TAMPA – Senior back Marcus Shaw posted the third 100-yard rushing game of his career in USF's 49-21 loss to No. 15 Miami before a crowd of 47,562 at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Shaw (Arcadia, Fla.) rushed for a game-high 127 yards on 20 carries and scored from 3 yards out on the Bulls' opening drive. The Arcadia, Fla., native headed into the contest ranked eighth nationally in yards per game (132.7) and passed the 100-yard mark in the first half for the third time this season.
“Shaw is doing a good job for us running the football. We have to help him out and we have to convert on third down,” said head coach Willie Taggart after the Bulls converted twice out of 14 third-down attempts.
Sophomore quarterback Steven Bench went 13-for-27 for 189 yards in his first-career start and capped off the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Hopkins (Opa Locka, Fla.) with 2 seconds remaining. Bench also threw an interception and was sacked five times in the sixth meeting between the programs.
“Bench will be our quarterback going forward and we'll get better. The offensive will get better and we'll continue to get better as a football team,” Taggart said.
Miami (4-0) improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2004 after racking up 540 yards of total offense (411 by halftime). Stephen Morris went 11-for-16 for 222 yards and two touchdowns before backup Ryan Williams stepped in to go 8-for-14 for 153 yards (1 TD, 1 INT).
Morris' second scoring pass went to Stacy Coley for 34 yards late in the first quarter to give the Hurricanes a 21-7 lead. Running back Duke Johnson gained 84 yards on 14 carries and his 4-yard scoring run with 5:22 remaining in the second quarter gave the Hurricanes a 35-7 lead they took into halftime.
“We gave up too many big plays,” Taggart said. “We came into this game knowing that they were a big-play team and through play action they were going to throw it deep on first down. The guys knew it and we didn't do what we were supposed to do.”
Despite allowing a lot of yardage, the Bulls' four forced turnovers were the most in a game since 2010 and one of them went for a score. Senior defensive end Julius Forte (St. Petersburg) returned his first-career interception 11 yards for a touchdown to cut Miami's lead to 49-14 with 13:53 remaining. The USF defense now has eight turnovers through four games and is one away from equaling the team total from all of 2012.
Freshman defensive back Hassan Childs (Kissimmee, Fla.) came up with USF's fourth turnover when he made a diving interception at the Bulls' own 4 and the big play proved to give the offense a lift late in the fourth quarter. Junior Andre Davis (Tampa) totaled 52 of his team-high 75 receiving yards on the final drive of the game and Bench finished things off with the 16-yard scoring pass to Hopkins on a fourth-down attempt.
“We need to gain confidence as we go as a program and as a football team,” Taggart said. “We have to make a lot more plays early. We keep getting behind and we're not that football team yet to be able to come from behind.”
The Bulls are back at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4 to open American Athletic Conference play against Cincinnati. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be viewed online at ESPN3.com.
