|
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
ORLANDO – The Bulls nearly pulled off a stunner in Friday night's I-4 Corridor Clash with No. 17/19 UCF.
USF clung to a lead for most of the fourth quarter, but Breshad Perriman's 52-yard touchdown catch with 4:50 remaining made the difference in the Knights' 23-20 victory before a crowd of 45,952 at Bright House Networks Stadium.
USF (2-9, 2-5) had one last shot at forcing at least a tie, but freshman Mike White's pass deep in UCF territory was intercepted by Jordan Ozerities with less than 2 minutes remaining. The Knights (10-1, 7-0) defeated the Bulls for the first time in five tries and secured at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title.
Despite the loss, USF forced a season-high five turnovers and held its opponent to fewer than 300 yards for the third consecutive time.
“(We're) trying to set a foundation for our football program and our guys understand that. They're still competing,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “We're getting better as a football team, but more importantly we're starting to care about it each other more and that's a big reason why we're still in it.”
The USF offense produced 211 of its 294 yards after halftime and got a big boost in the passing game from Andre Davis. The junior caught seven passes for a team-high 87 yards to set a new USF single-season record with 721 yards overall. Davis now ranks third on the program's all-time receiving list with 1,528 yards.
UCF was a heavy favorite heading into the game, but the Bulls kept it close from start to finish in the programs' first meeting since 2008. UCF headed into halftime with a 13-6 lead despite turning the ball over three times and the Bulls got the trend started right away in the fifth meeting between the schools.
The Bulls jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a 46-yard field goal by Groza Award finalist Marvin Kloss (Naples, Fla.) following a heads-up play by the defense on UCF's game opening drive. The Knights moved the ball out to midfield before Kenneth Durden (Valdosta, Ga.) stripped Storm Johnson and freshman Johnny Ward (Moultrie, Ga.) returned the fumble to the UCF 39.
UCF headed to the USF red zone on its second drive, which resulted in another lost fumble by Johnson that was recovered by senior linebacker DeDe Lattimore (Athens, Ga.) at the Bulls' 12 with 7:25 to play in the first quarter.
USF was forced to punt following the turnover and the Knights evened things up at 3 with a 27-yard field goal by Shawn Moffitt with 1:20 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bulls answered right back with a 51-yard drive that was capped off with a 42-yard field goal by Kloss with 11:53 to go before halftime. The drive featured a 20-yard reception by Sean Price (Citra, Fla.) on a third-and-12 from USF's own 23 and a 30-yard reception by Davis, who extended his school record catch streak to 29 games.
The Bulls brought their turnover total up to three with an interception by freshman Lamar Robbins (Miami) that was returned to the UCF 33 two plays after Kloss' field goal. USF was unable to cash in on the turnover despite getting to the UCF 7 because of a failed fourth down conversion attempt. The Bulls kept their offense on the field facing a fourth-and-2 at the UCF 8, but a fumble on a bad snap exchange turned the ball back over to the Knights.
UCF responded with a 92-yard drive and took a 10-6 lead with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bortles to Justin Tukes with 1:22 remaining in the half. The Knights got the ball one more time with 45 seconds to go before the break and extended their lead to 13-6 with a 24-yard field goal by Moffitt.
A 13-yard touchdown run on a reverse by Chris Dunkley evened things up for USF with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter after the defense came up with its fourth turnover. Ryne Giddins (Seffner, Fla.) forced a fumble on a sack at the UCF 27 that was recovered by fellow defensive end Julius Forte (St. Petersburg). Giddins' big play moved him into third place on USF's all-time sacks list with 19.5.
The Knights ranked 10th nationally in turnover margin and lost a total of 12 turnovers all season heading into the I-4 Corridor Clash.
UCF pulled back ahead less than 2 minutes after Dunkley's run with a 39-yard field goal by Moffitt after Rannell Hall gave the Knights prime field position with a 69-yard kickoff return.
USF tipped the see-saw battle back in its direction with a 1-yard touchdown run by Shaw that gave the Bulls a 20-16 lead with 14:13 to play. Davis came through in the clutch again with two catches for 24 yards and Sean Price kept the 77-yard drive going with a 31-yard reception that got the Bulls to the UCF 2.
The Bulls appeared to seize control of the game when freshman Nate Godwin (Tampa) picked off a Bortles pass at the UCF 28 with 6:42 to go, but the Knights made the play they needed to down the stretch following Kloss' miss on a 51-yard field goal attempt with 5:54 remaining. UCF had a first-and-10 at its own 48 when Bortles found Perriman down the sideline for the go-ahead score about a minute after Kloss' miss.
USF drove all the way down to the UCF 39 on its final drive before Ozerities stepped in front of White's pass and returned the game-clinching interception to the Bulls' 22-yard line. White went 15-for-34 for 211 yards in his fourth consecutive start.
The Bulls look to finish the season on a high note Saturday, Dec. 7 at Rutgers. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
|
