SOUTH FLORIDA BEATS FLORIDA STATE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY

The circumstances didn’t bode very well for South Florida as they headed into their game against mighty Florida State University this weekend.  Their starting QB, Matt Grothe—the Big East Conference’s career total offense leader—suffered a season ending injury last weekend.  In his place, the team was starting a redshirt freshman, BJ Daniels.  No problem—Daniels threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns, overcoming two interceptions as South Florida beat Florida State for the first time in school history by a final score of 17-7.

College football betting enthusiasts who backed the Bulls as +13’ road underdogs were financially rewarded with their outright win.  The combined 24 points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 51.  Florida State has now lost four of their last five home games, and are starting a season with a 2-2 record for the first time since 1989.

After the game, South Florida coach Jim Leavitt suggested that it was a monumental accomplishment that could change the way the entire football program is perceived:

"You have to beat them to get talked about. It changes history. You have to beat them to get talked about. Now I can say we should be talked about."

It was South Florida’s first win over any of the Sunshine State’s three national powerhouse programs—Florida, Florida State and the University of Miami.  For his part, Seminoles’ coach Bobby Bowden wasn’t making excuses:

"They whupped us. They're a lot better than I thought."

The loss also raises anew questions about Florida State that their supporters had hoped were answered with last week’s resounding win over BYU in Orem, Utah.  Bowden continued to give credit to Bulls’ QB Daniels:

"He killed us. Boy, they've got a great one there."

Daniels said that he wasn’t nervous despite having to make his debut as the Bulls’ starting quarterback in a high pressure setting in a high profile game:

"It feels good playing in front of your friends and your family. I was very familiar with the people around so I definitely felt comfortable and it wasn't anything to get me nervous."

In addition to his passing performance, Daniels was impossible to stop on the ground as well—he finished with 126 yards on 33 careers, with a longest rush of 44 yards.

Things won’t get any easier for Florida State as they begin ACC play next weekend.  They’ll play at Boston College next Saturday in their conference opener.  They’ll take on Georgia Tech at home the following weekend before heading back out on the road to face the University of North Carolina.  South Florida will play at Syracuse next weekend.  They’ll host #10 ranked Cincinnati on October 15th in a nationally televised Thursday night ESPN game.  They’ll then travel to Pittsburgh the following weekend.