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Renewed confidence in passing game pays off

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By SCOTT CARTER

scarter@tampatrib.com

Published: November 1, 2009

TAMPA - In his previous two games, back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, University of South Florida freshman QB B.J. Daniels threw one touchdown pass and four interceptions.

In Friday night's 30-19 win over West Virginia, Daniels finished 13 of 26 for 232 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

That's more what USF coach Jim Leavitt had in mind when he opted to unleash Daniels after limiting him to only eight passes in the loss at Pitt the previous game.

"I handcuffed him at Pitt," Leavitt said following Friday's win. "We had interceptions, and I don't like interceptions. But I told (offensive coordinator) Mike (Canales), 'Let him go.'"

And off went Daniels, who responded by accounting for 336 total yards, 13 more than the entire West Virginia offense. Daniels' three scoring passes established a career high.

Daniels took off on USF's first drive when he put the Bulls on the scoreboard with a 49-yard pass to junior WR Carlton Mitchell. Leavitt's decision to give Daniels more freedom in the offense was welcomed by Canales.

"I grabbed the receivers and quarterbacks and told them, 'It's going to be on us this week. We're going to have to make plays down the field,'" Canales said. "We came out and we said we're going to go and be aggressive and explosive and we're going to try to make things happen, and our kids made plays."

USF racked up 421 yards Friday, its best offensive performance since Daniels took over for former starter Matt Grothe after Grothe suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season.

Injury report

The last place USF fans wanted to see Mitchell at the end of Friday's important win was on the sideline standing on crutches. But that's where Mitchell was after he suffered a left ankle sprain on a reception with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter.

Prior to getting hurt, Mitchell had five catches for a game-high 132 yards. He will be re-evaluated when the Bulls return to practice Monday.

CB Tyson Butler (undisclosed) and S Nate Allen (hip) also missed time Friday due to injury.

Florida State flashback

A beaten and battered defense had ample challenges against the Mountaineers, the most daunting trying to stop West Virginia's Noel Devine, the Big East's leading rusher. Check. The Bulls held Devine to 42 yards, 88 below his season average.

Senior LB Chris Robinson said the Bulls' aggressiveness on defense reminded him of the way they played in a 17-7 win Sept. 26 at Florida State.

"We were on the same page. We were 11 as one,"' Robinson said. "We were flying all over the field. I think this game proved that we're back to where we were the week we played Florida State. We need to carry that the rest of the season and we'll be all right."

Penalty problems vanish

Much of the talk entering the West Virginia game focused on the 21 penalties USF committed in losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. All that practice to improve in that area worked.

The Bulls committed only five penalties for 21 yards, both season lows, on Friday.

Scott Carter

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