TORONTO (AP) - Mike Ford played the best game of his career in just two quarters.

Ford ran for a career-high 207 yards and scored one touchdown, B.J. Daniels threw two scoring passes to A.J. Love, and South Florida beat Northern Illinois 27-3 in Saturday's International Bowl.

Ford had just one carry in the first half, an 18-yard gain in the second quarter. He broke out in the third, rushing 12 times for 106 yards, then capped his day with a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

''I thought it was extraordinary the way our team changed at halftime, especially our offense,'' South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. ''I told our offensive coaches that we really need to put the ball into Mike Ford's hands, similar to what we did (in a Dec. 5 loss at) UConn, and let's see if we can take a little pressure off B.J. and then work the play-action game off Mike's runs.''

Ford set the tone for his big second half by breaking off a 36-yard run, his longest of the day, three plays after the break.

''There was one guy, that poor soul, Mike went right through him,'' Leavitt said. ''I go, 'My goodness, that was a pretty good run.' Mike's so strong. He's just so big and strong and he has good feet.''

Ford had holes to choose from as fatigue slowed Northern Illinois' defense in the second half.

''It was like a kid in the candy shop: Which way do you want to go?'' Ford said.

It's the third straight year a Big East running back has topped 200 yards in the International Bowl. Ray Rice of Rutgers turned pro after rushing for a game-record 280 yards and four touchdowns in 2007, while Connecticut's Donald Brown ran for 261 yards in last year's game.

Carlton Mitchell caught six passes for 94 yards for the Bulls, who won back-to-back bowls for the first time. South Florida beat Memphis 41-14 in last year's St. Petersburg Bowl, part of a streak of five straight bowl appearances.

''It's very exciting to see where we are right now and see where we could possibly be,'' said Daniels, a freshman. ''We have a lot of young talent and a lot of guys coming back.''

Daniels threw for 217 yards but was sacked five times.

South Florida scored 24 unanswered points in the second half after the teams traded field goals in a dreary first half.

Making consecutive postseason appearances for the first time, the Huskies lost their third straight bowl and extended the Mid-American Conference's bowl game losing streak to 14 games.

''Momentum kind of got away from us in the second half and we kind of got worn down a little bit,'' Huskies coach Jerry Kill said.

Northern Illinois running back Chad Spann called South Florida ''probably the fastest team we've seen all season.''

''They were tremendously fast,'' Spann said, ''We've been trying to preach these last couple of weeks that we've got to get everything north and south because they're very fast east and west. As plays broke down, you'd think the bounce (to the outside) would be there but there'd be a guy right there to swallow me up.''

Spann carried 20 times for 93 yards, giving him 1,038 for the season.

Big East teams have defeated their Mid-American Conference opponents in all four International Bowls, the only bowl game played outside the United States. Cincinnati beat Western Michigan in the inaugural game in 2007, followed by victories for Rutgers over Ball State in 2008 and Connecticut over Buffalo in 2009.

The Bulls took the lead for good on the opening drive of the third quarter. Ford's 36-yard run set up Daniels' 31-yard pass to Mitchell, who shook off a tackle and raced down the sideline to the 6.

It was a record-setting catch for Mitchell, giving him 680 yards on the season and breaking Hugh Smith's school mark of 661 set in 2002. The Bulls couldn't punch it in, but went ahead on Eric Schwartz's 19-yard field goal.

Daniels hooked up with Love for the game's first touchdown on the Bulls' next possession, rolling to the outside before firing a 46-yard strike off his back foot and capping an eight-play, 81-yard drive.

''B.J. was moving all over the place, which he usually does, and then found A.J. off to the right side,'' Leavitt said. ''The catch he made was great.''

Cornerback Jerome Murphy picked off Huskies quarterback Chandler Harnish on the next possession, giving South Florida the ball at its 48. Ford carried five times to get the Bulls to the 7, where, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Daniels connected with Love again, making it 20-3.

Team Notes
- With the win, USF finishes the season with an 8-5 record overall and 3-4 in the BIG EAST.
- Today's game marks the Bulls' first game played on International soil.
- USF is now 2-1 against Northern Illinois.
- USF is now 3-2 in bowl games, having won two in a row and three of their last four.
- USF is now 1-0 in the month of January.
- Jim Leavitt (Missouri '78) is the only coach in USF history. He has a career record of 95-57 and is in his 13th season at USF. Leavitt is now 3-2 in bowl games.
- Today's attendance was 22,185.

Individual Notes
- Offensive starters: LT Jamar Bass, LG Jeremiah Warren, C Sampson Genus, RG Chaz Hine, RT Mark Popek, WR Sterling Griffin, WR Dontavia Bogan, WR Carlton Mitchell, WR Jessie Hester , RB Mo Plancher and QB B.J. Daniels.
- Defensive starters: LE Jason Pierre-Paul, NT Aaron Harris, DT Terrell McClain, RE George Selvie, LB Kion Wilson, LB Sabbath Joseph, 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.
-  With two early receptions, WR Jessie Hester went over the 1,200-yard plateau for his career. For the game, Hester had 2 catches for 30 yards. He finishes his USF career 1,224.
- DB Jerome Murphy played in his 52nd game, the most games played in school history. DE George Selvie moved past Stephen Nicholas into second place on the school's career games played list with 51.
- K Eric Schwartz' 39-yard FG in the first half was his tenth of the season. He also added a 19-yarder on the opening drive of the second. He is now 11-16 on the season.
- WR Carlton Mitchell surpassed Hugh Smith's single-season yardage mark of 661 yards on the Bulls opening drive of the second half with a 31-yard reception. For the game, Mitchell had 6 catches for 94 yards.
- Mitchell finishes the season with 40 catches for 706 yards. Smith, who set the record in 2002, needed 62 receptions to set the mark.
- RB Mike Ford ran for 207  on just 20 carries. It is the third time in time in his career that Ford has gone over the century mark, the first since Louisville on Nov. 17, 2007. Ford had 104 in the third quarter alone.
- Ford's 207  on the ground set a new career high surpassing his 140 yard-performance against Louisville on Nov. 17, 2007.
- Ford's 207 yard performance is the Bulls' first 200-yard rusher since Andre Hall went for 200 against Army on Oct. 16, 2004 and the sixth time ever a USF back has gone for more than 200 yards. It is the third straight year a BIG EAST back has went over 200 yards.
- Ford's 10.4 yard's per carry average is an International Bowl record.
- It also surpassed Andre Hall's 118-yard performance in the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl. It is the third most rushing yards in International Bowl history. Ray Rice of Rutgers holds the record with 280 yards.
-  Ford ripped off a 36-yard run on the second play of the second half. It is the longest rush of the season for Ford.
-  Ford ran for his sixth touchdown of the season, a 24-yard scamper. It is the 23rd rushing TD of Ford's career, tying him with QB Matt Grothe for the second most career rushing touchdowns. He is one shy of Andre Hall's 24 rushing touchdowns.
- WR AJ Love hauled in a 46-yard bomb from QB BJ Daniels with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter. Love added a second touchdown from Daniels on the opening play of the fourth quarter for a seven-yard strike.
- The two touchdown performance is a career first for Love.
- For Daniels, the touchdown passes were the 13th and 14th of the season. Daniels has been responsible for 23 USF touchdowns this season.
- CB Jerome Murphy had a fumble recovery and an interception on two consecutive plays. The interception was the fourth of the season . The pick is the eight of his career and the recovery was the third.
- DE Jason Pierre-Paul and LB Chris Robinson had 2.0 tackles for loss each.