Turnovers nothing but trouble for SU
SYRACUSE — The University of South Florida righted its turnover-laiden start Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse did not, eventually falling 34-20 in the Big East opener for both squads.
The Orange committed seven total turnovers. Quarterback Greg Paulus tied Todd Norley's 27-year-old school record, throwing five interceptions.
"You just can't do that against a really good opponent like South Florida," Paulus said. "You start to press a little. Having those turnovers put your defense in a bad position and they have more possessions and can extend their lead."
South Florida (5-0 overall, 1-0 Big East) certainly did. The Bulls scored 27 points off turnovers, including an interception return that put Syracuse away for good.
The Orange (2-3, 0-1) was trailing 27-13 late in the third quarter with the ball on its own 20 yard-line. Paulus tried a dump pass out over the line. Jason Pierre-Paul — South Florida's 6-foot-6, 250-pound lineman — snagged it and ran 18 yards into the end zone, putting USF ahead 34-13.
"I didn't see him," Paulus said. "They brought pressure and I tried to throw it over the pressure. He made a really good play on it."
At the time, it was Paulus's fourth interception toss and Syracuse's sixth turnover.
"There shouldn't be any balls going into defenders' hands," Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said. "Seven turnovers is unacceptable."
He added that he was upset with Syracuse's three blown opportunities to score first.
"We came out and had three turnovers right off the bat," Marrone said. "On this team, you have to get up on them. They have to get a lead on this team. We didn't do that and at the end of the day, it's very disappointing."
South Florida won the coin toss and deferred. Syracuse marched into USF territory, but Delone Carter fumbled and the Bulls recovered.
The Bulls gave it right back, fumbling its first snap. Arthur Jones recovered for Syracuse on South Florida's 38 yard-line. The Orange managed a first down before Paulus threw his first interception.
The wild start continued as South Florida again fumbled on its first play. Jones also recovered that and became the first Syracuse defenseman to recover two fumbles in a game since 2007.
"It helped with momentum," Jones said. "Every play a defense is trying to make a big play."
Syracuse, this time starting on the USF 33 yard-line, fumbled on its first down.
"The way the game was going at the beginning, I didn't know who was going to turn the ball over more," said USF head coach Jim Leavitt.
It was Syracuse by four.
South Florida lost one more fumble, just before halftime. It was the only turnover Syracuse capitalized on.
With the Bulls up 14-6, Moise Plancher fumbled on South Florida's 14 yard-line and Syracuse's Max Suter recovered with 1 minute, 36 seconds to play.
Paulus ran two plays before lofting a pass for Mike Williams for the first of two touchdown passes, both to Williams. It was also the first touchdown reception USF surrendered all year and pulled Syracuse within 14-13.
"When you give me one-on-one coverage, I'm going to try and exploit it," Williams said. "We saw we can move the ball against a good team. If we eliminated turnovers then we got ourselves a good ballgame."
Heading into the half, Leavitt said he needed to motivate his team.
"I was a little animated," he said. "But the players got themselves going."
The Bulls came out and quarterback B.J. Daniels found Carlton Mitchell for an 85-yard touchdown. It was the only touchdown the Bulls scored without the assistance of a Syracuse turnover.
"It was real big, and got us some much needed momentum," Leavitt said.
Syracuse never really recovered as South Florida went up 21-13, then 27-13 and finally 34-13 on Pierre-Paul's interception return.
"I thought we were going to come out and be ready to play," Marrone said. "It's been a very disappointing day."
NO. 10 CINCINNATI 37, MIAMI (OHIO) 13
With its state-of-the-art passing attack stymied, No. 10 Cincinnati showed it can win the old-fashioned way, too.
Jacob Ramsey ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns in Cincinnati's pass-oriented offense, and the Bearcats broke open a close game in the fourth quarter for a 37-13 victory over Miami (Ohio) that showed a little grit to go with the glitz.
"You just try to keep winning," coach Brian Kelly said. "Today was not our A-game."
The oldest rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains has been a mismatch since Kelly showed up at Cincinnati and turned the Bearcats (5-0) into Big East champs. They won their fourth straight over Miami (0-5) in blustery conditions in front of Yager Stadium's biggest crowd in six years.
They did it in an uncharacteristic way.
Tony Pike had a so-so game, going 23 of 42 for 270 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the wind. The senior came in with 70.5 percent completion percentage, but repeatedly forced throws into a defense that double-teamed his top receivers and fell back to take away the long pass.
"You're going to have games like this," Pike said. "The conditions weren't perfect."
The Bearcats put the game in Ramsey's hands. He became the first Bearcat to run for 100 yards since the opening game of the 2007 season, and the 15th in school history to score three touchdowns in a game. His 2-yard run with 11:35 remaining gave the Bearcats a 30-13 lead.
"The running game went well with our offensive strategy," Ramsey said. "It's definitely something the backs look forward to every game and try to accomplish."
The Bearcats head into a bye week with a few things to fix. They had the ball for only 19 minutes, a week after they had it for only 16 minutes in a win over Fresno State. The offense scores quickly, and the defense has trouble getting off the field.
On Saturday, the Bearcats had trouble pinning down Miami's Zac Dysert, a redshirt freshman making his second start. Dysert did a Ben Roethlisberger impersonation and kept the RedHawks in the game until he changed it with one slip.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback was as elusive as Big Ben, who led the RedHawks to their last win over a Top 25 team in 2003 and has his name and number honored on a brick column below the videoboard. Dysert slipped away from two tacklers in the backfield and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tailback Andre Bratton that cut it to 23-13 late in the third quarter.
Then, Miami took a big gamble and tried an onside kick that bounced its way. Dysert led the RedHawks to the 3-yard line, energizing Miami fans in the mixed-allegiance crowd of 23,493. The thousands of Cincinnati fans were quiet.
"What we were thinking is we absolutely need to come up with a stop," Cincinnati linebacker J.K. Schaffer said. "There really wasn't any other choice."
The first top 10 team to play at Yager Stadium made the game-turning play. Dysert lost his footing as he threw into the crowded end zone, allowing Schaffer to intercept the errant throw.
"My foot slipped out from under me and the ball went right to him," Dysert said.
Crestfallen, the RedHawks fell apart. Dysert was 33 of 47 for 286 yards and was sacked 10 times — six times in the fourth quarter, when Miami had to throw to try to catch up.
Miami knew its ramped-up emotions wouldn't be enough; the RedHawks couldn't afford any bad plays. They had a shanked 6-yard punt and ran a fake punt that failed at their 27-yard line, setting up a pair of quick-strike touchdowns that helped Cincinnati pull ahead 20-0.
The RedHawks fell to 0-5 for the second time in four seasons. They're coming off a two-win season that prompted them to go outside the Cradle of Coaches and hire Notre Dame offensive coordinator Michael Haywood, who has a young team featuring seven freshman starters.
