South Florida Beats West Virginia
QB Daniels Leads Bulls to Big East Conference Football Victory
Oct 30, 2009
Daniels passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns. and also rushed for 104 yards as South Florida defeated No. 20 West Virginia 30-19 in a Big East football game Friday night at Tampa, Fla.
South Florida's Carlton Mitchell caught five passes for 132 yards and a TD, and the Bulls shut down West Virginia running back Noel Devine while snapping a four-game Mountaineers winning streak.
Coach Jim Leavitt's Bulls (6-2 overall, 2-2 Big East) started the season 5-0 before suffering back-to-back conference defeats to No. 5 Cincinnati and No. 16 Pittsburgh the past two weeks. Daniels was intercepted twice in each of those games.
But the freewheeling redshirt freshman threw none Friday night while completing 13 of 26 passes. He also averaged 7.4 yards on 14 rushes, and set up big completions with his scrambling ability.
West Virginia's Jarrett Brown completed 19 of 32 passes for 205 yards, and ran for two touchdowns. But Bill Stewart's Mountaineers (6-2, 2-1) lost for the first time since falling at Auburn on Sept. 19.
USF Defense Steps Up
The South Florida defense gave up more than 400 yards in its losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, but limited West Virginia to just 323.
Devine, who entered the game averaging 130.29 yards per game, managed only 42 yards on 17 carries. But he did have an additional 33 yards on four receptions. And his team was in contention most of the way.
An 11-yard touchdown by Brown brought West Virginia within 20-19 with 9 minutes, 18 seconds left in the third quarter, yet the Mountaineers had just three more possessions and came up empty each time.
South Florida, meanwhile, mounted an eight-play, 69-yard drive capped by Daniel's 6-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Grifffin with 5:26 left in the third quarter. The Bulls closed the scoring on a 44-yard field goal by Eric Schwartz with 12:06 remaining in the game.
South Florida takes 20-12 Halftime Lead
The Mountaineers were sharp on their opening possession, driving 80 yards on 11 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard TD run by Brown. South Florida tied it on the ensuing drive, when Daniels hit MItchell with a 49-yard TD pass, and took a 10-7 advantage on a 30-yard Schwartz field goal.
West Virginia pulled within 10-9, when Julian Miller and Pat Lazear stopped Jamar Taylor in the end zone for a safety on the final play off the first quarter.
But the Mountaineers offense failed to follow up, and USF extended the lead to 17-9 when a scrambling Daniels hit A.J. Love with an 11-yard scoring toss. The TD was set up by a 69-yard pass from Daniels to Mitchell.
Tyler Bitancurt's 33-yard field goal brought the Mountaineers within five, but South Florida went up 20-12 when Schwartz hit a 26-yard field goal with 23 seconds left in the first half.
Linebacker Wilson Lifts USF Defense
South Florida finished with 421 yards. While Daniels and Mitchell accounted for most of them, the Bulls also received productive performances from running back Moise Plancher (18 rushes for 86 yards) and Love (3 catches for 71 yards).
Kion Wilson led the South Florida defense with 12 tackles, including 2.5 for losses. The senior linebacker also had a second quarter interception — although he almost fumbled it away. Cornerback Jerome Murphy added nine tackles, eight of them unassisted.
Linebacker Lazear paced West Virginia with eight tackles, and defensive end Julian Miller had five tackles, including 2.5 for losses and one of the Mountaineers' three sacks.
Alric Arnett recorded a game-high six receptions for 84 yards for West Virginia, which fell 1 1/2 games behind first-place Pitt (7-1, 4-0) in the Big East. Cincinnati (7-0, 3-0) is half-game behind the Panthers.
