s injury seems monumental to overcome for the Bulls, who despite having tastes of national prevalence in recent years, are still trying to prove themselves worthy to be included in the discussion with Florida’s “Big Three” (UF, FSU and UM). USF loses the Big East’s all-time leader in total offense (he surpassed Pat White’s record of 10,529 yards earlier this month). They lose a leader who had started 41 consecutive games over the last four seasons. And they lose a quarterback who was poised to splinter nearly every Big East offensive record of the last three decades.

However, unlike the stability in Grothe’s knee, not all is lost for USF. Redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels, who hails from Tallahassee’s Lincoln High, took over for Grothe when he went down on Saturday. The result? Daniels accumulated 254 yards of total offense: 149 through the air, on 10-of-13 attempts with a 50-yard touchdown, and 105 rushing on eight attempts and two scores. Not bad for a freshman getting his first meaningful playing time. Yes, I’m aware it was against Charleston Southern, but it’s more total yards and touchdowns than Tim Tebow put up against the same team in a half of work during week one (by no means am I comparing Daniels to Tebow, though).

Everyone that I’ve spoken to who is familiar with USF’s program, as well as recruiting in the state of Florida, has been very high on Daniels. Coming out of Lincoln, Daniels was touted as the 44^th best quarterback in the nation by Scout.com, and the eighth best dual-threat signal-caller by Rivals.com. Rivals also rated him as having the fifth best arm in his class. That’s not too shabby for the former four-star recruit. The consensus from what I have seen and heard, is that Daniels is the more athletic of the two quarterbacks (he plays for USF’s basketball team, too), and that he has the more accurate and powerful arm. I have also heard ruminations that this might be the best thing to happen to Jim Leavitt’s program.

Certainly it hurts to lose the experience that Grothe brought to the position, but B.J. Daniels is the future of that team, and that future is now. Daniels will have a lot of growing up to do, and quick, as USF will be throwing him into the fire this weekend when the Bulls travel to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles. It’s being peddled as one of the biggest games in the program’s young history, and as in-state matchups always go, it will affect recruiting battles. It’s a lot to ask of a freshman quarterback, making his first start, to go into Doak Campbell Stadium and come away with a victory.

It would be hard enough for USF to topple the ‘Noles with Grothe at the helm, but this game will allow Daniels to do some rapid maturing. I’m not saying that USF will necessarily leave Tallahassee victorious, but it just feels like one of those perfectly setup instances. It would almost be poetic justice for him to hold a coming-out party Saturday afternoon in his hometown, on the same field where one of his childhood heroes, Charlie Ward, put on a weekly show (even though Daniels says he was never really an FSU fan). And while USF has yet to prove much on the field through its first few games, as we are well-aware, historically they’re good for a couple of upsets of ranked teams.

But even if USF doesn’t return to Tampa with another tick in the win column, Daniels will return with experience, which is invaluable at his position. It will set him up nicely to mature as the season progresses which will give him the opportunity to have an effect on the Big East race and perhaps, maybe, even the larger national picture. Miami rolls into town on Thanksgiving weekend.

Kneejerk reactions are that Grothe’s injury may appear to be a fatal blow to USF’s aspirations this season, but if Daniels can be as good as some think, then this injury, however awful it may be for Grothe, may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Bulls.