.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
MORGANTOWN, W. Va.
BIG EAST: USF QB B.J. Daniels can't escape Montaineers' pass rush and throws three INTs
By the time B.J. Daniels could fake a hand off, the West Virginia Mountaineers were on him.
They dumped him head over heels in the second quarter. They wrestled him down by the belt in the third quarter. And he spent much of the rest of the game scrambling around, looking for help that seldom came.
On the other sideline, West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith looked every bit a Heisman Trophy candidate as he led his team to an early lead and two key scoring drives that buried the Bulls, 20-6.
South Florida (3-3) fell to 0-2 in Big East Conference play behind inconsistent play from Daniels and the rest of the Bulls' offense.
Daniels completed six passes in a row in the third quarter and had several key runs. But he also threw three interceptions, and the offense failed for the second straight game to score a touchdown.
"We've got to look hard at our offense," Holtz said. "It's bad, it really is. We've scored nine points in two weeks."
The Bulls have another tough road game next week in Cincinnati on Oct. 22.
With half the season over and with key injuries to offensive starters, the Bulls' lack of playmakers to take the load off Daniels was striking as they faced a fast Mountaineer defense.
"I thought he was really dialed in. I thought he threw the ball pretty well," Holtz said. "But the thing we're really lacking right now as an offensive football team is a big play."
Flanker Evan Landi dropped a perfect Daniels pass in the third quarter, knocking it straight up in the air for an interception. Two bad holding penalties put up roadblocks for an already struggling offense. The Bulls converted one of 11 third downs.
"Nobody needs to point a finger on the offensive side of the ball right now," Holtz said. "We all need to look at ourselves and what we're doing."
Smith and the Mountaineers were ready to pounce on every miscue.
In the first half, Smith sidestepped a half-dozen blitzes, looking poised and keeping the offense moving despite the pressure.
He completed three short passes on West Virginia's first possession and scrambled for a nifty first down the very first time the Bulls' defensive line got a whiff of him.
Two incomplete passes stalled the drive on the 11, and the Mountaineers settled for a short field goal.
Daniels countered with gritty runs and good decisions. He ducked around left end for a first-down on the Bulls' first possession, then threaded a 15-yard pass to wideout Dontavia Bogan. A risky quarterback draw on third-and-4 stopped the drive and South Florida punted.
And Smith went back to work, escaping from the pass rush three times as South Florida blitzed.
A play-action pass on first down fooled both of the Bulls' safeties, and Brad Starks caught Smith's 31-yard pass for a touchdown.
With the Bulls down 10-0, sophomore wideout Lindsey Lamar returned the ensuing kickoff for 55 yards, flashing the speed that has him ranked No. 5 in the nation in kickoff returns.
And it was all Daniels again for the Bulls. He threw behind a receiver and drew a pass interference penalty. He sidestepped a safety and ran for 14 yards, a key play that helped the Bulls score their first points of the game on a 36-yard field goal by Maikon Bonani.
The Bulls' defense warmed up and showed it can run with the Mountaineers, considered one of the faster teams in college football.
Cornerbacks Quenton Washington and Mistral Raymond each stopped a drive with an open-field tackle. Defensive lineman Terrell McClain sacked Smith, the first of three sacks on the night for Bulls defenders.
Then Daniels made his first bad decision of the night.
Scrambling around right end, Daniels tried to throw 25 yards downfield, a pass that was intercepted by Robert Sands on the Bulls' 35-yard line.
Sands returned the pick to the Bulls' 7-yard line, and running back Noel Devine scored a touchdown on a hook-and-lateral play, another bit of first-down trickery.
The Bulls were down 17-3.
Daniels gathered himself at halftime and completed six of seven passes, leading the Bulls offense to a field goal to start the second half.
The Mountaineers responded with a 73-yard drive that took half the third quarter.
And South Florida had run out of counter punches, despite hard-nosed play by both Daniels and a defense that sacked Smith a total of three times.
With less than two minutes left, the coaches pulled Daniels out of the game.
And Holtz said the offense is back on the drawing board. Again.
"We've got to take a long hard look at what we're doing, how we're doing it, and who we're doing it with," Holtz said.
