Game Stats (pdf)Photo GalleryTAMPA, Fla. (AP) -
Andre Hall ran for 155 yards and scored two touchdowns Saturday night to help South Florida beat Central Florida 31-14 and extend the nation's longest losing streak to 17 games.
Hall scored on 1-yard run and 26-yard pass play in the first half, and the long-awaited first meeting between schools located less than 100 miles apart was a success at the box office but a mismatch on the field.
A crowd of 45,139, second-largest in South Florida's relatively brief football history, watched the Bulls (2-1) build a 21-0 halftime lead on the strength of a relentless running attack that finished with 326 yards.
UCF (0-2) was held to 45 yards rushing and was shut out until Joe Burnett returned a third-quarter punt 60 yards to the South Florida 4, setting up Steven Moffett 's touchdown run on the next play.
Moffett also threw a 9-yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall late in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Knights have not won since beating Central Michigan 31-13 on Oct. 25, 2003, with the last 13 losses in their stretch of futility coming under former Georgia Tech and Notre Dame coach George O'Leary.
One play after Hall nearly scored on a 17-yard run,
Pat Julmiste added South Florida's last TD on 1-yard quarterback sneak late in the third quarter.
Kyle Bronson added a fourth-quarter field goal to make it 31-7.
Even though UCF remained winless under O'Leary, who took over in 2004, just playing the Bulls was a victory of sorts for the Golden Knights .
Fans and alumni of the Orlando school had been pushing for a series between the teams ever since South Florida launched its program from scratch eight years ago, arguing that it made sense because of the proximity of the campuses and the prospect of drawing large crowds each year.
The Bulls resisted the overtures, preferring to focus on trying to build a program to rival those at Florida, Florida State and Miami rather than pursuing a more modest goal of catching up with UCF, which began its program in 1979.
The teams are scheduled to meet again in Orlando next year, however there are no assurances beyond that.
South Florida plays its inaugural Big East Conference game next Saturday against 11th-ranked Louisville. UCF makes its debut in Conference USA, the league the Bulls left for the Big East and its BCS affiliation, at home against Marshall.
