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Takeaways Turn Tide For USF

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By RAY FITTIPALDO, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 25, 2007

Updated: 11/25/2007 12:23 am

PITTSBURGH - For the first 30 minutes of Saturday's game against Pittsburgh, University of South Florida defensive coordinator Wally Burnham was searching for answers.

The Panthers marched up and down the field against his unit, gaining 195 yards and making big plays en route to a 14-10 halftime lead.

After a few adjustments during the intermission, Burnham's opportunistic defenders turned the tide and sparked a 48-37 victory at Heinz Field.

The Bulls intercepted freshman quarterback Pat Bostick three times in the second half and returned two for touchdowns. Defensive backs Nate Allen and Trae Williams found the end zone on their picks, and linebacker Ben Moffitt returned his interception to the 1 to set up another score.

"I told the defense at halftime, 'We really have to try to get some turnovers,'" Coach Jim Leavitt said. "And they did. They really did a good job."

USF has five defensive touchdowns this season and has forced 41 turnovers. The Bulls were tied with Cincinnati for the NCAA Division I lead with 38 turnovers going into Saturday's game.

"We've been a big-play defense all year," Burnham said. "Those plays really turned it to our side."

The three big plays by the defense came during a span of a little more than 10 minutes and turned a close game into a rout. Allen's 37-yard interception return made it 27-14 on the final play of the third quarter.

A few minutes later, Moffitt stepped in front of a Bostick pass and ran 60 yards before being tripped up just shy of the goal line. Mike Ford scored on a 1-yard run to make it 34-14.

Williams got his third interception return for a touchdown in the past four games to make it 41-21.

"Week in and week out, we just try to get turnovers for the offense," Williams said. "Sometimes we end up scoring. That helps us as a defense to get the momentum going. They were moving the ball in the first half. Once we got a few turnovers, that kind of changed the game. We put points on the board. We were all hyped up and ready to go."

Burnham made some halftime adjustments - disguising coverages in the secondary - that forced Bostick into making bad decisions.

"Nate made his big interception on one of the adjustments we made," Burnham said. "It's a chess game, and we happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Said Williams: "We might show one coverage and then roll late. We wanted to get pressure on him and rattle his cage a little bit because Bostick was a freshman."

After approaching 200 yards in the first half, the Panthers had 33 yards in the third quarter as they watched their halftime lead evaporate. What was a four-point lead turned into a 20-point deficit because of the turnovers.

"All we had to do was fix a couple of mistakes and get after them," said junior linebacker Tyrone McKenzie, who had 18 tackles, one off the school record. "Those turnovers played a huge role. The quarterback kept throwing it up, and everyone kept making plays. We kept getting pressure on the quarterback. We waited for him to make a mistake. He made a couple of them, and we took advantage."

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