ORLANDO, FLA. (September 16, 2006) USF freshman quarterback Matt Grothe threw for 302 yards and ran for another 73, and freshman defensive end Chris Robinson sacked UCF quarterback Steven Moffet on a fourth and six from the USF 10 with just 22 seconds remaining to finish a 24-17 Bulls win at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Grothe's 302 passing yards established a new USF freshman record, eclipsing Marquel Blackwell's 239-yard game against New Haven in 1999. Blackwell also had a 238-yard game that same year against Liberty. Meanwhile, Grothe now has the top three rushing games by a freshman quarterback in USF history, including his 73 yards today. He had 82 rushing yards against Florida International and 58 in the season opener against McNeese State. Blackwell had held the record with 57 yards against Southwest Texas State in 1999.
Grothe threw his third touchdown of the afternoon on a 27-yard third down play to Ean Randolph with just over three minutes to play to break a 17-17 tie. The catch was Randolph's fifth of the afternoon for a total of 126 yards. Marcus Edwards and Benjamin Williams also had touchdown receptions for USF (3-0).
UCF (1-2) responded to the Bulls go-ahead score with a 17-play drive that went 65 yards before Robinson's fourth down sack that also caused a fumble. The UCF drive gained momentum on a fourth and 10 conversion, soon followed by a USF pass interference call.
But with a first and 10 at the USF 14, Moffett threw two incompletions before a four-yard pass play that set up the fourth and six. After a UCF timeout, the Bulls covered the end zone well, allowing pressure on Moffet and the eventual sack and fumble.
"I'm obviously proud of our players," said USF head coach Jim Leavitt. "Our players have got great character. Sometimes they take a lot of hits, which is unfair. That's not right. But I guess that's life. I wish the truth would always be told about our players, because they're a great group of guys. I'm tired of people trying to attack our guys. I love them so much. They've got great character, they're good people. I'm proud of them, proud to be a part of their lives. I'm disappointed in some things I read Thursday out of the Orlando paper and our guys took offense to it. We're not a bunch of renegades. It's not us. It's not anything about us. And I promise you that helped us. Those comments helped us. And they really fired our guys up, because our team knows who they are. And nobody thought we'd have much of a shot today. I'm proud of our team."
USF jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a seven-play, 79-yard drive that was initiated after the first of two Trae Williams interception. Williams now has at least one interception in each of USF's three games.
With a first and 10 on their own 21 after the first interception, Benjamin Willams picked up four yards on a run, before Ean Randolph broke a bubble screen play for 51 yards on second and six. Grothe completed three more passes in the drive, and also ran for 11 yards, finishing off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Edwards.
Although both teams moved the ball well through the first half, scoring was at a premium, with UCF first getting itself on the board with a 22-yard field goal with 6:07 left in the first half. The Golden Knights then took a 10-7 lead ? that held up at halftime ? when Moffett found Thornton open for a 37-yard touchdown.
While scoring was again at a premium in the third quarter, the Bulls scored on Mike Benzer's first career field goal from 30 yards on the final play of the quarter to tie the game at 10-10.
USF seemingly gained control four minutes into the fourth quarter when Grothe led a five-play 48-yard drive that was helped along by a double reverse pass from receiver Amarri Jackson to Amp Hill that covered 31 yards and placed the Bulls on the two-yard line, setting up the two-yard touchdown pass from Grothe to Benjamin Williams.
That made the score 17-10 in favor of the Bulls with 11:05 left and the Bulls stopped UCF on its next possession to regain the ball at their own 39-yard line with 10:00 remaining. USF picked up one first down and moved to the UCF 47 yard line before the Knights forced a punt.
Trying to recover from a bad snap, USF punter Delbert Alvarado seemed to elude a would-be tackler and made an attempt to rugby kick the ball, but it was blocked and returned 31 yards for a touchdown by Blake Carter to tie the game again at 17-17.
Grothe remained poised and led the Bulls on their winning drive that covered 90 yards after USF was penalized on the kickoff. Grothe set the stage with a 26-yard run of his own on the drive's second play. Two plays later, he ran for 13 more yards en route to what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown pass to Randolph.
USF travels to Kansas September 23 before returning home for a September 29 game with Rutgers.
