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Florida A&M coach Joe Taylor felt the Rattlers represented themselves well.
Despite falling 70-17 to No. 20 South Florida on Saturday night, Taylor said his team showed why they should be optimistic about the remainder of the season.
''The bottom line is when you play this competition, it really gives you a barometer for where you are,'' Taylor said after Tallahassee native B.J. Daniels threw for a career-best 382 yards and four touchdowns to pace USF on a school record-breaking offensive night.
''We have eight games remaining, and I have no problem believing that we can win all eight,'' Taylor added. ''This is good step-up competition for us, and we got better. It might not look like it by the score, but we did get better.''
A week after throwing for 359 yards but just one TD in a 30-point victory over Ball State, Daniels led the Bulls (3-0) to touchdowns on eight of 10 drives he directed before leaving the game for good in the third quarter. The redshirt junior who grew up near the FAMU campus completed 21 of 33 passes and also scored on a 5-yard run.
''He was very focused, very dialed in. He saw the field. He didn't put the ball in danger. He played very similar to the way he played last week,'' USF coach Skip Holtz said.
''He continues to grow and mature every week. He's not going to be the one-hit wonder,'' Holtz added. ''He understands the offense. He's doing a great job of managing the game.''
Darrell Scott had a big night, too, rushing for a career-best 146 yards and scoring two TDs on the ground. The 240-pound transfer from Colorado also turned a screen pass into an 84-yard touchdown, rumbling up the left sideline before cutting back to the middle on the field to stay ahead of the pursuit.
Austin Trainor threw for 106 yards for FAMU (1-2), including second-quarter touchdowns of 4 yards to Lavante Page and 32 yards to Edmond Baker.
Daniels, who beat Florida State in his first college start two years ago, began the rout with a 43-yard scoring pass to A.J. Love. The Bulls outgained the Rattlers 537 yards to 112 in the opening half and finished with a school-record 745 yards total offense - eclipsing the 580 they gained in a victory over Liberty in 2001.
''I'm from Tallahassee and know a lot of people on both teams,'' said Daniels, whose father works for FAMU. ''It's fun to go back, and beat people you grow up with.''
USF moved into the Top 25 for the first time in nearly two years following a season-opening upset at Notre Dame. The next three games on the schedule - Ball State, FAMU and next week against Texas-El Paso - were bunched together in hopes of giving Holtz an opportunity to develop some depth by giving inexperienced reserves valuable playing time in preparation for the start of Big East play at Pittsburgh on Sept. 29.
The Bulls scored on three of four possessions before Holtz began substituting, replacing Daniels with backup quarterback Bobby Eveld late in the first quarter.
The sophomore's second pass was intercepted by Devontae Johnson, though, and the FAMU cornerback's 48-yard return to the USF 7 set up the Rattlers' first touchdown.
Daniels returned and threw TD passes of 18 yards to Sterling Griffin and 27 yards to Andre Davis, while also watching Scott score on his long catch-and-run to build the lead to 49-14.
In all, Daniels led the Bulls to touchdowns on seven of nine drives before halftime, with one of the two not reaching the end zone ending on a fumble at the FAMU 34 and the other inside the Rattlers' 10 on the final play of the half.
Davis also blocked a punt and returned it 11 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. Scott scored on runs of 6 and 56 yards, then capped his night with 30-yard scoring jaunt on the last drive Daniels was in the game.
Eveld finished up for the Bulls, leading one long TD drive.
''I don't how many yards the halfback got, but we made him an All-American,'' Taylor said. ''We just couldn't tackle him. We were right there to tackle him, we just didn't tackle him.''
FAMU, coming off a 23-17 loss to Hampton, had 181 yards total offense. The Rattlers were limited to 39 yards net rushing.
''We knew coming into this game that it was going to be really tough, and it was nothing short of that,'' Trainor said. ''That's a really good defense that we were facing ... We put up a decent amount of points, but we missed a lot of opportunities again. Week after week, we keep missing opportunities. ... We left at least 14 points out there again.''
