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2
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3
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No. 19/21 Miami
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7
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7
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| USF |
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3
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7
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| Passing Leaders |
| Player |
COMP
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ATT
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| UM - Harris |
11
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21
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| USF - Daniels |
6
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16
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| Rushing Leaders |
| Player |
ATT
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| UM - Berry |
12
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| USF - Plancher |
15
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| Receiving Leaders |
| Player |
No.
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| UM - Epps |
2
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| USF - Mitchell |
1
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| Defensive Leaders |
| Player |
Tackles
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| UM - Sharpton |
12
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| USF - Joseph |
9
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2
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TAMPA (AP) -Javarris James rushed for two touchdowns, Jacory Harris threw for two more, and No. 19 Miami took a big early lead on the way to beating South Florida 31-10 on Saturday.
Dedrick Epps and Leonard Hankerson caught touchdown passes for Miami (9-3), which ran out to a 21-3 halftime lead and capped its first nine-win regular season since 2005. A bowl victory - destination undetermined, but undoubtedly boosted by Saturday's performance - would give Miami its first 10-win season since 2003.
Damien Berry rushed for 114 yards and Graig Cooper added 83 more for Miami, which played without ill left tackle Jason Fox and still rolled.
A.J. Love caught a 12-yard touchdown pass for South Florida (7-4), which closes its regular season at Connecticut next Saturday. The Bulls fell to 7-28 all-time when allowing at least 31 points and 10-2 against teams from the state of Florida, with both those losses against Miami.
The schools were meeting for just the second time, with plans calling for the teams to play in late November annually until 2013, by which time another true Sunshine State rivalry could be born.
It's not there yet, and to the chagrin of 66,469 - the second-largest crowd in South Florida history - Miami wasted no time pointing that out.
A 12-play, 81-yard drive on the opening series set the tone, fueled by a gutsy call and Damien Berry's 6-yard run on 4th-and-1 from the USF 17. On the very next play, Hankerson made a juggling catch in the right side of the end zone, and the Hurricanes were well on their way.
Darryl Sharpton forced USF quarterback B.J. Daniels into a fumble later in the opening quarter, Randy Phillips recovered and James went in from 5 yards out three plays later for a 14-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, James struck again, a 2-yard scoring burst to wrap up a 10-play, 61-yard drive and put Miami up 21-3.
Eventually, South Florida's defense stopped making things easy for Miami.
The Hurricanes ran 36 plays for 233 yards on their first four drives, with three touchdowns. Their next four drives went three-and-out every time, netting a total of 8 yards, with Harris - already nursing a tender thumb on his throwing hard - getting his throwing arm twisted a bit by USF defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul on the last of those possessions.
Daniels hit Love on third-and-goal from the 12 to make it 21-10, and Miami seemed in trouble.
That is, until Harris engineered Miami's sixth touchdown drive of two plays or less this season.
Berry ran for 18 yards on the first play and Harris did the rest, putting the football right into the chest of Epps, his 6-foot-4, 253-pound senior tight end who easily hauled it in for a 28-10 advantage late in the third quarter.
Team Notes
- The attendance of 66,469 is the second largest in USF history. The school record for a home game is 67,012, set against West Virginia in 2007.
- USF falls to 0-2 against Miami, with the other loss being a 27-7 Hurricane win in Miami in 2005.
-Jim Leavitt (Missouri '78) is the only coach in USF history. He has a career record of 94-56 and is in his 13th season at USF. Leavitt and the USF program are 63-18 in home games, 12-17 against ranked opponents with six wins in the past nine games, 10-2 against teams from the state of Florida, 0-2 vs. Miami and 4-3 against the ACC.
Individual Notes
- Aaron Harris, Jessie Hester, Kenneth Luberice, Jerome Murphy, Moise Plancher, Chris Robinson, George Selvie, Kion Wilson, Theo Wilson) made their final home appearance against Miami, and the senior class is the winningest in USF history (33 wins).
- Offensive starters for today's game: LT Jamar Bass, LG Jeremiah Warren, C Sampson Genus, RG Chaz Hine, RT Mark Popek, TE Ben Busbee, WR Dontavia Bogan, WR A.J. Love, WR Sterling Griffin, QB B.J. Daniels, RB Mo Plancher.
- Defensive starters for today's game: LE Jason Pierre-Paul, NT Cory Grissom, DT Keith McCaskill, RE George Selvie, LB Sabbath Joseph, LB Kion Wilson, LB Chris Robinson, LC Quenton Washington, SS Jerrell Young, FS Nate Allen, RC Jerome Murphy.
- Captains for the game were Kion Wilson, George Selvie, Mo Plancher, Nate Allen and Matt Grothe.
- K Eric Schwartz put the Bulls on the board in the second quarter with a 36-yard field goal. Schwartz has now hit six field goals longer than 30 yards.
- In the third quarter, B.J. Daniels connected with A.J. Love on a 12-yard pass play for USF's first TD of the game. The catch was Love's second TD of the season and Daniels' 12th passing TD of the year.
- Jason Pierre-Paul sacked Jacory Harris in the third quarter, which increases his sack total to 5.5 for the season.
- With four kick returns against Miami, junior Dontavia Bogan has 62 career kickoff returns for 1,454 yards, surpassing DeAndrew Rubin's 60 returns (1,534 yards) to take the top spot on USF's career list. Bogan started the game in second with 58 returns for 1,356 yards.
- WR Carlton Mitchell had one catch for 21 yards, increasing his total to 1,505 career yards. He is just 19 yards shy of breaking Hugh Smith's record of 1,523.
