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First Quarter Filled With Fireworks

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By GREGG BECNEL, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 4, 2007

TAMPA - There was a fireworks display that began immediately after the University of South Florida's 38-33 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday, but it couldn't compare to the fireworks that occurred on the field during the first quarter, where a season's worth of big plays and drama unfolded.

USF cornerback Trae Williams got the roller coaster of emotions and flurry of points started when he intercepted a Ben Mauk pass and returned it 73 yards for a 7-0 lead 1:39 into the game.

"I thought at the time it would set the tone," Williams said, "but obviously it didn't. The whole first quarter was like a roller coaster - up and down, up and down."

The Bearcats answered a little more than two minutes later on a 63-yard touchdown reception, which looked like a possible interception for Bulls safety Nate Allen before Antwuan Giddens took the ball away and raced for the score.

Allen was in position to make a play, but the ball was tipped over his head, USF coach Jim Leavitt said.
Mike Jenkins continued the pinball-like scoring frenzy when he returned the ensuing kickoff for a school-record 100 yards and a 14-7 lead.

"The coaches called me into the office this past week and asked me if I wanted to do it," Jenkins said, "and I said 'Yeah, put me back there.'"

The frenetic pace then slowed, but the big plays in the quarter did not. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they were on the wrong end of all of them.

After giving up a Bearcats field goal at the 8:30 mark, USF led 14-10 despite not taking an offensive snap and having been outgained 137-0.

"I've never seen anything like that," Jenkins said. "It was just crazy."

The Bearcats went up for good when the Bulls' recent special teams breakdowns continued and Delbert Alvarado's punt was blocked and recovered in the end zone for a 17-14 Cincinnati lead.

"We didn't execute very good," Leavitt said of the blocked punt. "I was really disappointed in that."

USF tried to answer and was marching for a potential score, but a Matt Grothe pass was intercepted and returned 79 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bulls in a 10-point hole with 3:57 remaining in the first quarter.

Cincinnati needed less than two minutes to up its lead to 31-14 when the Bearcats scored four plays after recovering a Jamar Taylor fumble at the USF 31.

"I don't know that I've been in a quarter like that before," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said. "It was a different first quarter, one that I've never experienced."

In all, it took 63 minutes to complete.

"It felt real long. I was on oxygen for two series," Jenkins said. "I saw the quarter ending and I asked Carlton Williams 'We going to halftime?' and he was like 'No, that's just the first quarter.' I wasn't sure how I was going to get through three more."

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