2009 UNIV OF SOUTH FLA FOOTBALL

notes

2009 USF Football Schedule and Results
___DATE___	____OPPONENT____	RESULT/TIME	RECORD
September 5	Wofford	WIN 40-7	1-0 (0-0)
September 12	at Western Kentucky	WIN 35-13	2-0 (0-0)
September 19	Charleston Southern	WIN 59-0	3-0 (0-0)
September 26	at Florida State	WIN 17-7	4-0 (0-0)
October 3	at Syracuse	WIN 34-20	5-0 (1-0)
October 15	No. 5 Cincinnati	LOSE 34-17	5-1 (1-1)
October 24	at No. 15 Pittsburgh	LOSE 41-14	5-2 (1-2)
October 30	No. 23 West Virginia	WIN 30-19	6-2 (2-2)
November 12	at Rutgers	LOSE 31-0	6-3 (2-3)
November 21	Louisville	WIN 34-22	7-3 (3-3)
November 28	No. 17 Miami (FL)	LOSE 31-10	7-4 (3-3)
December 5	at Connecticut	LOSE 29-27	7-5 (3-4)
January 2	vs. Northern Illinois* INTERNATIONAL BOWL	WIN 27-3	8-5 (3-4)

* - game played at a neutral location

INTERNATIONAL BOWL - ESPN2
Jan. 2, 2010 | 12:00 PM EST
TORONTO

S Florida (7-5, 3-4 Big East)
Stats »
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N Illinois (7-5, 5-3 MAC)
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Damn. USF is winning with AUTHORITY.

Go 'Bama!

Bulls Too Much for Wofford in 40-7 Opening Win
Courtesy: USF
Release: 09/05/2009

TAMPA (AP) -- Moise Plancher ran for two touchdowns and Matt Grothe moved closer to becoming the Big East's career total offense leader Saturday night, leading South Florida to a season-opening 40-7 rout of Wofford.

Plancher scored on runs of 4 and 9 yards and finished with 78 yards rushing on 12 carries. Grothe threw a second-quarter touchdown pass to Theo Wilson and had 155 yards passing and 44 rushing to increase his four-year total to 10,441 yards -- 88 shy of Pat White's Big East record.

USF overcame a slow start, snapping a 7-7 tie on Grothe's touchdown pass to Theo Wilson and adding a safety to make it 16-7 before halftime. Plancher scored his second touchdown early in the third quarter, and the Bulls rolled from there.

Wofford's wingbone offense was effective early, and the Terriers wound up rushing for 177 yards on 50 attempts. Fullback Eric Breitenstein gained 121 yards on 13 carries and scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter.

USF coach Jim Leavitt insisted that opening against Wofford, which won nine games and participated in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs each of the past two years, would be a good test for a young, but talented team that expects to contend for the Bulls' first Big East title.

Wofford played South Carolina tough a year ago, losing 23-13 but drawing a glowing review from Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier, who saluted the team's effort level. For most of the first half, the Terriers gave USF all it could handle, too.

Sophomore quarterback Mitch Allen, making his first college start, answered Grothe's game-opening touchdown drive with an impressive march of his own. The Terriers moved 69 yards in 13 plays, tying the game 7-all on Breitenstein's 2-yard run.

Wofford turned back one USF threat with Tommy Irvin's end zone interception of Grothe, whose 39-yard run got the Bulls inside the 10-yard line. Four plays later, the Terriers began unraveling.

An errant snap on a punt set up Grothe's 6-yard scoring pass to Theo Wilson with 36 seconds left in the opening half. A second bad snap that sailed over Chris Tommie's head resulted in a safety, making it 16-7, when the Wofford punter ran down the loose ball and kicked it through the end zone with one second remaining.

If Tommie had picked up the ball -- instead of kicking it intentionally -- just inside the 20, the final seconds of the half likely would have run out.

Plancher's second TD run and Delbert Alvarado's 30-yard field goal extended USF's lead to 26-7 in the third quarter.

Lindsey Lamar scored on a 13-yard run and Grothe's backup, B.J. Daniel, threw a 22-yard TD pass to Jeffrey Wilson in the fourth quarter.

Postgame Notes
-USF improves its record in season openers to 9-4 all-time with tonight's 40-7 win over Wofford ... The victory was the Bulls' fourth straight and the fifth in the last six openers ... The four-win stretch is USF's longest winning streak in season opener's , and includes victories over McNeese State (41-10) in 2006, Elon (28-13) in 2007 and Tennessee-Martin (56-7) last year, in addition to tonight's triumph.
-USF improves its record to 9-0 in openers at home.
-The Bulls continue to be perfect against NCAA Football Championship Series (FCS) (formerly NCAA I-AA) teams since joining the NCAA Football Bowl Series (FBS) (formerly NCAA I-A) in 2001 ... USF improved it's record to 12-0 against FCS foes, with all 12 wins coming at Raymond James Stadium.
-Following tonight's win, USF has evened its all-time record against team's from the Southern Conference at 4-4 ... The Bulls have only faced three team's prior to tonight from the conference with those being Elon (2-1), The Citadel (1-1) and Georgia Southern (0-2) ... Elon was the last team from the Southern Conference - prior to this season - that the Bulls faced, handing the Phoenix a 28-13 loss at Raymond James Stadium on Sept. 1, 2007 ... The Citadel was the first opponent USF ever faced at Raymond James Stadium... the Bulls handed the Bulldogs a 45-6 loss on Oct. 3, 1998.
-This season USF will honor former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Tonight, senior defensive lineman Aaron Harris was the first player to don the jersey ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.
-USF also held a moment of silence prior to tonight's game for alum Will Bleakley (2004-06), Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, and NFL free agent Corey Smith, who all passed away on a boating expedition this spring ... Former USF walk-on Nick Schuyler survived the expedition and in the last month, has spoken for the first time since the incident.
-Tonight's attendance of 40,360 marks the 11th straight game that the Bulls have played in front of a crowd of 40,000 or more at Raymond James Stadium.
-Through tonight's game, USF's season ticket total stands at 24,103.
-USF recorded its first safety since Sept. 27, 2008 at North Carolina State.

Individual Notes
- QB Matt Grothe broke the USF school record for total offense with 199 yards combined (19-23, 155 yards passing & 7-44 rushing) on the night. He currently has 10,441 yards and surpassed Marquel Blackwell, who had 10,343 from 1999-02.
-QB Matt Grothe came into tonight's game with 10,242 total yards (passing and rushing) for his career trailing former WVU QB Pat White by 287 yards (10,529) for the all-time BIG EAST Conference lead ... Tonight, Grothe recorded 199 total yards and will go into the Western Kentucky game next Saturday needing just 88 yards to surpass White.
-QB Matt Grothe, DE George Selvie, LB Kion Wilson and RB Mo Plancher were USF's captains for tonight's season opener ... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.
-Tonight's offensive starters were: WR Carlton Mitchell, WR Dontavia Bogan, LT Jeremiah Warren, LG Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, RG Zach Hermann, RT Jake Sims, TE Ben Busbee, WR Sterling Griffin, QB Matt Grothe, RB Mo Plancher.
-Tonight's defensive starters were: LE Craig Marshall, NT Terrell McClain, NT Cory Grissom, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Jerrell Young, FS Nate Allen, RC Kayvon Webster, CB Jerome Murphy.
-True-freshmen RC Kayvon Webster and WR Sterling Griffin, and redshirt freshman NT Cory Grissom got their first career starts tonight.
-QB Matt Grothe started his 39th consecutive game out of a possible 40 career outings.
-RB Mo Plancher scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and the seventh of his career on a four-yard run with 9:46 left in the first quarter.
-Plancher would follow up his first half touchdown with his second of the game and the eighth of his career on a nine-yard run with 10:47 left in the third quarter ... It is Plancher's second multiple touchdown game of his career ... He also accomplished the feat on Aug. 30, 2008 vs. Tennessee-Martin when he ran for two TD's.
-QB Matt Grothe threw his first touchdown pass of the year, and the 48th of his career, with 36 seconds left in the first half ... The strike was a six-yard pass to WR Theo Wilson.
-WR Theo Wilson's first half touchdown reception from QB Matt Grothe was his first of the season and the first of his career.
-QB Evan Landi pulled in his first career reception on QB Matt Grothe's third pass completion of the night.
-CB Quentin Washington recovered his second career fumble with 9:49 left on the clock in the third quarter.
-K Delbert Alvarado kicked his 26th career field goal of his career connecting on a 30-yard boot with 5:51 left in the third quarter.
-CB Jerome Murphy forced his third career fumble with 4:52 left in the third quarter ... The fumble was recovered by CB Tyson Butler for his first career fumble recovery.
-RB Lindsey Lamar scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 13-yard scamper with 8:18 left in the game.
-WR Jeffrey Wilson caught his first career touchdown reception on a 22-yard pass from QB B.J. Daniels with just over five minutes left in the game ... The pass from Daniels was his first career TD pass.
-DE George Selvie recorded his first sack of the year (26.5 for his career) doing so with 1:14 left in the second quarter.

USF Puts Away Western Kentucky, 35-13
Courtesy: USF
Release: 09/13/2009


BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- Matt Grothe threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the Big East's all-time leader in total offense to help South Florida pull away from Western Kentucky 35-13 on Saturday night.

The senior quarterback added 53 yards rushing to boost his career total yardage to 10,702, breaking the record of 10,529 held by former West Virginia star Pat White as the Bulls (2-0) took control in the second half to pull away from the Hilltoppers.

Grothe threw touchdown passes of 14 yards to Theo Wilson and 17 yards to Ben Busbee, helping the Bulls overcome a sluggish start and post their 13th straight regular season nonconference win. Moise Plancher added 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns for South Florida.

WKU (0-2) saw its bid for an attention-grabbing upset fall short behind a slew of penalties (13) and an almost nonexistent passing game.

Quarterback Brandon Smith ran for 105 yards but had little time in the pocket when dropping back to pass. He completed 13 of 26 passes for just 84 yards and was sacked three times.

The Hilltoppers had hoped to turn the first-ever visit to LT Smith Stadium by a member of a Bowl Championship Series conference into a coming out party.

While WKU certainly fared better than it did in a season-opening 63-7 mauling at Tennessee - a game in which the Hilltoppers amassed 83 yards of total offense - the Bulls made sure the second-largest crowd in WKU history went home early.

The Hilltoppers have pointed to the Bulls as an example of how to make the jump from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision the right way.

The Bulls made the step up 11 years ago and have become a perennial contender in the Big East. WKU's goals aren't quite so ambitious - at least, not yet - but South Florida showed the Hilltoppers there's still plenty of work to do.

WKU trailed just 14-6 at the half, but South Florida snapped out of its doldrums when Grothe hit Carlton Mitchell for a 65-yard pass that set up a touchdown run by BJ Daniels.

WKU responded with a 15-yard score by Marell Booker - thanks in part of a personal foul penalty by the Bulls on an incomplete third-down pass - to get within 21-13 with 27 seconds left in the third.

Undaunted, Grothe took over. He led South Florida right back down the field and put the game away on a play that perfectly summarized his career. He dropped back to pass, ducked away from pressure then scrambled to buy enough time to find Busbee in the back of the endzone to put the Bulls up 28-13. WKU was stopped on fourth down on its next possession, and Plancher busted loose for a 20-yard score with 6:03 to play to finish it off.

The easy victory hardly seemed possible during an ugly first half, when at times it was hard to tell which team was the FBS newcomer.

During one sequence in the first quarter South Florida muffed a WKU punt, which the Hilltoppers recovered. The play was nullified by a penalty. On the rekick, the ball bounced off a South Florida player and the Hilltoppers recovered again.

The rest of the half followed a similar pattern: the Bulls would make a mistake and the Hilltoppers would make a bigger one. Grothe threw a pick and WKU appeared to pull within four on a 14-yard touchdown run by Smith. It was called back by a penalty and the Hilltoppers had to settle for a field goal.

Team Notes
- Tonight's game was the fifth all-time meeting between the programs. USF now owns a three-game winning streak in the series. USF is 2-2 all-time in the commonwealth of Kentucky. The wins came over WKU in 2009 and previously in 1999 by a score of 21-6. The losses came at WKU in 1997 (31-3) and at Kentucky in 2000 (27-9).
- Head Coach Jim Leavitt improves his career record to 89-52. Leavitt is 27-32 in true road games, 57-45 on television, 37-12 in temperatures above 80 degrees and 63-34 in night games. USF and Leavitt are 3-2 vs. WKU, 2-1 at WKU, 10-4 all-time against current Sun Belt teams and 2-2 all time when playing in the commonwealth of Kentucky.
- USF has won 13 straight regular season non-conference games.
-This season USF will honor former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey. Tonight, senior P/K Delbert Alvarado wore the jersey. Senior DT Aaron Harris was the first player to don the jersey, against Wofford last week. Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007. This season would have been his senior year.
- With DB Mistral Raymond's second-quarter pick, the USF defense has intercepted a pass in 19 of the last 29 games and has 34 picks during that time.
- The attendance of 20,568 was the second-most in WKU history.
- USF has posted 400 yards of total offense and scored 30 or more points in the same game in 13 of the last 26 outings. USF ended the night with 461 total yards from 64 plays, scoring 35 points.

Individual Notes
-QB Matt Grothe came into tonight's game with 10,441 total yards (passing and rushing) for his career, trailing former WVU QB Pat White by 89 yards (10,529) for the all-time BIG EAST Conference lead. With exactly 10 minutes left in the second quarter, Grothe rushed for 12 yards to exceed the mark. Grothe broke the USF record for total yards in the season opener, previously held by Marquel Blackwell. Tonight, Grothe recorded 261 total yards to surpass White.
-For the second-straight week, QB Matt Grothe, DE George Selvie, LB Kion Wilson and RB Mo Plancher were USF's captains ... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.
-Tonight's offensive starters were: WR Carlton Mitchell, WR Dontavia Bogan, LT Jeremiah Warren, LG Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, RG Zach Hermann, RT Jake Sims, WR Patrick Richardson, WR Sterling Griffin, QB Matt Grothe, RB Mo Plancher.
-Tonight's defensive starters were: LE David Bedford, NT Terrell McClain, DT Aaron Harris, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LB Chris Robinson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Jerome Murphy, FS Nate Allen, RC Kayvon Webster.
- Junior TE David Bedford and sophomore WR Patrick Richardson each made their first career start in the game. It was the second career start for Robinson.
-QB Matt Grothe started his 40th consecutive game out of a possible 41 career outings.
- Junior Dontavia Bogan returned the opening kickoff 40 yards. He ended the night with 84 kick return yards.
- Junior WR Carlton Mitchell entered the game needing just 21 yards to become the eighth player in program history with 1,000 yards receiving. With a 50-yard reception from Grothe in the first quarter, Mitchell passed the 1,000-yard mark. After his 28th-career game, Mitchell has 1,109 receiving yards.
- Mitchell moves into seventh in the USF record book for receiving yards in a career, ending tonight's game with 1,109. During the game against WKU, he passed teammate Jesse Hester (1,034), and now trails No. 6 Chris Iskra's 1,119 yards from 2000-03.
- Mitchell racked up 130 receiving yards, the first 100-yard receiving game since Jesse Hester totaled 110 receiving yards against Rutgers on Nov. 15, 2008. The 130 yards is a career high for Mitchell, exceeding his previous high of 110 yards against Cincinnati on Nov. 3, 2007.
- After the 50-yard pass to Mitchell in the first quarter, Grothe moved into sixth on the BIG EAST's career passing yards list. He surpassed Tyler Palko (Pittsburgh, 2002-06), who had 8,343 yards. In the second quarter, he moved past No. 5 Donovan McNabb (Syracuse (1995-98) - who had 8,389 yards - with a 14-yard pass to Theo Wilson. He also passed No. 4 Ryan Hart' 8,482. Grothe's 8,520 yards now trails No. 3 Mike Teel (Rutgers, 2005-08), who had 9,383 yards.
- Grothe has thrown a TD pass in 32 of 41 career games, including seven of the last 10 games.
- Grothe now has 50 career passing touchdowns, which is the second-most in USF history. He trails Marquel Blackwell, who had 67 from 1999-2002.
- With 13 completions tonight, Grothe has topped the 700-career completions mark.
- In the second quarter, walk-on senior DB Mistral Raymond had his first career interception.
- After a second-quarter TD pass to Theo Wilson and a third-quarter TD pass to Ben Busbee, Grothe is now sixth in the BIG EAST in touchdown responsibility in a career with 73. Grothe has 50 passing and 23 rushing TDs. He passed Brian Brohm (Louisville), who had 72 - 65 passing and 7 rushing TDs.
- In the fourth quarter, senior TE Ben Busbee recorded his first reception of the season, a 17-yard TD catch from Matt Grothe. Busbee's last TD reception was in the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl in 2008.
- Senior RB Mo Plancher had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the second-straight game. Plancher has collected three games with two TD runs - against UTM in 2008, and Wofford and WKU in 2009.
- Senior RB Mo Plancher ended the night with 115 yards, his first 100-yard game at USF.

USF Rolls To 59-0 Win Over Charleston Southern
Courtesy: USF
Release: 09/19/2009

TAMPA (AP) - Quarterback Matt Grothe directed three scoring drives before leaving a 59-0 South Florida victory over Charleston Southern with a left knee sprain on Saturday night.

The Bulls (3-0) were ahead 28-0 late in the second quarter when Grothe was hurt. He was tripped from behind by defensive tackle David Jackson, then was falling forward when he was jolted by defensive back Antwain Harvey.

Grothe, the Big East's career leader in total offense, completed 11 of 14 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a 50-yard strike to Carlton Mitchell. The quarterback also rushed five times for 24 yards, the longest for 9 on the play that sidelined him.

Redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels stepped in for Grothe, matching him with a 50-yard scoring pass to Dontavia Bogan.

A.J. Toscano was 13-for-24 for 127 yards with one interception to lead Charleston Southern (0-3).

Postgame Notes

Team Notes
- With the win over Charleston Southern, the Bulls improve their record to 3-0 for the fourth straight year and just the fifth time in the program's 13-year history.
- USF extended its winning streak against regular season non-conference opponents to 14 dating back to its 37-20 win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Sept. 22, 2006 ... The last regular season non-conference opponent to defeat USF was Kansas, 13-7, on Sept. 23, 2006.
- USF's 59-0 win tonight over Charleston Southern is the first shutout since the Bulls defeated Syracuse, 27-0, on Nov. 12, 2005.
- The Bulls' 59 points was tied for the fifth most scored in a game in school history, joining the 2000 team that also logged 59 points against Austin Peay on Nov. 18, 2000.
- Tonight's 59-point win is the third largest margin of victory in school history ... It trails the 80-3 win over Kentucky Wesleyan (77 points) on Sept. 6, 1997 in the program's inaugural game, and a 66-point spread against Cumberland (69-3) on Nov. 7, 1998.
- The Bulls continue to be perfect against NCAA Football Championship Series (FCS) (formerly NCAA I-AA) teams since joining the NCAA Football Bowl Series (FBS) (formerly NCAA I-A) in 2001 ... USF improved its record to 13-0 against FCS foes, with all 13 wins coming at Raymond James Stadium.
- Following tonight's win, USF has improved its all-time record against teams currently in the Big South Conference to 9-0 ... The Bulls have only faced two teams prior to tonight from the conference with those being tonight's opponent, Charleston Southern (5-0), and Liberty (4-0) ... The Buccaneers were the last Big South foe to face the Bulls with USF coming out on top, 55-7, on Oct. 18, 2003.
- This season USF will honor former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Tonight, senior wide receiver Colby Erskin donned the jersey ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.
- Tonight's attendance of 38,798 ends a 12-game streak of playing in front of at least 40,000 fans at Raymond James Stadium ... The last game at RJS of fewer than 40,000 came against North Carolina on Sept. 22, 2007 when 37,753 saw the Bulls and Tar Heels play.
- USF's 21 points is tied for the second most scored in the first quarter of a game in school history ... The Bulls also scored 21 points in the first quarter against Rutgers (Nov. 5, 2005) and Austin Peay (Nov. 18, 2000.
- Tonight was the just the second time in school history that the Bulls did not register a punt ... The last time that USF did not punt in a game was on Nov. 18, 2000 vs. Austin Peay.
- USF logged 547 total yards on 73 plays ... The last time the Bulls recorded 500 yards in total offense was on Sept. 27, 2008 at North Carolina State.

Individual Notes
- QB Matt Grothe, RB Mo Plancher, S Nate Allen, LB Kion Wilson and DE George Selvie were USF's captains for tonight's game ... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.
- Tonight's offensive starters were: WR Carlton Mitchell, OL Jeremiah Warren, OL Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, OG Zach Hermann, OT Jake Sims, TE Ben Busbee, WR Sterling Griffin, QB Matt Grothe, RB Mo Plancher, RB Lindsey Lamar
- Tonight's defensive starters were: DE Jason Pierre-Paul, DT Keith McCaskill, DE Craig Marshall, RE, George Selvie, LB Sabath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LB Chris Robinson, CB George Baker, CB Jerome Murphy, S Nate Allen, DB Kayvon Webster
- DE Jason Pierre-Paul started in his first career game tonight.
- LB Chris Robinson forced his first fumble of the season and the fifth of his career with 13:25 left in the first quarter ... On the same play, DB Kayvon Webster recorded his first career fumble recovery.
- QB Matt Grothe connected with WR Dontavia Bogan on a three-yard touchdown pass with 8:12 left in the first quarter ... It was Grothe's 51st career touchdown pass and Bogan's third career touchdown reception.
- Bogan would record his second touchdown pass of the season and the fourth of his career on a 50-yard pass from QB B.J. Daniels with 44 seconds left in the half ... It was Daniels' second career touchdown pass.
- Grothe would strike again, with 6:34 on the clock, with a 50-yard touchdown pass to WR Carlton Mitchell, for his 52nd career touchdown pass ... It was Mitchell's sixth career TD reception ... In addition, it marks the second straight game that Mitchell has caught a pass of 50 yards or more ... He had receptions of 65 and 50 yards last week at Western Kentucky,
- S Nate Allen recovered a blocked field goal and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown ... The 75-yard return was the longest play of the year for the Bulls ... The touchdown was Allen's third of his career.
- Allen's return for a touchdown was the first blocked field goal for a touchdown in USF history.
- RB Mike Ford scored his first touchdown of the season with a two-yard scamper with 13:54 left in the first half ... In addition, it was his 18th career touchdown.
- QB B.J. Daniels rushed for 22 yards in the beginning of the second half, marking the longest rush of his career ... Later on that drive, Daniels would rush for a 16-yard touchdown, his second of his career.
- Daniels would surpass his career long rush with a 23-yard run with just over a minute left in the third quarter ... On the next play he would run for a six-yard touchdown for his second of the game and the third of his career.
- Daniels rushed for 105 yards on 10 carries and one touchdown tonight against Charleston Southern ... He surpassed the 100-yard plateau on a seven-yard rush with 9:49 left in the game ... He is the first quarterback since Matt Grothe to rush for 100 yards in a game ... Grothe last did it on Oct. 27, 2007 with 146 yards on 25 carries at Connecticut ... It was also the sixth time in school history that a quarterback has rushed for 100 yards.
- Daniels would also finish the game with 10-of-13 passing for 149 yards and one touchdown.
- CB Jerome Murphy recorded his first interception of the season and the fifth of his career midway through the third quarter ... His return of 36 yards was the longest of his five interception returns.
- TE Andrew Ketchel caught his first career pass tonight from B.J. Daniels.
- RB Lindsey Lamar rushed for his second career touchdown on a two-yard run in the fourth quarter.
- K Eric Schwartz connected on his first career field goal tonight, a 37-yard boot, with 6:28 left in the game.

Bulls Pull Off Historic Victory Over Seminoles, 17-7
Courtesy: USF
Release: 09/27/2009

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -South Florida fans didn't want to leave. Not even after more than three hours of sitting in 90-degree weather.

Most of the more than 12,000 sun-drenched, green-clad boosters remained in their end zone seats chanting ''USF, USF,'' for some 20 minutes after the Bulls defeated No. 18 Florida State 17-7 Saturday. It was the first meeting between the schools and came in front of Florida State's biggest home crowd in four years.

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The USF team stormed to the south end zone to salute their fans as the final seconds ticked off the clock. USF President Judy Genschaft, also in green, was leaving her air-conditioned skybox looking for the quickest way to the Bulls locker room.

''Do you believe it?'' she said happily as she hurried to an elevator.

''You have to beat them to get talked about,'' South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said.

''It changes history,'' he added. ''You have to beat them to get talked about. Now I can say we should be talked about.''

It was USF's first win over the state's big three - Miami, Florida and Florida State.

''They whupped us,'' said FSU coach Bobby Bowden, who talked all week about not being eager to play South Florida for the first time. ''They're a lot better than I thought.''

Bowden and his staff are now also likely to face questions about how they could let a talent like USF quarterback B.J. Daniels get out of town.

Daniels, a redshirt freshman who grew up in Tallahassee and was largely ignored by Florida State recruiters, dismantled the Seminoles' defense with one big play after another in his first career start. He was replacing four-year starter Matt Grothe, the Big East Conference's career total offense leader, who had a season-ending injury last week.

''It feels good playing in front of your friends and your family,'' Daniels said. ''I was very familiar with the people around so I definitely felt comfortable and it wasn't anything to get me nervous.''

Daniels ran for 126 yards, threw two touchdown passes and accounted for 341 of USF's 368 yards of offense.

''He's a great athlete,'' Bulls defensive end George Selvie said. ''I'm glad to have him as my quarterback.''

''He killed us,'' Bowden lamented after the game. ''Boy, they've got a great one there.''

It was the first time since Nebraska's Steve Taylor ran for 139 yards against the Seminoles in 1986 that an opposing quarterback rushed for over 100 yards against them.

The 6-1, 210-pound Daniels said after the game that he chose USF because the school allowed him to also compete in basketball, where he won playing time last winter at point guard.

Florida State (2-2) lost four fumbles, including a critical one by quarterback Christian Ponder that allowed USF to ice the game.

''The way we got beat up on offense, I didn't know we could get beat up like that,'' Bowden said. ''They did everything faster than I thought.''

South Florida (4-0) stuffed Florida State's running game, sacked Ponder five times and continually had Florida State's offensive line on its heels.

''The front four was absolutely relentless,'' Leavitt said. ''To hold them to 19 yards rushing was really important.''

The Seminoles rushed for 313 yards a week ago in a 54-28 thrashing of then-No. 7 Brigham Young.

Ponder completed 25 of 37 passes for 269 yards, most of it coming on short throws since he didn't have time to go downfield.

South Florida stopped the Seminoles on four plays from the 3-yard line early in the second quarter. USF then needed just five plays to cover 99 yards to get the game's first touchdown.

''That told the story right there,'' Bowden said.

Daniels hit a wide-open Theo Wilson on a 77-yard pass to the Florida State 8 to set up a TD throw to Ben Busbee on the next play. That put the Bulls up 7-0.

Another huge pass play, this one a 73-yard scoring pass from Daniels to Sterling Griffin, gave USF a 14-0 lead at the half.

''It's a great story, a quarterback coming back home,'' Leavitt said. ''Those things don't happen all the time, but it did today. It did today.''

Team Notes
- USF has won seven straight against teams from its home state, while FSU has lost three straight to instate foes - USF and Miami this season and Florida last season.
- USF is 11-14 all-time versus teams ranked in the top 25.
- The 83,524 strong is the second-largest road crowd in USF history, behind the 99,235 to watch the Bulls at Penn State on Sept. 3, 2005. The third-most was the 82,617 fans who watched USF beat Auburn on Sept. 8, 2007.
- USF is 4-2 all-time against the ACC with four straight wins over the conference (FSU in 2009, NC State in 2008, UNC in 2006 & 2007).
- USF has won 15 straight regular season non-conference games. The USF program has an all-time record of 64-35 at the NCAA FBS level and an 91-52 overall record.
- Jim Leavitt (Missouri '78) is the only coach in USF history. He has a career record of 91-52 and is in his 13th season at USF. Leavitt is 28-32 in true road games, 58-45 on television and 38-12 in temperatures above 80 degrees. USF and Leavitt are 10-1 against schools from the state with the only loss coming to Miami in 2005.
- USF is now 74-5 when leading after the second quarter, 78-5 when leading after the third quarter, 79-26 when gaining 300 yards and 34-14 in the month of September.
- With the win over Florida State, the Bulls improved to 4-0 for the second straight year and just the fourth time in the program's 13-year history. USF extended its winning streak against regular season non-conference opponents to 15 dating back to its 37-20 win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Sept. 22, 2006 . The last regular season non-conference opponent to defeat USF was Kansas, 13-7, on Sept. 23, 2006.

Individual Notes
- With a solo tackle in the first series, senior DE George Selvie recorded his 200th-career tackle. He ended the day with four solo tackles.
- In the first quarter R-Fr. QB B.J. Daniels scampered for 44 yards - the longest rush of his career. His previous long was 23 yards against Charleston Southern last week.
- R-FR. DB Jon Lejiste forced fumble in the first quarter, the first of his career and USF's fourth of the season.
- Sr. S Nate Allen recovered the fumble in the first quarter, his first of the season and fourth of his career.
- In the second, Daniels' 77 yard pass to Theo Wilson was the longest play of the season for the Bulls, Daniels' longest completion and Wilson's biggest gain. The play was two yards longer than Allen's blocked punt return against Charleston Southern.
- Daniels' first touchdown of the day was an 8-yard pass to senior TE Ben Busbee with 11:03 left in the second quarter. The catch is his second TD of the season and fourth of his career.
- Pinned in the end zone in the second quarter, Sr. K Delbert Alvarado let loose a 57-yard punt, his longest of the season. His career long is 61 yards.
- In the second quarter, Jr. LB Sabbath Joseph forced a fumble on the eight yard line, then senior LB Kion Wilson picked it up for a 19-yard gain.
- USF's second TD was a 73-yard pass from Daniels to Fr. WR Sterling Griffin. The catch was Griffin's first-career TD reception and Daniels' fourth TD pass in six career games played.
- In the second quarter, Selvie recorded a sack, increasing his career total to 27.5, which ties him with Dexter Davis of Arizona State for the top spot in NCAA active career sack leaders. Eric Norwood of South Carolina is close behind with 26.
- After rushing for 105 yards last week, R-Fr. QB BJ Daniels has gained at least 100 yards on the ground in back to back games for the first time since Mike Ford did against Syracuse (134 yards) and Louisville (140 yards) in 2007.
- USF has had a 100-yard rusher in the past three games as Sr. RB Mo Plancher gained 115 at Western Kentucky, then Daniels picked up 105 against Charleston Southern and 126 at Florida State. This is the first time USF has had a player run for 100 yards in three consecutive games since Andre Hall did in 2005. He had 168 yards at Rutgers, 222 at Syracuse and 100 against Cincinnati that year.
- USF forced and recovered four fumbles against Florida State, the last time was the Louisville game in 2007.
- Junior wide receiver Carlton Mitchell is sixth on the USF list for career receiving yards with 1,180 and is just 123 yards away from No. 5 and surpassing DeAndrew Rubin (1,306 from 1999-2002).

Bulls Force Seven Syracuse Turnovers in 34-20 Win
Courtesy: USF
Release: 10/03/2009

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- B.J. Daniels dashed Syracuse's hopes just when the Orange had momentum, and the South Florida defense took care of Greg Paulus.

Daniels hit Carlton Mitchell with an 85-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half to break open a one-point game. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul returned an interception 18 yards for another score, and the Bulls remained unbeaten, 34-20 over the mistake-prone Orange on Saturday in the Big East opener for both teams.

''I had to put some points on the board,'' said Daniels, who a week ago led the Bulls to a stunning 17-7 win at Florida State in his first college start. ''Carlton just came open deep, the corner was cheating inside, and I hit him long.''

Syracuse (2-3) had won two straight behind Paulus, who entered the game completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. But against one of the top defenses in the country the former Duke point guard faltered, throwing five interceptions as the Orange committed seven turnovers.

Paulus finished 25 for 46 for 269 yards, was sacked three times, and equaled the school mark for interceptions set by Todd Norley in a 28-7 loss at Penn State in 1982.

''I don't think I've had five interceptions before,'' said Paulus, a star quarterback in high school in Syracuse. ''I've had eight, nine, 10 turnovers in basketball. You just can't do that against a good opponent. You start to press a little bit. It's all on me.''

Daniels' strike to Mitchell gave South Florida a 21-13 lead, but Paulus guided the Orange right back down the field to the USF 21, converting on third-and-long situations three straight times. But the fourth third down of the drive led to another turnover when Pierre-Paul hit Paulus' throwing arm as he released the ball and Kayvon Webster intercepted.

Daniels then guided USF on a 48-yard scoring drive capped by Mike Ford's 5-yard run.

Pierre-Paul made his critical interception on the Orange's next possession, laying back at the line of scrimmage on first down.

''I saw it and I grabbed it,'' said Pierre-Paul, who scored untouched. ''I was waiting and I was surprised.''

''I didn't see him,'' said Paulus, who had touchdown throws of 11 and 29 yards to Mike Williams. ''They brought pressure. I thought I could throw it over the pressure. I probably should have thrown the ball away. We'll learn from this. Sometimes, you have to have an experience like this to take a couple of steps forward.''

Since joining the Big East, the Bulls are 22-5 out of conference, with wins over Auburn, Florida State, Kansas, North Carolina and North Carolina State. In conference, they are only 15-14 and have never finished better than 4-3.

The lone exception has been Syracuse. South Florida is 5-0 against the Orange, having beaten them by a combined 174-53. But this one was by far the most difficult because, even though the Bulls scored four times off SU turnovers, they also lost three fumbles.

''We needed all of them for us to win that game,'' South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt said. ''You can't imagine how difficult it was for him (Daniels) to come in here today, after the game he had last week with all the pressure, and face a group that defended him well. He kept his head about him and finished the game out, and that is pretty impressive.''

Ford also scored on a 26-yard run in the first quarter and Mitchell caught a 33-yard TD pass from Daniels in the second.

The first 5 minutes of the game featured five turnovers. Syracuse lost two fumbles and Paulus was intercepted deep in USF territory. Orange nose tackle Arthur Jones recovered fumbles by the Bulls on their first two plays from scrimmage. Daniels fumbled his first snap of the game and wideout Dontavia Bogan lost another fumble right after Nate Allen picked off a Paulus pass at the USF 17.

''It was like high school after the first five minutes,'' said Daniels, who was 12 for 20 for 208 yards and gained 32 yards rushing. ''I guess our focus wasn't all the way there.''

The Bulls settled down after their shaky start. Mitchell had six catches for 139 yards, more than offsetting another stellar performance by his counterpart on the Orange. Williams had a career-high 13 catches for 186 yards for Syracuse.


Team Notes
- USF opened the BIG EAST season on the road for the first time since joining the conference in 2005.
- With the win over Syracuse, the Bulls improved to 5-0 for the third straight year and just the fourth time in the program's 13-year history.
- USF is 3-2 in BIG EAST openers, with victories in 2009 (at Syracuse 34-20), 2007 (vs. West Virginia, 21-13) and 2005 (vs. Louisville, 45-14) and losses in 2008 (vs. Pittsburgh, 21-26) and 2006 (vs. Rutgers, 20-22).
- USF leads the all-time series 5-0 and is 3-0 at the Carrier Dome. Along with today, USF has won by scores of 27-0 (2005) and 41-10 (2007) at the famous indoor venue.
- Jim Leavitt has a career record of 92-52 and is in his 13th season at USF. Leavitt is 29-32 in true road games and 59-45 on television.
- Offensive starters for the game were: WR Carlton Mitchell, OL Jamar Bass, LT Jeremiah Warren, LG Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, RG Zach Hermann, RT Jacob Sims, WR A.J. Love, QB B.J. Daniels, FB Richard Kelly, RB Mo Plancher.
- Defensive starters were: DE Craig Marshall, NT Terrell McClain, DT Aaron Harris, DE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LB Chris Robinson, CB Quentin Washington, S Mistral Raymond, FS Nate Allen, CB Jerome Murphy.
- In the first 10 plays of the game, USF forced three turnovers and Syracuse forced two. The Bulls picked up a pair of fumbles and had an interception while the Orange forced two fumbles.
- USF has scored a touchdown before its opponent in all four games this season. Western Kentucky actually scored first in their game against the Bulls, though, a 40-yard field goal.
- With seven turnovers gained in the game, USF takes the NCAA lead with 16 turnovers gained. Air Force is second with 15, as of Sept. 26.
- The USF offense now has seven plays of more than 47 yards in 2009. The Bulls' longest passing play of 2008 was a 47-yard hookup between Grothe and Mitchell.
- USF forced and recovered two fumbles and had five interceptions in the game. Syracuse forced four and recovered three fumbles. The seven turnovers for Syracuse ties a game-high mark for USF opponents. USF forced seven against Louisville in 2007 and Houston in 2002.
- Since 2005, USF has forced 128 turnovers and if you include blocked kicks, the number jumps to 142.
- The USF defense has intercepted a pass in 21 of the last 31 games and has 40 picks during that time.
- USF is 33-8 when opponents score 11-20 points and 24-2 when the Bulls score 31-40 points. USF is 75-5 when leading after the second quarter and 79-5 when leading after the third quarter.

Individual Notes
- In the first quarter, S Nate Allen recorded his first interception of the season. Allen grabbed his second interception of the game, and seventh of his career, in the third quarter.
- In the first quarter Terrell McClain forced a fumble and Quentin Washington recovered it for the first turnover of the game. USF has now forced and recovered a fumble in three of the first four games, forcing two against both Wofford and CSU and recovering one against CSU and two against Wofford.
- Sabbath Joseph forced USF's second fumble and third turnover of the game. Jerome Murphy recovered that fumble. Joseph has five career forced fumbles and Murphy racked up his second career fumble recovery on the play.
- On his first carry of the game, RB Mike Ford picked up four yards to tie Vince Brewer's 1,099 career rushing yards, which is the eighth-most in USF history. One carry later, Ford added two more yards to take sole possession of the No. 8 spot in the record book with 1,163 yards. He is now chasing Ben Williams' 1,169 yards, which he collected from 2005-08.
- On his 23rd birthday, senior RB Mike Ford ran over the Syracuse Orange defense for a 26-yard TD return, his second touchdown of the season and 19th of his career. In the third quarter, he stomped into the end zone on a five-yard run to tie Marquel Blackwell with 20 career rushing TDs. Andre Hall leads the category with 24 and Matt Grothe has 23.
- In the second quarter, Murphy made an interception, which led to USF's second TD of the game.
- With 6:06 left in the second quarter, B.J. Daniels connected on a 33-yard pass with WR Carlton Mitchell to score USF's second TD of the game. The completion is Daniels' fifth passing TD of the year and Mitchell's second TD of the season and seventh of his career.
- USF opened the second half with a one-play scoring strike as Daniels hit Mitchell for an 85-yard TD reception. The play was the longest of the season for the Bulls, surpassing the 77-yard pass from Daniels to Theo Wilson against Florida State.
- The 85-yard TD was also the second longest TD pass in school history. The longest was a 95-yard strike from QB Marquel Blackwell to DeAndrew Rubin against Northern Illinois on Sept. 7, 2002.
- The 85-yard reception by Mitchell is his fourth play over 50 yards this season, including two passes from Matt Grothe against Western Kentucky of 50 and 65 yards, and a 50-yarder from Grothe against Charleston Southern.
- KR Dontavia Bogan collected 109 kick return yards to surpass the career 1,000-yard plateau. He entered the game with 917 yards.
- Bogan also moves into second in career kickoff returns with 40. He passed Charlie Jackson and Taurus Johnson, who each had 39. Bogan now trails DeAndrew Rubin's 60 returns.
- In the third quarter, Kayvon Webster picked up his first interception of the season.

Carlton Mitchell notes
- Mitchell moves ahead of teammate Jesse Hester and ties Scott McCready (1997-00) with eight career touchdown receptions. Mitchell now trails Hugh Smith (1999-02) and RJ Anderson (1998-99), who each have 10 career TD receptions.
- Against Syracuse, Mitchell collected his fourth 100-yard receiving game, and set a personal best with 139 yards in the game. His previous 100-yard high was 130 yards against Western Kentucky in 2009. He also had two 100-yard games in 2007, with totals of 107 (vs. UCF) and 110 (vs. Cincinnati) yards.
- Mitchell ended the game with 139 receiving yards. The school record is 149 yards in five catches by Clif Dell against Kentucky Wesleyan on Sept. 6, 1997.
- Mitchell moves past DeAndrew Rubin's 1,306 career receiving yards to take the fifth spot in the record book with 1,319 career yards. Mitchell now trails No. 4 Charlie Jackson's 1,373 yards.

(#21) USF playing (#8) Cinncy on ESPN and USF leads 7-3 4:37 min left in 1st Qtr.


Go , beat Cinn.

USF Falls in Top-25 Matchup, 34-17
Courtesy: USF
Release: 10/15/2009

TAMPA (AP) - Tony Pike left the field clutching his non-throwing arm, and unbeaten Cincinnati's high-powered, quick-strike offense kept rolling against South Florida.

The eighth-ranked Bearcats got two touchdown passes from their senior quarterback before he left in the third quarter with a sprained left wrist, then backup Zach Collaros ran 75 yards for the first of his two rushing TDs in a 34-17 victory over the 21st-ranked Bulls on Thursday night.

''We're kind of accustomed to it, which isn't a good thing. You never want to see your starting quarterback go down,'' Collaros said. ''I just try to be as well-prepared as I possibly can.''

Coach Brian Kelly said Pike, who broke his left forearm last season and played with a plate and six screws that are still in place, will miss Cincinnati's next game, at home Oct. 24 against Louisville.

''The plate that's in there has shifted,'' Kelly said, adding that it has not been determined if the injury will require surgery. Pike will be examined by a specialist on Friday.

The Bearcats did not make Pike available to the media in the locker room, citing team policy regarding injured players.

Collaros squirted through an opening in the middle of the defense for his long touchdown three plays after entering the game. Pike was injured late in the first half, then left after being hit as he released an incomplete pass on Cincinnati's first possession of the second half.

Pike threw scoring passes of 3 and 8 yards to Armon Binns in the second quarter, helping the Bearcats (6-0, 2-0 Big East) to a 17-10 halftime lead over South Florida (5-1, 1-1), which has lost six consecutive games against Top 25 teams.

The Bulls led early on B.J. Daniels' 28-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hester, and closed within 24-17 late in the third quarter when safety Nate Allen intercepted an ill-advised pass by Collaros to set up a 1-yard TD run by Daniels.

But Collaros, one of two freshmen quarterbacks who bailed Cincinnati out after two starters - Dustin Grutza and Pike - were injured early last season, was not rattled by the mistake. He led a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive that restored the 14-point lead.

''He's a gamer. He's a competitive kid,'' Kelly said. ''He's athletic, and we did what we had to do with him in the game, and that was obviously run him, control clock, play good defense and get out of here with a win.''

The big play in the march was a 43-yard completion to Ben Guidugli, who stretched out to get the ball over the goal line for an apparent touchdown. The tight end was penalized for taking his helmet off in the ensuing celebration, and things got worse for the Bearcats when officials reviewed the play and determined his elbow was down at the 1.

The penalty, which would have been walked off on the kickoff if it had been a touchdown, moved the ball back to the 16. After USF gave the stalled drive new life with a pass interference penalty on third down, Collaros scored on a 3-yard run, making it 31-17.

Collaros finished with 132 yards rushing on 10 carries. Pike, who threw a TD pass for the 16th consecutive game, was 12 of 25 for 140 yards without an interception.

Moving up the polls hasn't been a problem for USF, which has climbed into the top 10 each of the past two seasons before tumbling out of contention when they got into the heart of the Big East schedule.

The Bulls started 6-0 in 2007 and were ranked No. 2 before three consecutive losses dropped them out of the Top 25. They were 5-0 last season before losing four of their next five, including their third straight loss to Cincinnati.

South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said the Bulls will regroup and prepare for next week's conference game at Pittsburgh.

''I'm going to look at the film, tell them what they did right and what they did wrong ... and we'll move on,'' Leavitt said. ''I don't have any other magical formula I can use.''

The Bearcats have one of the most prolific offenses in the nation, but they've been so efficient in moving the ball and scoring quickly that Kelly has been concerned by a time of possession imbalance that's kept his defense on the field for too long this season.

The defending Big East champions had the ball for just 16 and 19 minutes in victories over Fresno State and Miami (Ohio). They had one scoring drive of 4 seconds on Thursday, set up by Aaron Webster's interception and 83-yard return to the USF 3.


Postgame Notes

USF Football In-Game Notes
No. 8/9 Cincinnati 34 (6-0, 2-0 BIG EAST), No. 21/21 USF 17 (5-1, 0-1 BIG EAST)
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.

Team Notes
- The loss to Cincinnati drops USF's record to 5-1 for the third time in the program's 13-year history ... The Bulls also started the season 5-1 during the 1998 and 2008 seasons.
- USF's loss to Cincinnati drops its record to 2-5 all-time against the Bearcats and marks the fourth straight loss for the Bulls ... In addition, USF is now 2-2 all-time against Cincinnati at Raymond James Stadium.
- This season USF will honor former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Tonight, senior CB Jerome Murphy donned the jersey ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.
- Tonight's attendance of 63,976 marks the third home game in USF's 13-year history where better than 60,000 fans have seen the Bulls play ... The last time over 60,000 people came through the turnstiles for a USF home game was on Oct. 13, 2007 against UCF (65,948) ... The first time the Bulls surpassed the 60,000 fan plateau was on Sept. 8, 2007 against West Virginia (67,012).
- Tonight's attendance of 63,976 marks the fourth largest attendance for a mid-week game in BIG EAST history ... The following are the largest BIG EAST attendance figures for midweek games:
67,012 - USF vs. West Virginia (Fri., Sept. 28, 2007)
65,515 - Virginia Tech vs. Texas A&M (Thursday, Sept. 18, 2003)
64,897 - Miami vs. Pittsburgh (Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002)
63,976 - USF vs. Cincinnati (Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009)
63,019 - Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia (Friday, Nov. 28, 2008)

- USF's student turnout of 14,851 tonight to see USF face Cincinnati is the largest in program history surpassing the 13,499 students that saw the Bulls play Kansas last season on Sept. 12, 2008 ... The following are the largest USF student attendance figures:
14,851 - vs. Cincinnati (Oct. 15, 2009)
13,499 - vs. Kansas (Sept. 12, 2008)
12,501 - vs. UCF (Oct. 13, 2007)
12,456 - vs. West Virginia (Sept. 28, 2007)

- USF's fourth down attempt late in the first quarter marked the first time this season that they had not converted on fourth down ... Coming into the game the Bulls were five-for-five.
- The 83-yard interception return by Cincinnati's Aaron Webster was the longest play of the season by an opponent.

Individual Notes
- RB Moise Plancher, S Nate Allen, LB Kion Wilson and DE George Selvie were USF's captains for tonight's game ... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.
- Tonight's offensive starters were: WR Carlton Mitchell, LT Jeremiah Warren, LG Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, RG Zach Hermann, RT Jake Sims, TE Ben Busbee, TE Andrew Ketchel, WR Dontavia Bogan, QB B.J. Daniels, RB Mo Plancher
- Tonight's defensive starters were: LE Jason Pierre-Paul, NT Terrell McClain, DT Aaron Harris, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Mistral Raymond, FS Nate Allen, RC Jerome Murphy, NB Kayvon Webster.
- WR Jessie Hester caught his first pass of the 2009 season which also turned out to be his first touchdown on the year ... The reception came with 6:14 left in the first quarter ... The connection was a 28-yard pass from QB B.J. Daniels.
- B.J. Daniels touchdown strike to Jessie Hester was his seventh of the season.
- Daniels rushed for his fourth rushing TD of the season - and the fourth of his career - on a one-yard scamper with 33 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the Cincinnati lead to seven, 24-17.
- DE George Selvie got his first sack of the game, his third of the season, and his 28.5 of his career midway through the second quarter ... On the same play he forced his first fumble of the season and the ninth of his career.
- K Eric Schwartz kicked a career-long 50-yard field goal, as time expired to end the first half ... It was the longest field goal of the season surpassing Schwartz's 37-yard boot against Charleston Southern on Sept. 19.
- DE Craig Marshall picked up his fourth sack of the season - and his fifth of his career early in the third quarter.
- Nate Allen recorded his third interception of the season and the eighth of his career with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

Bulls Handed 41-14 Defeat at No. 19 Pittsburgh
Courtesy: USF
Release: 10/24/2009

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) --Bill Stull threw for two touchdowns, Dion Lewis ran for two and No. 20 Pitt scored on all five possessions in the first half to rout South Florida 41-14 on Saturday and extend its best start to a season in 27 years.

The Panthers (4-0 in Big East) are 7-1 for the first time since 1982 - Dan Marino's senior season and the last time Pitt was ranked No. 1.

They made this one look easy as Stull completed his first 11 passes against a Bulls defense that appeared geared to stopping Lewis at the start, before he took over and run for 111 yards in three quarters to push his season's total to 1,029 yards.

South Florida (5-2, 1-2) repeatedly hurt itself early with penalties - the Big East's most-penalized team drew the game's first eight penalties and ended with 71 penalty yards.

The Panthers (4-0 in Big East) are 7-1 for the first time since 1982 - Dan Marino's senior season and the last time Pitt was ranked No. 1.

Team Notes
- The loss to Pitt drops USF's record to 5-2 and 1-2 in BIG EAST play.
- The loss drops USF's all-time record against Pitt to 3-4 and 2-2 when playing at Heinz Field.
- This season USF is honoring former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Senior RB Mo Plancher donned the jersey against Pitt ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.

Individual Notes
- RB Moise Plancher, S Nate Allen, LB Kion Wilson, QB Matt Grothe and DE George Selvie were USF's captains... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.
- Offensive starters were: WR Carlton Mitchell, LT Jeremiah Warren, LG Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, RG Zach Hermann, RT Jake Sims, TE Ben Busbee, WR Sterling Griffin, WR Dontavia Bogan, QB B.J. Daniels, RB Mo Plancher
- Defensive starters were: LE Craig Marshall, NT Terrell McClain, DT Aaron Harris, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Chris Robinson, LB Kion Wilson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Mistral Raymond, FS Nate Allen, RC Jerome Murphy.
- Junior RB Jamar Taylor returned from injury (knee) making his first appearance at the 4:25 in the first quarter. He had 5 carries for 28 yards.
- BJ Daniels 41-yard completion to Sterling Griffin was the 19th offensive play of 25 yards or more. (12 pass, 7 run) Daniels has accounted for 12 of those plays either via run or pass.
- RB Mike Ford ran for his fourth touchdown of the season. The touchdown is the 21st rushing TD of his career and 22nd overall. Ford had two rushing touchdowns in the Bulls 48-37 win at Heinz Field in the Bulls 2007 regular season finale.
- With the touchdown Mike Ford moved into sole possession of third place on USF’s career rushing touchdown list.
- Griffin’s reception was the second longest of his career. His longest was his 73-yard TD reception at Florida State.
- LB Kion Wilson led the Bulls with 14 tackles. He now has a team best 50 tackles on the season.
- Back-up QB Evan Landi made his debut after only playing as a receiver and play holder previously.
- With 10 seconds remaining, Evan Landi completed a 20 yard touchdown pass, the first of his career to Dotavia Bogan. The TD reception was the Bogan's third of the season.

go , beat WVU hillbillies!

USF Downs No. 20 West Virginia, 30-19
Courtesy: USF
Release: 10/31/2009

TAMPA (AP) -South Florida's B.J. Daniels gave West Virginia fits with his arm and his feet.

The entertaining redshirt freshman quarterback threw for 232 yards and rushed for 104 more to account for more offense than the 20th-ranked Mountaineers managed as a team in the Bulls' 30-19 victory Friday night.

Daniels threw for three touchdowns, and the Bulls rebounded from two subpar defensive performances to frustrate West Virginia running back Noel Devine and beat their Big East rival for the third time in four years.

The Bulls (6-2, 2-2) allowed 75 points and 887 yards in conference losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh the previous two weeks, yet found a way to hold Devine to his lowest rushing total of the season.

In stopping their two-game slide, they hope they have pulled out of a funk that contributed to midseason swoons that also followed promising starts that lifted them into the Top 25 in 2007 and 2008.

''I guess a lot of people doubted us and thought we were going to go down the same patch we did the last two years,'' said Daniels, who had 336 yards total offense to West Virginia's 323. ''That was a lot of garbage that our team didn't listen to.''

West Virginia (6-2, 2-1) drove 80 yards after the opening kickoff to take a 7-0 lead, but never really got into a rhythm offensively.

''There's some young hurting guys in there, both physically and mentally. And they should be,'' West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. ''That was a hard-fought game. I cannot fault our effort.''

Daniels threw TD passes of 49 yards to Carlton Mitchell, 11 yards to A.J. Love and 6 yards to Sterling Griffin. Eric Schwartz's third field goal, a 44-yarder 3 minutes into the fourth quarter put the Bulls up 30-19.

Jarrett Brown scored on runs of 3 and 11 yards, however West Virginia's senior quarterback had sporadic success throwing against a defense geared to stop the run.

Devine, who grew up 2 hours south of Tampa, was limited to 42 yards on 17 carries in what was a homecoming of sorts for him and a number of other Mountaineers from Florida, including Brown and leading receiver Jock Sanders.

Devine entered averaging 130.3 per game - third in the nation - and 89 shy of topping 1,000 for the second straight season.

''We talked a lot about him,'' South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. ''We didn't want to let him get outside - we wanted to keep him hemmed up inside. ... He's such a great back. If he gets out, he's gone.''

Down two scores in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers were forced to throw on virtually every down. Brown finished 19 of 32 for 205 yards and one interception, while Devine only carried the ball twice in the fourth quarter.

In a come-from-behind victory over Connecticut last week, the speedy 5-foot-7, 176-pound Devine set up one second-half touchdown with a 62-yard run, then scored the winning TD on a 56-yard burst.

West Virginia was trying to remain unbeaten in the Big East, along with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers lost to South Florida in 2006 and 2007 and have lost three of five games overall in the budding rivalry.

Daniels improved to 3-2 since replacing Big East career total offense leader Matt Grothe, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third week of the season. He kept West Virginia offbalance with his mobility and made some of his biggest throws while scrambling to buy time.

''They were expecting me to run once I got outside the pocket, so a lot of the DB's had their eyes on me, and our guys got behind them,'' Daniels said.

Besides his 49-yard catch for a touchdown, Mitchell nearly scored on a 69-yard reception. Officials ruled he was pushed out of bounds at the West Virginia 9 as he tightroped up the sideline and into the end zone.

Three plays later, Daniels rolled to his right and - looking like a threat to run - found Love wide open for an 11-yard TD pass as the Mountaineers converged on him as he broke containment.

Daniels also had a 45-yard completion to Love and finished 13 of 26 without an interception.

''We haven't seen a guy like that (this year), but at the same time that's no excuse for our defense,'' West Virginia safety Robert Sands said. ''We've still got to go out there and make plays. He broke contain too many times, and he burned us.''

USF Football Post Game Notes
USF 30 (6-2, 2-2 BIG EAST) vs. No. 20/20 West Virginia 19 (6-2, 2-1 BIG EAST)
Friday, Oct. 30 2009, 8 p.m.
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.

Team Notes
- USF's win over West Virginia improves the Bulls' record to 6-2 for the third consecutive year and the sixth time in the programs 13-year history ... USF was also 6-2 through eight games during the 1998, 1999, 2002, 2007 and 2008 seasons.
- The Bulls' victory tonight improves their all-time record over West Virginia to 3-2 ... USF has won three of its last four games against the Mountaineers with the only loss during that four-game stretch coming last season in Morgantown, 13-7, on Nov. 24 ... In addition, the Bulls are now 2-1 against West Virginia at Raymond James Stadium.
- This season USF will honor former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Tonight, senior S Nate Allen donned the jersey ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.
- After a 12-game streak of 40,000 or more fans coming through the turnstiles at Raymond James Stadium to see the Bulls play was snapped against Charleston Southern on Sept. 19 (39,798), tonight's attendance of 56,328 marks the second consecutive home game of better than 50,000.
- Tonight's attendance is the seventh largest to ever see a USF home game ...
- West Virginia was the fourth ranked opponent USF has played, which is the most in a single season in program history ... In addition to West Virginia being ranked No. 20 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls, the Bulls also took on No. 18/25 Florida State, No. 8/8 Cincinnati and No. 19/20 Pittsburgh.
- USF has never played three consecutive ranked opponents, let alone three in a span of 16 days or even in a single season ... The Bulls took on No. 8/8 Cincinnati on Oct. 15 and No. 19/20 Pittsburgh on Oct.. 24, in addition to No. 20/20 West Virginia tonight.
- By the end of the weekend, USF will be one of only eight teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision to have faced four ranked opponents this season, joined by Miami, USC, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.
- The USF defense came up big against the BIG EAST's top rusher Noel Devine ... Devine came into the game averaging 130.3 yards per game, however was held to just 42 yards on 17 carries ... It was the first time in nine games - dating back to last season - that he was held to fewer than 50 yards rushing.
- The Bulls' defense also held Devine without a touchdown for the first time in eight games.

Individual Notes
- RB Moise Plancher, S Nate Allen, LB Kion Wilson and DE George Selvie were USF's captains for tonight's game ... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.
- Tonight's offensive starters were: WR Carlton Mitchell, WR Jessie Hester, LT Jamar Bass, LG Jeremiah Warren, C Sampson Genus, RG Zach Herman, RT Mark Popek, TE Ben Busbee, WR Dontavia Bogan, WR A.J. Love, QB B.J. Daniels, RB Mo Plancher, HB Richard Kelly.
- Tonight's defensive starters were: LE Jason Paul-Pierre, NT Terrell McClain, DT Aaron Harris, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LB Chris Robinson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Mistral Raymond, FS Nate Allen, RC Jerome Murphy.
- DE George Selvie tied the USF career record for games started tonight with 45 ... He joins Carlton Williams (2005-08), Stephen Nicholas (2002-06) and Trae Williams (2002-06) who also started 45 career games.
- QB B.J. Daniels threw his first of three touchdown passes on the night with a 49-yard strike to WR Carlton Mitchell with 7:41 left in the first quarter ... Daniels would then hit WR A.J. Love on an 11-yard pass with 6:57 left in the half ... Daniels then hit Sterling Griffin on a six-yard pass for a TD. The three TDs were a career-high for Daniels.
- Mitchell's TD reception was his fourth of the season and the ninth of his career.
- Mitchell moved from fifth on the school's career receiving yards list (1,352), coming into tonight's game, to second after recording 132 yards on the night on five receptions ... He is second only to Hugh Smith (1999-02) who finished his career with 1,523 yards.
- Love's TD reception with 6:57 left was his first of the season and the fourth of his career
- LB Kion Wilson recorded his first interception of the season and the second of his career early in the second quarter ... Fellow LB Sabbath Joseph picked up his first career fumble recovery when Wilson put the ball on the turf at the end of the play.
- WR Sterling Griffin caught his second career touchdown pass on a six-yard reception from B.J. Daniels with 5:26 left in the third quarter.
- B.J. Daniels had more total yards - 336 (104 rushing and 232 passing) - than West Virginia turned in on the night ... The Mountaineers had 323 total yards (118 rushing and 205 passing) in tonight's loss.
- Daniels' 104 yards rushing tonight is the third time in his career that he has surpassed the century mark ... He also ran for better than 100 yards against Florida State (126 yards) on Sept. 26 and Charleston Southern (105 yards) on Sept. 19.
- K Eric Schwartz is just the third player in the BIG EAST this season to be perfect in field goals with three or more attempts ... Schwartz finished the night 3-3 after coming into the game 3-6.

Rutgers Shuts Down Bulls, 31-0
Courtesy: USF
Release: 11/12/2009

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -Instead of getting even with Rutgers, No. 23 South Florida didn't even get on the scoreboard for the first time in a regular-season game in its 13-year history.

Tom Savage threw for two touchdowns and Rutgers forced four turnovers, blocked a punt and recorded seven sacks in defeating the error-prone Bulls 31-0 in a nationally televised game on Thursday night.

The victory was the fourth straight for Rutgers (7-2, 2-2 Big East) over South Florida (6-3, 2-3), and this one made the Scarlet Knights bowl eligible for the fifth straight season.

The only other time South Florida was shut out was 14-0 in the Meineke Bowl in 2005 against North Carolina State.

Savage threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to Mohamed Sanu and 26 yards to Tim Brown. Joe Martinek ran for 128 yards, including a 37-yard score. San San Te kicked field goals of 36, 26 and 49 yards.

South Florida came into this game seeking revenge. The Bulls thought the Scarlet Knights ran up the score last year in a 49-16 victory and they promised to make amends, noting that coach Jim Leavitt had been discussing the Rutgers game since training camp opened.

But on the second play from scrimmage, cornerback Jerome Murphy was flagged for hitting Brown out of bounds and nothing went right for South Florida the rest of the night.

Rutgers went 80 yards on that initial drive, capped by Savage's touchdown pass to Sanu, who broke a tackle by Kayvon Webster at the 15.

The first half was awful for South Florida, although it trailed only 13-0.

B.J. Daniels threw two interceptions and lost a fumble on a scramble, Faron Hornes muffed a punt, and Rutgers' Devin McCourty blocked a punt by Delbert Alvarado late in the half.

Rutgers, however, managed only two field goals off the turnovers. Te missed a 51-yard attempt and he never got a chance to kick a 23-yarder after Hornes' fumble because holder Teddy Dellaganna didn't catch the snap.

Rutgers broke the game open in the second half. Savage (15 of 30 for 194 yards) connected with Brown on a touchdown pass midway through the third quarter. Sanu stretched the lead to 21-0, running in a 2-point conversion out of a wildcat formation.

Te kicked his 49-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and Martinek closed the scoring with his 37-yard run around left end.

Daniels, who engineered a win over then-No. 20 West Virginia in South Florida's previous game, finished 7 of 17 for 129 yards. He also carried 16 times for 11 yards. The Bulls finished with seven first downs and 159 yards in total offense, including 30 yards rushing.

Team Notes

- The loss to Rutgers drops USF's record to 6-3 and 2-3 in BIG EAST play.

- The loss drops USF's all-time record against Rutgers to 2-4 and 1-2 when playing at Rutgers Stadium.

- This season USF is honoring former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Senior RB Kion Wilson donned the jersey against Rutgers ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.

Individual Notes

- RB Moise Plancher, S Nate Allen, LB Kion Wilson, QB Matt Grothe and DE George Selvie were USF's captains... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.

- Offensive starters were: WR Jason Sherman, LT Jeremiah Warren, LG Chaz Hine, C Sampson Genus, RG Jake Sims, RT Mark Popek, WR Jessie Hester, WR A J Love, WR Dontavia Bogan, QB B.J. Daniels, RB Mo Plancher

- Defensive starters were: LE David Bedford, NT Terrell McClain, DT Keith McCaskill, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Chris Robinson, LB Kion Wilson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Mistral Raymond, FS Nate Allen, RC Jerome Murphy.

- Sophomore Keith McCaskill made his third career start and second consecutive. He finished with two tackles.

- Senior WR Jessie Hester made his first start of the 2009 season. The start marked the 10th of his career.

- Junior WR Jason Sherman made his first career start.

- Senior CB Jerome Murphy picked off a Tom Savage pass in the first half, which is his third interception of the year and seventh of his career.

- Senior WR Theo Wilson's 37-yard and junior WR A.J. Love's 37-yard and 29-yards receptions were the 26th, 27th and 28th plays of 25 yards or more for USF this season.

- Senior LB Wilson Kion Wilson led the Bulls with 18 tackles, which is a career high . Wilson has led the team in tackles three consecutive games and four times in 2009. It is the third consecutive game with double digit tackles. He now has a team best 79 tackles on the season.

- Junior DE Jason Pierre-Paul had two sacks, a career high. He now has four sacks on the season. He had 3.0 tackle for losses and now has 12.5 TFLs on the season.

Career Days For Daniels & Love Lead Bulls to 34-22 Win
Courtesy: USF
Release: 11/21/2009

TAMPA (AP) -B.J. Daniels rebounded from the worst game of his young career to throw for 304 yards and run for 141 more in the University of USF's football team's 34-22 victory over struggling Louisville on Saturday.

Daniels, shut down in a 31-0 loss to Rutgers last week, threw for one touchdown and ran for two others while leading four scoring drives of at least 75 yards. With a combined 445 yards, the red-shirt freshman finished 12 shy of the school record set by Big East career total offense leader Matt Grothe in 2007.

USF (7-3, 3-3) was limited to 159 yards against Rutgers, with Daniels going 7 of 17 for 129 yards and two interceptions passing and rushing for just 11 yards on 15 attempts. He was 20 of 34 passing Saturday and compiled his fourth 100-yard game rushing on 22 carries.

Louisville (4-7, 1-5) lost for the ninth straight time on the road. The Cardinals assured themselves a second straight losing season under coach Steve Kragthorpe, who has a three-year record of 15-20.

Daniels threw a 16-yard TD pass to Dontavia Bogan on USF's first drive of the game and later scored on runs of 1 and 20 yards. Mo Plancher had a 2-yard scoring run and Eric Schwartz kicked field goals of 22 and 44 yards.

Adam Froman threw for 232 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Louisville, which erased an early 14-point deficit but couldn't manage much offense after halftime. Scott Long had a 20-yard TD reception, Trent Guy scored on a 60-yard punt return, and Darius Ashley's 1-yard run trimmed USF's lead to 27-22 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Daniels put it out of reach, leading a 75-yard march that he finished with his second touchdown.

Midseason slides have knocked USF out of the Top 25 each of the past three years after 5-0 starts. The Bulls had dropped three of their previous four games, losing to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Rutgers by a combined 106-31.

Louisville, coming off an ugly 10-9 victory over Syracuse that stopped a nine-game conference losing streak, dropped to 3-13 on the road in three seasons under Kragthrope. The Cardinals finish 0-6 away from home this year and were outscored 191-107, including 59-7 in the opening quarter.

USF surpassed last week's production against Rutgers its first two possessions alone.

In the opening half, Daniels threw for 149 yards and ran for 85 more, including a pair of 18-yard scampers that set up Schwartz's 22-yard field goal for a 17-16 lead on the last play of the second quarter.

Daniels opened the second half with another 80-yard drive, covering the final 20 yards on a nifty run that put him over 100 rushing for the fourth time. He's the first USF quarterback to top the century mark rushing and throw for 300 in the same game.


USF Football Post Game Notes

Team Notes
-USF's win over Louisville improves the Bulls' record to 7-3 for the fifth time in the program's 13-year history ... USF was also 7-3 through 10 games during the 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2008 seasons.

-The Bulls' victory improves their all-time record over Louisville to 4-3 ... USF has won two of its last three games against the Cardinals and thee of its last five ... In addition, the Bulls are now 4-0 against UofL at Raymond James Stadium.

-This season, USF will honor former player Keeley Dorsey by wearing his No. 10 jersey ... Senior QB Matt Grothe donned the jersey ... Dorsey passed away after a team conditioning workout on Jan. 17, 2007 ... This season would have been his senior year.

-After a 12-game streak of 40,000 or more fans coming through the turnstiles at Raymond James Stadium to see the Bulls play was snapped against Charleston Southern on Sept. 19 (39,798), today's attendance of 49,388 marks the third consecutive home game of better than 40,000.

B.J. Daniels Notes
-Daniels had 445 yards of total offense (304 passing, 104 rushing) on the day ... Daniels' total outgained Louisville as a team, which had 313 yards on the day.

- Redshirt-freshman B.J. Daniels became the first quarterback in school history to surpass the 300-yard passing and the 100-yard rushing marks in a single game... He is the first Big East player with 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game and the the 28th player in FBS history to do so.

- QB B.J. Daniels ran for a 20-yard touchdown with 9:30 left in the third quarter ... The run put Daniels over 100 yards (103 yards at the time of the score) for the fourth time this season ... In addition to today, Daniels also reached the century yard mark against Charleston Southern (105) on Sept. 19, Florida State (126) on Sept. 26 and West Virginia (104) on Oct. 30.

-Daniels recorded his second touchdown of the afternoon on a one-yard run with 5:09 left in the game ... It was his sixth TD of the season and career. He now leads the team with six rushing touchdowns in 2009, one better than Mo Plancher's five.

Individual Notes
-RB Mo Plancher, S Nate Allen, LB Kion Wilson, DE George Selvie and QB Matt Grothe were USF's captains for today's game ... Captains will be announced throughout the season by coach Jim Leavitt on a game-by-game basis.

-Today's offensive starters were: LT Jamar Bass, LG Jeremiah Warren, C Sampson Genus, RG Chaz Hine, RT Jacob Sims, TE Andrew Ketchel, WR Dontavia Bogan, WR A.J. Love, WR Sterling Griffin, QB B.J. Daniels, RB Moise Plancher

-Today's defensive starters were: LE David Bedford, NT Terrell McClain, DT Keith McCaskill, RE George Selvie, LB A.J. LoveLB Kion Wilson, LB Chris Robinson, LCB Carlton Mitchell, SS Jason Sherman, FS Lindsey Lamar, RCB Moise Plancher

-QB B.J. Daniels threw his 11th touchdown pass of the season - and the 11th of his career - with a 16-yard connection to WR Dontavia Bogan with 9:56 left in the first quarter.

-WR Dontavia Bogan's 16-yard touchdown reception from QB B.J. Daniels with 9:56 left in the first quarter was Bogan's fourth TD catch of the season, and the sixth of his career.

-RB Mo Plancher rushed for his fifth touchdown of the season and the 11th of his career with a two-yard scamper with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

-With his third catch of the game, Jessie Hester became the fifth play in school history with 100 career receptions ... Hester is currently fifth on USF's career receptions list with 102. Hester had five catches for 43 yards.

-FS Nate Allen picked off his fourth pass of the season and the ninth of his career with 7:14 left in the third quarter.

-K Eric Schwartz went 2-3 today on field goal attempts including a 44-yard boot with 7:14 left in the third quarter.

- WR A.J. Love surpassed the 100-yard reception plateau today with 121 yards on 4 receptions ... That marks a career-high for Love and the first time he has recorded 100 yards or more. He previous high was 83 against Kansas in 2008 and his previous season high was 80 against Rutgers on Nov. 12.

- Senior LB Kion Wilson led the Bulls in tackles for the fourth consecutive week with 12 tackles (6 solo, 6 assists) ... Wilson now has a team best 91 tackles in 2009.