TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Daniels leads USF to win over West Virginia

Staff photo by JASON BEHNKEN

USF's Carlton Mitchell hauls in a touchdown pass over West Virginia's Keith Tandy early Friday night.

ADVERTISEMENT

By SCOTT CARTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2009

Updated: 10/30/2009 11:40 pm

TAMPA – The University of South Florida was writing a familiar script entering Friday night's game against 20th-ranked West Virginia.

The notoriously fast-starting Bulls – the only FBS team to start 5-0 in each of the last three seasons – were once again fading fast after back-to-back losses to Big East foes Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

But a new character in this story – Bulls freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels – combined with USF's normally reliable cast of characters on defense to knock off the Mountaineers 30-19. The victory marked the third time in four seasons that USF (6-2, 2-2) has defeated a ranked West Virginia (6-2, 2-1) team.

"It feels great," Daniels said. "All week long we've been working hard and trying to get another win in the win column. We said we were going to go out and have fun and do the things that we can do and are able to do - show what we're all about."

Daniels threw three touchdown passes and kicker Eric Schwartz booted three field goals to provide the Bulls' defense with enough of a cushion to hold off the Mountaineers before an announced crowd of 56,328 at Raymond James Stadium.

In losing to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, USF's defense allowed 75 points and 887 yards of total offense. With West Virginia's strong attack led by Big East leading rusher Noel Devine, who entered Friday's game averaging 130.3 yards per game, the Bulls figured to be tested.

They were, but rather than breaking like the past two weeks, they bent a little and came up with enough big plays to avoid losing back-to-back home games for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005 – a span of 26 games.

"We talked about that a lot during the week," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "We really wanted to keep him inside. Noel Devine is a great running back … 42 yards, that's unbelievable."

Equally important, USF cut down on the mental and physical mistakes that led to 21 penalties during its two-game losing streak.

The game started off awfully familiar for the Bulls when West Virginia marched 80 yards on the opening drive, including a 32-yard pass from quarterback Jarrett Brown on the first play. The Mountaineers capped the 11-play drive with Brown's 3-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

However, making his fifth career start, Daniels played the way the struggling Bulls needed him to in what was essentially a must-win to keep alive their hopes of a Big East title and BCS bowl bid.

USF coach Jim Leavitt gave Daniels the keys to the offense Friday and let him loose, including going for it on two fourth-down plays in USF territory – one in the first quarter and another late in the third – on two drives that led to USF touchdowns.

Facing a fourth-and-1 at its 49, USF went for it and picked up the first down on Mo Plancher's 2-yard run. On the next play, Daniels connected with receiver Carlton Mitchell for his first touchdown pass of the game, a 49-yard strike down the left sideline.

Mitchell left the game with a leg injury in the second half, but before he was hurt on a reception late in the third quarter, he added a 69-yard catch that led to Daniels' second touchdown pass of the game, an 11-yarder to A.J. Love that put USF up 17-9 with 5:32 left before halftime.

Daniels wasn't done in his best all-around performance since replacing injured Matt Grothe as the starter in USF's win at Florida State on Sept. 26.

After the Mountaineers cut USF's lead to 20-19, Daniels threw his third touchdown of the game late in the third quarter, connecting with Sterling Griffin on a 6-yard strike to put USF up 27-19. The drive answered West Virginia's opening drive of the second half that trimmed USF's lead to a point.

USF added its final points on Schwartz's third field goal, a 44-yarder in the fourth quarter.

In the past two seasons, USF is 7-11 after starting the season 5-0. The Bulls were 0-2 this season prior to Friday's victory. How the rest of the script plays out will largely determine on Daniels, who accounted for more total offense (336 yards) than the entire West Virginia team on Friday.

Daniels finished with 104 yards rushing on 14 carries, and 232 yards passing, completing 13 of 26 without an interception.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT