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Bulls Put Squeeze On The Orange

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By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2007

Updated: 11/11/2007 12:44 am

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - One play. That's all the University of South Florida needed to take control at Syracuse on Saturday.

Syracuse's Max Suter fumbled the opening kickoff, USF's Dylan Douglas recovered and the Orange never did as the Bulls crushed the Orange 41-10 at the Carrier Dome.

The Bulls (7-3, 2-3 Big East) took out their frustrations of a three-game losing streak by rolling up a school-record 582 yards of offense, while limiting Syracuse (2-8, 1-4) to 15 yards rushing.

"It feels good to win," USF senior cornerback Trae Williams said. "I didn't forget what it felt like, but it feels good. It's about time."

The teams entered tied for last in the Big East, but it was evident early they are clearly worlds apart as USF clinched a third consecutive bowl berth before a crowd of 38,039.

"I don't know anything about bowls," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "I just wanted to beat Syracuse."

And the Bulls did - decisively.

Making his second start, USF freshman Mike Ford rushed for a career-high 134 yards and two TDs on 28 carries, his most playing time since he was a senior at Sarasota High in 2004.

"I love it, it feels pretty good," Ford said. "Thanks to the offensive line, we got stronger as the game went on."

Freshman Aston Samuels also added 101 yards on only two carries. Ford and Samuels became only the fourth set of USF teammates to rush for 100 yards in a game. USF's 346 yards rushing was the third most in school history.

"When we're not running the ball, it's because of us, the offensive line," USF senior center Nick Capogna said. "If we give those guys a crease, they'll take it. Then we don't have to throw the ball 50 times."

After having to carry the offense the past two weeks, USF quarterback Matt Grothe was just another key component Saturday. He threw for 181 yards, including touchdowns to Carlton Mitchell (15 yards) and Taurus Johnson (9 yards), and rushed 73 yards on 14 carries before leaving after three quarters.

"We've been able to move at will the last two weeks too, we had some turnovers that stopped us," Grothe said. "We need to keep working on that and we'll be fine."

The Bulls, who have had the breaks go against them in their three-game losing streak, got a big break when Suter fumbled Justin Teachey's short opening kickoff.

"We wanted to kick it deep, he didn't kick it deep," Leavitt said. "That's the way football is."

Four plays later, Ford bulled over from the 1.

"That was big," Williams said. "I'm not going to say they deflated on that one play, but it set the tone."

Leading 10-0, USF took advantage of another Syracuse turnover. Quarterback Cameron Dailey's pass bounced off fullback Tony Fiammetta's helmet into the arms of nose tackle Allen Cray. That set up Grothe's TD pass to Mitchell and the rout was on.

At halftime, USF led 20-3. The Bulls put the contest away with three third quarter touchdowns.

"More satisfying to me than the total yards was just one turnover," USF offensive coordinator Greg Gregory said. "That to me is the difference in our football team. When we don't turn it over, we move the ball.

"We have moved it up and down the field the past two weeks then we throw it away in end zone, miss a field goal or fumble. Today we didn't turn it over and we had even more opportunities."

The Orange, who fell to 2-17 under Coach Greg Robinson in Big East play, never challenged the 16 1/2 -point favorite Bulls.

"That's the kind of team they were for about six weeks," Robinson said of USF's 6-0 start. "Then, all of a sudden, they hurt themselves as much as others hurt them."

Ironically on the day Syracuse retired the jersey of one of its greatest backs - Larry Csonka - the Orange was held to 15 yards on 17 carries. It's the fewest yards rushing allowed by USF against a Division I-A opponent.

"Our front four did a great job knocking their offensive line back," USF defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. "They couldn't run the ball."

All day long, they couldn't run and they couldn't hide.

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

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