Bulls' Run Over

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers used its Thursday night ESPN magic to whack the University of South Florida's national championship hopes.

Bolstered by a Rutgers Stadium-record crowd of 44,267, Rutgers used a bevy of special teams trick plays and the power running of Ray Rice to hand the No. 2-ranked Bulls a 30-27 loss.

USF (6-1, 1-1 Big East) can say goodbye to its BCS National Championship Game chances, but the Bulls remain alive for the Big East title - but need help.

'Our goal was to win the Big East Conference and that's very much in play,' USF coach Jim Leavitt said.

There was no quit in the Bulls, who nearly rallied from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit, but they also had no defense for Rice, who romped for 181 yards on 39 carries.

'I just went out there to have fun,' Rice said.

Last season, Rice had 202 yards rushing in Rutgers' 22-20 win in Tampa.

With USF trailing 30-20 early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Matt Grothe (58 yards rushing, 247 yards passing) nearly rallied the Bulls.

He directed USF on a 70-yard TD drive, culminated by Mike Ford's 1-yard run with 9:16 remaining.

However, the Bulls had three more possessions in the final 7:26, but couldn't get closer than Rutgers' 40.

USF's best opportunity came when linebacker Brouce Mompremier forced a Rice fumble, with Ben Moffitt recovering at RU's 40.

Grothe was sacked on first down, and following two incompletions, USF punted with 3:21 remaining. The Bulls forced Rutgers (5-2, 2-1) to punt and took over a final time at RU's 49 with 1:33 remaining.

'We really had two shots at the end,' Leavitt said. 'You can't ask for more. When we took over at the 49, I was feeling pretty good.'

Again, Grothe was sacked on first down, and following two incompletions, wide receiver Amarri Jackson was called for offensive pass interference. On fourth-and-37, Grothe's Hail Mary was intercepted by Zaire Kitchen. Forty-nine seconds later, Rutgers' fans stormed the field as they did last year when Rutgers upset No. 3 Louisville on an ESPN Thursday night contest.

Grothe and Moffitt refused to speak after the game.

Rutgers scored on a 15-yard pass on a fake field goal and successfully converted a fake punt to overcome two fumbled punt returns by Tim Brown.

'Certain things you see sometimes,' Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. 'We picked our spots. Thank God they worked.'

Grothe led USF with the 58 rushing yards, but he was sacked seven times. He completed 17 of 33 passes, including a 28-yard touchdown to Jessie Hester Jr.

'Matt may have held it too long,' Leavitt said. 'We didn't do a good job of protecting him.'

Trailing 17-13 at halftime, Rutgers regained control early in the third quarter. On third-and-4 from its 31, Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel found Tiquan Underwood crossing over the middle, and Underwood raced untouched down the Rutgers sideline to complete the 69-yard touchdown pass.

USF punted on its next possession, but Brown fumbled his second punt return with USF's Ryan Gilliam recovering at RU's 24. The Bulls failed to convert when Delbert Alvarado's 37-yard field goal was blocked.

Rutgers then marched inside USF's 20. On fourth-and-3, Rutgers ran a fake field goal with holder Andrew DePaola lofting a perfect pass to Kevin Brock for a 15-yard touchdown, making it 27-17 with 4:09 remaining in the third.

Alvarado's 34-yard field goal with 1:26 remaining pulled USF within 27-20, but Ito answered with a 51-yard field goal to push the margin back to 30-20 with 11:59 remaining.

Tied at 10 midway through the second quarter, the Bulls capitalized on Brown's muffed punt return with USF long snapper Eric Setser recovering at Rutgers' 18. Two plays later, Grothe hit Hester on a 28-yard touchdown pass for a 17-10 lead.

The Bulls appeared to take a 24-10 lead when Trae Williams returned a blocked field goal 25 yards for a touchdown. However, Tyrone McKenzie, who blocked the field goal, was penalized for an illegal forward pass for scooping the ball forward.

USF couldn't capitalize on the drive, as Alvarado hooked a 45-yard field goal.

On the game's first possession, USF forced a Rutgers punt, but the Scarlet Knights converted a fourth-and-8 fake punt. Ito completed a 36-yard pass to James Townsend to USF's 13. RU had a first-and-goal at the 1, but had settled for Ito's 26-yard field goal.

USF answered by scoring on their first two drives - a 47-yard Alvarado field goal and an 18-yard Grothe touchdown run for a 10-3 first quarter lead.