Quick strike ignites Bulls

The plan was to score quickly. The plan was to make a statement.

Consider it done.

With a one-point lead at halftime, the University of South Florida Bulls stuck a third-quarter dagger into Syracuse on Saturday afternoon, deflating the Orange with an 85-yard scoring pass from redshirt freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels to wide receiver Carlton Mitchell on USF's initial play from scrimmage.

"That was really, really important for us," Daniels said. "It worked just like we drew it up."

And from there, USF cruised in with a 34-20 victory against Syracuse.

At halftime, USF offensive coordinator Mike Canales told Daniels that he expected Syracuse's corners to play tight, daring the freshman to make a play.

Daniels delivered.

"Bam!" Canales said. "We knew it was going to be there."

"It definitely set a positive tone for us," Mitchell said. "B.J. put it out there. He played great again."

Daniels, making his second career start after the season-ending injury to Matt Grothe, was 12 of 20 for 208 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 32 yards. Most importantly, he had no interceptions.

"My high school coach always told me great quarterbacks aren't necessarily (determined) by making a lot of great plays, but by not making the mistakes," Daniels said. "Just doing the little things, directing the offense, I was happy with all of that."

So was USF coach Jim Leavitt.

"I think B.J. has been incredible," Leavitt said. "Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for him to go out there - after the game he had last week (winning at Florida State 17-7) - and standing up to the pressure? He just keeps his head about him. He does what he needs to do. He's going to be something."

"We knew B.J. was a good player," Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said. "I thought he did a nice job scrambling and finding players down the field. He's someone we have to contain. We knew what kind of player B.J. Daniels was."

But it was more than Daniels.

USF running back Mike Ford bulled his way for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Mitchell also had a standout performance.

He had a career-high 139 yards receiving - just 10 off the school record (149 by Clif Dell in USF's inaugural game in 1997) - on six catches. His 85-yard catch was the second-longest in school history (Marquel Blackwell to DeAndrew Rubin, 95 yards against Northern Illinois in 2002).

"When my number is called, I want to produce," Mitchell said. "We have a lot of talented playmakers on this team. We are truly blessed. I'm just glad to be part of it all."