'A history game': Bulls take down No. 5 W. Va.

TAMPA – Biggest game in USF history? Make that the biggest win in Bulls history.

Playing to the program’s first sellout crowd and a national TV audience, the No. 18 Bulls got a dominating defensive effort, forcing six turnovers in a convincing 21-13 win against No. 5 West Virginia.

“This is a history game. We made history tonight,” said safety Nate Allen, who had an interception and fumble recovery. “There’s no feeling like it. We’re just going to take it in.”

A record crowd of 67,018 at Raymond James Stadium spilled onto the field in celebration after the Bulls held off an offense that had averaged 47 points per game coming in. Senior linebacker Ben Moffitt led the way, returning one interception for the game’s first touchdown and picking off another pass in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense played as good as you can play,” coach Jim Leavitt said. “You’ve got to give (the defensive coaches) all the credit; they’re the ones that do it.”

It’s the second year in a row the Bulls (4-0, 1-0) have knocked West Virginia (4-1, 0-1) out of the top 10, but this win was bigger than last year’s upset in Morgantown.

Friday’s victory makes USF a team to beat in the Big East and sets up the Bulls' next Big East game, in three weeks at undefeated Rutgers, as another showdown of the league’s top contenders. Leavitt, stubbornly focused, won’t talk about anything but next week’s game at Florida Atlantic.

“Our goal is to win a Big East championship, and that’s very difficult to do. I won’t let my guard down,” Leavitt said. “I know you want me to take off my shirt and hug and kiss and all that. I feel good like that, but I’m serious about what I’m saying.”

It’s the highest ranked opponent the Bulls have ever beaten, and their third win against a ranked team in their last six games.

West Virginia came in with two Heisman Trophy candidates, but USF’s defense might have ended those campaigns. Quarterback Pat White left without his team scoring a point, suffering a thigh injury late in the first half, and running back Steve Slaton’s unimpressive 54 yards were trumped by two fumbles.

As was the case three weeks ago in an upset win at Auburn, the Bulls won despite numerous mistakes on offense. USF turned the ball over four times in West Virginia territory in the first half alone and missing on a 47-yard field goal attempt.

They scored when they needed to, first on a 55-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Grothe to freshman Carlton Mitchell for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Up 14-3 at the half, USF came out impressively, marching 74 yards without completing a pass and scoring on a 20-yard run by freshman Jamar Taylor.

“We told them at halftime, ‘The first drive of second half is going to be the most important drive of your career,’” offensive coordinator Greg Gregory said. “We drove it down and scored.”

West Virginia moved the ball well in the third quarter, but saw a promising drive end with no points as backup quarterback Jarrett Brown was intercepted in the end zone by safety Nate Allen, allowing the Bulls to keep a 21-6 lead.

After West Virginia scored a touchdown with 5:45 to play, the Bulls needed one last stop. Brown scrambled to convert a fourth-and-11, but USF got a key sack from defensive end George Selvie, and Brown's last pass fell incomplete, allowing the Bulls to run out the clock and dump a cooler on defensive coordinator Wally Burnham.

The crowd broke the attendance record set more than a decade ago in USF’s first-ever game, an 80-3 win against Kentucky Wesleyan that had drawn 49,212 to Tampa Stadium in 1997.

USF even found motivation in the crowd, as West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez had taken some credit for the sellout this week, saying his team was “like the Yankees,” drawing big crowds on the road.

“Yankees no more,” backup kicker Morgan Riley said in the celebration after the game. “The Yankees came to Tampa and the D-Rays got ‘em tonight.”

Said Grothe: “Last time I checked, the Yankees haven’t won a World Series in a while.”

Comments

[Kyle]

OHHH YEaaaAHHHH!!
Guess I got on that field anyways

[Mark]

I am so proud of USF and the Bay area. We should have kicked the crap out of them. The offense has got to get better. Go Bulls!

[F-CEE]

F-CEE

[Cee]

Hail to USF! I have been a fool. Forgive me.

[DELdaBULL]

Seriously? The real Cee?

[Amanda]

That was the most electrifying and exciting game I've ever been to. To see an entire stadium (almost) in green doing the Bulls hand gesture and screaming so loud... I am proud to be an USF alumni. Plus being on the field was awesome and I got to get up close to Taurus Johnson and Selvie.Can't wait to see where we are ranked on Sunday!

[DELdaBULL]

That was awesome! Dominating performance by USF. FAU is next!

[Amanda]

Greg, what were Selvie's stats tonight? I can never find a place that shows his stats. Thanks. Also, Tyrone McKenzie seemed like he had a great night stat wise.

[Matthew Cox]

Close the shops and pack the car, we're heading across the state to show FAU how to do football in FL...

[Our New Insect Overlords]

There might be losses still to come. Someday, we might be the vanquished foe, the victims of the upset. Heck, it could happen at the hands of the school that plays its games in an erector set near the other end of Interstate 4.

But after seeing a stadium jammed to the furthest reaches with green-clad supporters -- all of whom bathed the Bulls in a flood of cheers and drowned the Mountaineers in a tidal wave of noise -- it is certain that our program will never be the same.

"Little" South Florida no more. We are big-time. Soon enough, a sellout crowd like this and an atmosphere pulsating with emotion won't be a big deal ... it will be the week-in, week-out norm.

[Rob]

Great article Greg. And what a night for USF, Tampa, and Bulls fans everywhere!

[Ari]

My spine hurts I was so loud.

Amazing.

Just amazing.

I can't believe we beat WVa...

My neck hurts. My body hurts. I have no voice.

Go bulls!

[cee]

we got lucky that pat white did not play all 4 quarters. we all know that he was the one who owned us last time he was at ray jay. we cannot rely on these injuries happening on a daily basis. we barely escaped this one by a TD and 2 pt conversion.. which is saying a lot because their number 1 weapon that single-handedly destroyed us (and can/will destroy us if given a full 4 quarters) was not playing.

[Badbud]

Come on. Pat White has been knocked out of the 2 games vs the Bulls.
Who is scared of Who. He wanted no Part of that Green and Gold Mob.

Hell fire their Back-up QB was more effective,than White was.

[The TRUTH]

look at white's stats for the 2 quarters he was in the game - we OWN white. we're in his head. he can't do anything against us. cee knows nothing. cee was wrong all week, all season long. do the honorable thing - commit hari kari now.

[Brian]

What an odd little character that seems to live here. Cee can't really have ever been associated with USF to be so negative right? But ... if not why would anyone spend that much time on these boards. The frightening prospect to me is that USF may have ever granted a degree to someone that dense.

White didn't seem to be able to do anything when he was in the game. I am having visions of a few other offensive players soaking in tubs this week. Our defense showed it can match up against the better offenses out there and played with non-stop intensity. Does anyone think a couple defenders improved their draft stock a bit?

[Class of '77]

I've waited thirty years for something like this as I'm sure other "old grads" have. As a "Bogie" graduate I never thought anything good could come out of "Dixie". I was wrong. Thanks J.L. and GO BULLS!

[JOE]

CEE - What happened to your prediction?
What's it going to take to make u happy? You're are still talking about a game 3 years ago. You F-ing idiot, can't u give your school any credit.

And u say we barely escaped this one...yesterday you said we were going to get killed. And now after winning we only barely escaped.

I feel bad for you, because it feels so good to enjoy this moment. And you can't ! In fact you don't deserve this feeling. Hope you have a miserable life you HOMO !

[cee]

greg, i hope you see this comment above me.. name-calling with sexual slander is very inappropriate.. i hope you do the right thing and ban his IP address.

to answer your comment JOE, i will give credit where credit is due and i only do that if our program is being built the right way. i dont believe in building a program with transfers and/or partial qualifiers. as well, i don't agree with the fact that a lot of our players have criminal records and/or can't stay afloat in the classroom. with that being said, we got lucky again with the turnovers and the injuries. pat white racked up most of his damage against us in the 2nd half of our homecoming. he just needed a half to get into a groove to destroy our defense. however, he got hurt and we were extremely lucky for that to happen. we can't overestimate how lucky we've been all season. we need to be playing better football than this.

[Ken]

Program seems to be doing very well. Sure, we were fortunate to win--it could have been otherwise, and I wouldn't call it a dominating win--but we won. When White didn't return in the second half, I thought that might be a factor in our favor, but Brown was more effective in the second half than White had been in the first. If we keep playing better each week--as we have been so far--we might go a long, long way this year.

[BULLFAN420]

CEE,

The truth cannot be slander !

[Joel]

Amanda -

Usually the best game stats for defense can be found on NCAA's website. Here's the box score for the game:

http://www.ncaasports.com/football/mens/gamecenter/live/NCAAF_20070928_WV@SFL

Don't be surprised if those stats change on Sunday or Monday, however - there always seem to be some adjustments made a couple of days after game day.

GO BULLS!

[VOR]

cee = DISCREDITED!

Nothing you say on these boards will EVER be taken seriously.

But I guess every village needs it's IDIOT and you just happen to be USF's.

Keep the nonsensical dribble comming.

[Amanda]

Thanks Joel, I hope they do change the stats in the next couple of days because they don't even have Selvie down for a sack when he had at least one and they're saying Moffitt just had one int. when he had two.