Misery continues at UConn: USF falls, 16-10

Posted Oct 15, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Oct 15, 2011 at 10:01 PM

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. For 16 days, the University of South Florida had a dreadful 27-point defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh sitting in the pit of their stomachs.

Instead of finding a remedy for the feeling in their first time back on the field Saturday afternoon at Connecticut, the Bulls returned to Tampa feeling even worse.

USF’s misery at Rentschler Field continued with a 16-10 loss to a Huskies team that had lost four of its last five games. The setback moved the Bulls to 0-4 all-time in Connecticut’s home stadium, but even worse in regards to this season, it put USF (4-2) at 0-2 in Big East Conference play.

“This is an extremely frustrating loss,” junior linebacker Mike Lanaris said. “These 16 days, we were really looking forward to coming out here and giving UConn a great shot and coming away with a victory, and we couldn’t do that.”

The Bulls were plagued by several mistakes and missed opportunities against Connecticut (3-4, 1-1), most notably turnovers and penalties. USF had season highs in both categories with four turnovers and nine penalties for 89 yards.

“We made too many mistakes to win a close football game,” USF coach Skip Holtz said. “We had our opportunities. We just couldn’t make the most of it.”

Offensively, the Bulls struggled to mount any kind of consistency. Both scoring drives came on the opening possession of each half, and USF had five drives go inside the Huskies 35-yard line that resulted in zero points.

USF’s defense had a much better showing than its last time out, limiting Connecticut’s offense to 253 total yards and three field goals while producing a school-record tying seven sacks and two turnovers, but there were chances for even better results.

“We had our hands on three or four (balls). We had a chance at five or six turnovers tonight, and we didn’t make it happen,” defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said. “There’s an opportunity for us to contribute to a win, and we just didn’t get it done. Period.”

However, it was the turnovers – particularly the two fumbles – that proved the most costly.

The first occurred on the opening play of the second quarter. After sophomore Marcus Shaw had set the Bulls up with a 79-yard kickoff return near the end of the first quarter, the Bulls had a second-and-goal from the UConn 7 when junior quarterback B.J. Daniels’ attempted option-pitch to senior Joel Miller ended up on the turf and was recovered by the Huskies.

“We took away a great opportunity,” Holtz said. “It’s like getting all the way down the field on a kick return and all the sudden you say we have points on the board and bang, the ball’s on the ground and the defense is up.”

The second came midway through the third quarter. USF was backed up to its own 10 after a penalty when running back Darrell Scott fumbled after a hit by UConn defensive tackle Tywon Martin. Defensive back Byron Jones picked up the loose ball and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown, putting the Huskies in front, 16-10.

“You just can’t put the ball on the ground,” said Scott, who rushed for 58 yards on 13 carries but had just three carries for six yards in the second half. “So I’ll put that on me and say I basically lost the game for us.”

Still, the Bulls had a chance to get a winning score at the end when they drove to UConn’s 30 and had a first down with less than three minutes left. Three plays later, though, USF was staring at a fourth-and-7. The Bulls got the matchup they were looking for with man coverage, but Daniels’ pass to sophomore receiver Sterling Griffin (five receptions, 63 yards) was low, forcing Griffin to dive for the catch. Griffin ended up four yards shy of moving the chains and keeping the drive alive.

“It was a man-beater, and we had him come free. Sterling was popping free. We were anticipating man, they had played a lot of man in the second half, fourth quarter, and we caught them in man and had a little man route called,” offensive coordinator Todd Fitch said. “We thought we had a chance to maybe spring him there, but just didn’t get it off.”

Added Daniels, who finished 15-for-27 passing for 164 yards and accounted for the Bulls’ only touchdown with a 22-yard scoring run in the third quarter: “A couple inches higher, hit him near the chest, he has an opportunity to run and get that first down.”

Instead, the Bulls returned home following another tough loss, one in which their own miscues were the prevailing theme.

“We have tons of talent, and we keep telling ourselves that, but we keep doing things to shoot ourselves in the foot,” senior center Chaz Hine said. “We had several penalties tonight, I had one myself, a holding. If we could just get rid of the stupid mistakes, we’d be in such better position to be playing. So we’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. As soon as we do that we’ll be able to take care of a lot more.”