TAMPA - The biggest thing that stood in USF's way to a victory Friday was itself.

Turnovers and miscues plagued the Bulls early and late in a 34-24 loss to Louisville before a post-Thanksgiving crowd of 33,416 at Raymond James Stadium. Louisville (7-5, 5-2) clinched at least a share of the Big East title by snapping a four-game losing streak against USF in games played in Tampa.

"We just made too many mistakes to win today," said head coach Skip Holtz, whose Bulls dropped to 5-6.

USF had the ball and trailed, 27-24, with less than 6 minutes to play when receiver Andre Davis lost a fumble at the Bulls' own 17-yard line.

"That kind of finished the game, so to speak," USF offensive coordinator Todd Fitch said.

Louisville put the game away two plays later on a 9-yard touchdown run by Dominique Brown.

Blown coverages hurt the Bulls before that and paved the way for Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to go 19-for-28 for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns came with a receiver wide open in the end zone.

"We were poor," Holtz said. "You shouldn't leave that many guys uncontested, wide open."

The letdown was late, but USF's defense started off strong in a game that could have made USF bowl eligible for a sixth straight season.

The Cardinals drove into the red zone on the game's opening drive, but came away empty handed after Chris Philpott missed a 33-yard field goal attempt. Louisville was called for a false start the play before the kick, which hit the left upright.

Louisville got new life after its second drive stalled when USF's Victor Marc muffed a punt that was recovered by the Cardinals at the USF 34. Philpott made good on a 30-yard attempt with 42 seconds to go in the first quarter.

The Bulls responded quickly with a daring call and some nice touch by Bobby Eveld, who played in place of usual starter B.J. Daniels, who sat out with a lingering shoulder injury. Starting only the second game of his career, Eveld threw on fourth-and-3 at the USF 35 and hit a streaking Lindsey Lamar in stride for a touchdown.

USF had brought its punt team out to the field before a TV timeout. Once play resumed, the offense quickly trotted out to the field and threw off Louisville, which still had personnel changes going on during the snap.

Eveld showed no ill effects of starting his first game since Dec. 4, 2010. The sophomore began Friday's game 9-for-14 for 144 yards and the score.

Louisville's second big mistake on special teams also benefitted Eveld and the Bulls.

USF went three-and-out on its third drive that ended at its 37, but a roughing the kicker call gave the Bulls a first down. Maikon Bonani connected from 40 yards out six plays later to give USF a 10-3 lead with 7:15 to play in the half.

Louisville's third mistake of the game also proved to swing in the Bulls' favor on the next drive. Jarel McGriff-Culver came down with a 19-yard reception in USF territory, but safety Jon Lejiste forced and recovered a fumble at the Bulls' 41.

Eveld got back to work, hitting Davis for a 15-yard gain and the Bulls gambled again on fourth down during a 13-play drive. Needing 1 yard, USF went into the Wildcat formation and Marc found his way through a hole for 4 yards and a first down at the Louisville 31.

Eveld converted a key third-and-4 at the Louisville 12 with a 9-yard toss to Darrell Scott and fellow running back Demetris Murray scored from 1 yard out with 35 seconds before the break.

Thanks to a 49-yard kick return by Senorise Perry, Louisville cut its deficit to 17-10 with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Teddy Bridgewater to DeVante Parker just before halftime. The scoring drive took only two plays and 22 seconds.

"It was absolutely huge," USF defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said. "It took away a lot of the momentum going into halftime."

The Cardinals increased their unanswered point total to 17 in the second half.
Louisville tacked on a 31-yard Philpott field goal to start the half and took back the lead with Bridgewater's 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh Chichester with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter.

USF answered back in a clever way - and quickly.

Lamar returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards and the Bulls went into their bag of tricks for a 37-yard score on the next play. Murray found Deonte Welch wide open on a halfback-option pass for a touchdown to give USF a 24-20 advantage just 19 seconds after the Cards' reached the end zone.

Murray became the first USF non-QB to throw a touchdown pass since receiver Amarri Jackson did it against Louisville in 2005.

The Cardinals' offense also got daring by converting a fourth down in the USF red zone and seized a 27-24 lead on a Bridgewater's 11-yard scoring pass to Parker with 9:38 left to play.

USF had the ball with about 5 minutes remaining and a chance to take the lead until a costly mistake buried the Bulls.

Davis's first-down catch of 7 yards resulted in a turnover at the USF 17 when he put the ball on the ground while being tackled. The Cardinals grabbed a 34-24 lead two plays later when Brown hit the end zone with 4:12 remaining.
USF faced a fourth-and-3 on its own 33 on the ensuing drive and couldn't convert on a 2-yard reception to Davis. Louisville took over and wound the clock down to 1:51 before it turned the ball over on downs.

Eveld finished the day 20-for-35 for 210 and threw an interception near the end zone in the closing seconds of the game.

USF will attempt to become bowl eligible in its regular season finale 8 p.m. Thursday against West Virginia back at Raymond James Stadium.