Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Sports

South Florida flopped and No. 2 is up for grabs again. Done in by Rutgers special teams tricks, the Bulls became the third second-ranked team to lose in the last three weeks, falling 30-27 to the Scarlet Knights on Thursday night. USF had its eight-game winning streak come to an end, no doubt to the delight of Boston College, LSU, Oklahoma and the rest of the teams hoping to grab the second spot in the BCS standings USF held this week. Against Rutgers, the Bulls' defense got thumped. Ray Rice ran for 181 yards on 39 carries and the Scarlet Knights scored more points than any opponent had this season against USF. Quarterback, Matt Grothe was good, passing for 247 yards and a touchdown and running for another score, but he also took a pounding. Rutgers sacked him seven times and preserved a three-point lead with two late defensive stands. A week after No. 2 California lost to Oregon State and two weeks after then-No. 2 Southern California was upset by Stanford, the Bulls became the 11th top-10 team to fall to an unranked opponent this season. There are five undefeated teams left in major college football. In this topsy-turvy season, the Bulls' national title hopes can't quite be put to rest. But they took a major hit.

USF hadn't allowed a runner to reach 100 yards in the 14 games since Rice went for 202 in the Scarlet Knights' 22-20 win last year. Rice had 94 at halftime Thursday night.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools