Rutgers beats No. 2 South Florida
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- It's not easy being No. 2 -- just ask South Florida.
The Bulls became the third second-ranked team to lose in the last three weeks, having their unexpected unbeaten run snapped by tricky Rutgers 30-27 on Thursday night.
Third-string quarterback Andrew DePaola threw a 15-yard touchdown pass off a fake field goal to give the Scarlet Knights the lead in the third quarter, and Rutgers also used a fake punt to set up a field goal in the first quarter.
Ray Rice provided a more conventional 181 yards on 39 carries for Rutgers (5-2, 2-1 Big East), and Mike Teel threw 2 touchdown passes to Tiquan Underwood.
The Bulls (6-1, 1-1) had their 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.
Matt Grothe threw for 247 yards and a touchdown and ran for 58 yards, but Rutgers' defense swarmed South Florida's multitalented quarterback in the second half and sacked him seven times.
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.
Jeremy Ito lined a career-long 51-yard field goal with 11:59 left in the fourth quarter to give Rutgers a 30-20 lead.
Grothe's gang wasn't done. He led the Bulls on a 70-yard touchdown drive that Mike Ford capped with a 1-yard run with 9:16 left to make it 30-27.
When USF linebacker Ben Moffitt recovered Rice's fumble near midfield with 4:11 left, the Bulls were in business at the Rutgers 40. But Damaso Renkart sacked Grothe on the first play, and the Bulls were forced to punt.
Rutgers was unable to kill the clock and the Bulls got one more shot to keep their perfect season alive, starting at the Rutgers 49.
On the first play, freshman Joe Lefeged came on a safety blitz and sacked Grothe from the blind side. On fourth-and-22, Amarri Jackson caught a pass down the sideline beyond the first-down marker, but the play was wiped out by an offensive pass interference call because the receiver pushed off.
The last gasp came on a fourth-and-37 from the Rutgers 24. Grothe heaved a desperation pass into traffic and Rutgers defensive back Zaire Kitchen intercepted.
For the second straight season Rutgers came up with a huge victory on a Thursday night at home. Last year it was No. 3 Louisville, at the time the highest ranked opponent Rutgers had ever beaten.
Not anymore.