Bulls get 'complete' win, 41-10 vs. NCSU

Here's the game story for Sunday's paper ...

RALEIGH, N.C. – This time, there was no late-game collapse, no offensive struggles, no disappointing letdowns against an unranked opponent.

No. 13 USF shook off last week’s lackluster effort at FIU and dominated N.C. State at a sold-out Carter-Finley Stadium, cruising to a 41-10 win that should vault the Bulls (5-0) into the top 10.

"We really talked about how we were disappointed with how we played last week, and I thought they came out and played much better today," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "The courage, I thought, was extraordinary."

The defense, with three key starters out with injuries, stayed in control of N.C. State (2-3), holding them to four first downs in the first half. After three quarters, the Wolfpack had rushed for minus-12 yards, and for the first time this season, the Bulls shut out their opponent in the second half.

"It's the first time we've played a complete game. It's about time," said defensive coordinator Wally Burnham, whose defense played without end George Selvie, tackle Terrell McClain and linebacker Brouce Mompremier.

The Bulls looked like a ranked team on both sides of the ball, dominating the first 20 minutes of the game. USF had touchdown drives of 76, 68 and 81 yards on its first three possessions, piling up 225 yards of offense. By halftime, the lead was 31-10, and the Bulls had outgained the Wolfpack 354-63.

"We pretty much manhandled them up front," said left tackle Ryan Schmidt, whose line didn't allow a sack for the first time this season. "We came right out and did what we were supposed to do. Everybody was on our guy, and our offense is pretty powerful when we get going."

USF piled up 514 yards of total offense, with Matt Grothe completing his first 11 passes and throwing for 148 yards in the first quarter. Running backs Mike Ford, Moise Plancher and Ben Williams combined for 144 yards and two touchdowns. It’s the kind of performance that should give USF some momentum heading into its Big East opener, Thursday night in Tampa against Pittsburgh.

"Tonight, we just executed and took care of the ball," said Grothe, who rushed for a game-high 68 yards. "It's what we've been doing most of the year, and it showed on the scoreboard."

Perhaps the only weakness was allowing deep passes – former Countryside star Harrison Beck completed only nine of 32 passes, but threw for 239 yards. A 41-yard pass set up a field goal on the opening drive, and a 48-yarder set up N.C. State’s only touchdown. Three other passes for 36, 49 and 36 yards didn't result in points, but were a blemish Burnham didn't like.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "I'm embarrassed. Nine for 239 yards? I've never been around anything like that in my life. We've got to straighten that out, or somebody's going to beat us real bad doing that. I hope they're embarrassed, and I hope we're embarrassed as coaches."

N.C. State, which upset then-No. 15 East Carolina on the same field last week, struggled to keep up with the Bulls. Their troubles escalated as heavy rains began to fall in the second quarter. Twice in a three-minute span, high snaps deep in Wolfpack territory forced N.C. State to take safeties, and when the Bulls stopped scoring touchdowns, they got three field goals from freshman Maikon Bonani, who had a fourth attempt bounce off the right upright.

In a weekend in which three top-10 teams – No. 1 USC, No. 4 Florida and No. 9 Wisconsin -- lost to unranked opponents, the Bulls played well enough to move into the top 10 themselves. With No. 3 Georgia losing to No. 8 Alabama, the Bulls could be as high as No. 9 when today's polls come out.

"It's huge," Grothe said. "We have the second part of our season now. We're 5-0, but realistically we're 0-0. These are the games that matter."

Comments

[Stephen Blackehart]

Okay, I know it's a relative blow-out, and I don't want to be that guy who always has something negative to chirp about, but this was still a problematic game. The Bulls once again came out of the gates shooting, piling up points and yardage suitable to their ranking. But then, as in so many of the other games, they began running out of gas. They lost focus and got sloppy. Sure, it ended up not mattering against an NC State team that got the wind knocked out of their upset hopes, but sooner or later one of our conference foes are going to have the firepower - or even just the luck - to make us pay dearly for spacing out.

That said, an otherwise excellent game! I wouldn't get so worried if I weren't excited. Grothe's maturation is becoming more apparent by the week. If the defense can find a leader among them, I don't see what's going to stop us.

[DELdaBULL]

These are the games that matter. Right on Matt. Let's tighten up that D.

[RR]

Great win....I was fortunate enough to be there in-person...lots of fun!

Like Coach Burnham said though, those deep balls are kind of troubling. Danny Verpaele is really a liability back there...always seems to be in the wrong place.

[BullJag]

I gave Offensive Coordinator Gregory Hell for the play-calling in FIU game. In all fairness, I need to give him Kudos this week for his play-calling in the first half of the NC State game. Second half the play calling tightened up a bit (execution by players also slipped a bit). I'd like to see us stay aggressive until the final whistle. But the first half was a well called game. Way to go coach!