Pierre-Paul waits to make decision on NFL

Junior DE Jason Pierre-Paul finished his first season at USF with a strong performance in the International Bowl, registering four tackles - two for loss - and a sack.

As he walked toward the locker room following the game, Pierre-Paul was stopped by several USF fans to take photos with them. Will they be his last in a Bulls uniform?

"I haven't made up my mind yet,'' he said. "I probably will hopefully this week. The NFL [draft advisory board] hasn't gotten back to me. The season ended really good. I came out here and did my thing all season, so it's been great.''

Pierre-Paul is projected by most NFL draft analysts as a first-round pick should he decide to leave school early. He has until Jan. 15 to apply for the draft.

GEORGE'S GOODBYE

Senior DE George Selvie was rather quiet in his final game as a Bull, recording just two tackles. A year ago, Selvie faced the same dilemma as Pierre-Paul does now, and opted to come back.

Selvie failed to match his numbers from his senior season, but after Saturday's game he said he couldn't have asked for a better ending to his career.

"You always want to end your career on a good note, so just coming up to Toronto and getting a win, and a great defensive game for us, I'm just happy about all that,'' he said.

LOVE'S COMEBACK

Junior WR A.J. Love suffered a serious knee injury in USF's victory over Memphis in last year's St. Petersburg Bowl. On Saturday, he was one of the stars of the game, catching three passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns.

Both of Love's touchdowns came after halftime - a 46-yard reception in the third quarter and a 7-yard catch on the first play of the fourth quarter.

"It took a lot of work,'' he said. "It feels good. In the second half, we came out swinging.''

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I thought Americans knew how to play this game.'' - A member of the Canadian press corps after both teams struggled in the first half, tied 3-3 at halftime.

BOWL BITS

Junior WR Carlton Mitchell had six catches for 94 yards, surpassing Hugh Smith's single-season yardage mark (661) set in 2002. Mitchell finished the season with 706 receiving yards ... Senior CB Jerome Murphy, who had a fumble recovery and interception Saturday, played in his school-record 52nd game, breaking a tie with former LB Stephen Nicolas ... The announced crowd of 22,185 is the smallest in the International Bowl's four-year history, and the smallest of any bowl game this season to date ... The Big East improved to 4-0 in the International Bowl, and USF's win over Northern Illinois extended the Mid-American Conference's bowl losing streak to 14, dating to 2006 ... USF RB Mike Ford's 207 yards rushing eclipsed the previous USF bowl record of 118 yards set by Andre Hall in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2005.