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USF's offense fails to execute

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2009

PITTSBURGH - The University of South Florida's offense had no rhythm in Saturday afternoon's 41-14 loss against the No. 20-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers.

And it got no closer to establishing a reliable identity.

The Panthers all but announced their defensive plan to the Heinz Field crowd.

Go ahead. Just try to run. We dare you.

USF couldn't do it.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, made the most of its opportunities and played keep-away through most of the first half. By then, with the Bulls trailing 31-7 at the break, it was too late.

"They were giving us a six-man box and we kept getting the third-and-medium, third-and-short, but we couldn't execute," USF offensive coordinator Mike Canales said. "We were trying to find a niche. We felt like we were getting 3, 4, 5 chunk of yards at a time.

"Then something bad happens, a mistake or a penalty. It stops your mojo. It takes away your rhythm and the next thing you know, it's all out of whack. It's so frustrating."

Redshirt quarterback B.J. Daniels, USF's leading rusher, did most of the work on keepers. He carried 15 times for 50 yards. Otherwise, the carries were divided between Jamar Taylor (five for 28), Mo Plancher (five for 23) and Mike Ford (two for 4).

"I believe we have playmakers everywhere on this team," Plancher said. "I just think we've got to come out with more fire and play with more discipline. Whatever play is called, we should be doing much better than we're doing."

USF finished with a season-low 212 yards - a total boosted by 36 yards in garbage-time passing plays by backup quarterback Evan Landi in the final seconds.

"It was extremely hard to get into a rhythm, but I also feel like we beat ourselves," said Daniels, who was 4-for-8 passing for 54 yards (41 of which came on one pass to Sterling Griffin). "They rushed three and the running lanes were there. We just didn't get it done.

"I feel like if we would've done everything we were coached to do, we'd be sitting here right now with a win."

That might be stretching things a bit. After all, USF never led and didn't show much offensive output after its first three drives (which accumulated 120 yards).

"We're trying to find our way with B.J., obviously," Canales said. "It's only his fourth start. We're trying to find out who we are with B.J. in there. They're concentrating on not letting him make the big play. He can do that.

"We've just got to get better as a group. We've got to do the things we do well. But we've got to move the chains and control things. We did not do that today."

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353.

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