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Bulls' BCS Bowl Hopes Go South

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By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 28, 2007

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - Two weeks ago the University of South Florida was ranked No. 2 in the nation and had a legitimate shot of playing in the BCS national title game in New Orleans.

Following Saturday's 22-15 loss at Connecticut, the Bulls' bowl destination has gone from Bourbon Street to Birmingham. Pizza anyone?

In only 10 days the No. 11 Bulls have gone from ranked to rank. Once again, USF's season has gone south in East Hartford.

'We got so upset about people talking bad about us saying we're overrated,' USF nose tackle Richard Clebert said. 'We're playing as if we're overrated. We're not playing good at all right now.'

For the second consecutive week, the Bulls (6-2, 1-2 Big East) were favored on the road, only to lose and watch the home fans storm the field.

'It's got to be the best victory we've ever had here at this institution,' said UConn coach Randy Edsall, after the Huskies beat a ranked team for the first time in school history.

Like they were two years ago at Rentschler Field, the Bulls were done in by a questionable play call near the goal line (Voodoo 5: The Sequel?). USF also added in an abundance of turnovers (three), penalties (10) and bad special teams play to lose its second consecutive game.

'It's a very tough loss,' Clebert said. 'The same thing happened two years ago in a 15-10 loss at UConn, we were on the 1-yard line. This makes it worse. The pain is two times stronger.'

Trailing 16-0 at halftime, USF was down 22-15 after holding UConn (7-1, 3-0) to a field goal with 5:19 remaining.

The Bulls then drove from their 38 to UConn's 9 - converting two third downs and a fourth-and-7 on Matt Grothe's 10-yard pass to Carlton Mitchell. After a UConn offside penalty, the Bulls had first-and-goal at the 5.

Grothe gained 4 yards to the 1. On second down, Moise Plancher, who was in the game for an injured Mike Ford and had only one carry all season, was stuffed for no gain.

'I didn't know Mo was in the game,' USF coach Jim Leavitt said.

On third-and-goal at the 1, USF lined up in the wishbone. Grothe faked a handoff and ran a naked bootleg to the left, but defensive end Cody Brown and linebacker Greg Robinson were waiting. Grothe tried to elude the Husky defenders, but was dropped for an 11-yard loss.

'That was a run all the way,' Leavitt said.

On fourth-down from the 12, Grothe's pass in the end zone sailed incomplete.

'We didn't score,' Leavitt said. 'We didn't score. Sure, we wasted too many opportunities. We're proud of our guys. We battled our tails off. You didn't see any quit in this football team, I promise you.'

In the second half, USF outgained UConn 299 to 102, but it wasn't enough to overcome a bushel full of first-half mistakes. Sophomore Delbert Alvarado missed field goals from 26 and 44 and Scott Lutrus returned a Grothe interception 23 yards for a touchdown.

'We showed up one half too late,' USF defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. 'We didn't do a good job in the first half. We didn't even come close to stopping them.

'By the time we played better, it was too late.'

UConn's Andre Dixon rushed for a career-high 167 yards.

As he has the past three games, Grothe carried USF's offense. He rushed for a career-high 146 yards - his third 100-yard game in USF's last four contests - and also threw for 189 yards.

'We've got to fix some stuff, but we definitely struggled,' Grothe said. 'We need to play like we know how to play.'

Trailing 16-0 midway through the third quarter, Jerome Murphy sparked USF's rally by blocking Desi Cullen's punt in the end zone. Dylan Douglas could have fallen on the ball for a TD, but it squirted out and USF had to settle for a safety.

After UConn's free kick, USF went 63 yards in three plays - Grothe ran 53 yards to the 10 and scored on the next play, making it 16-9.

UConn and USF then traded field goals on their next two possessions.

USF's defense forced a UConn punt and the Bulls drove down for the tying touchdown. However, Ford's 1-yard TD run was nullified by Cedric Hill's holding call and the Bulls, after having first-and-goal at the 1, had to settle for a field goal.

Trailing 22-15, USF again had a first-and-goal inside the 5, but failed to convert.

'We have soul searching to do and really have to get after it this week,' USF linebacker Ben Moffitt said. 'We have to do what we do best and work hard. We have to look down deep inside.'

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

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