GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">NCAAF END, 4TH QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SOUTH FLORIDA 14 0 0 6 20
AUBURN (17) 3 14 0 3 20 GOING INTO OVERTIME

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: SOUTH FLORIDA - TD, MATT GROTHE 1 YD RUN (DELBERT
ALVARADO KICK), 5:58. SOUTH
FLORIDA 7-0
AUBURN - FG, WES BYRUM 49 YD, 10:41. SOUTH
FLORIDA 7-3
SOUTH FLORIDA - TD, MIKE FORD 2 YD RUN (DELBERT
ALVARADO KICK), 13:04. SOUTH
FLORIDA 14-3
2ND QUARTER: AUBURN - TD, MARIO FANNIN 4 YD RUN (WES
BYRUM KICK), 0:45. SOUTH
FLORIDA 14-10
AUBURN - TD, GABE MCKENZIE 3 YD PASS FROM
BRANDON COX (WES BYRUM KICK),
14:31. AUBURN 17-14
3RD QUARTER: NONE
4TH QUARTER: SOUTH FLORIDA - FG, DELBERT ALVARADO 38 YD, 7:14.
SOUTH FLORIDA 17-17
AUBURN - FG, WES BYRUM 46 YD, 12:06. AUBURN
20-17
SOUTH FLORIDA - FG, DELBERT ALVARADO 19 YD, 14:05.
SOUTH FLORIDA 20-20</div>

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">NCAAF FG AUBURN
WES BYRUM 39 YD

SOUTH FLORIDA 20
AUBURN (17) 23 IN 1ST OT POSSESSION</div>

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">NCAAF SOUTH FLORIDA 20
AUBURN (17) 23 IN 1ST OT POSSESSION</div>

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">NCAAF FINAL IN OT 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -- -----
SOUTH FLORIDA 14 0 0 6 6 26
AUBURN (17) 3 14 0 3 3 23 FINAL IN OT

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: SOUTH FLORIDA - TD, MATT GROTHE 1 YD RUN (DELBERT
ALVARADO KICK), 5:58. SOUTH
FLORIDA 7-0
AUBURN - FG, WES BYRUM 49 YD, 10:41. SOUTH
FLORIDA 7-3
SOUTH FLORIDA - TD, MIKE FORD 2 YD RUN (DELBERT
ALVARADO KICK), 13:04. SOUTH
FLORIDA 14-3
2ND QUARTER: AUBURN - TD, MARIO FANNIN 4 YD RUN (WES
BYRUM KICK), 0:45. SOUTH
FLORIDA 14-10
AUBURN - TD, GABE MCKENZIE 3 YD PASS FROM
BRANDON COX (WES BYRUM KICK),
14:31. AUBURN 17-14
3RD QUARTER: NONE
4TH QUARTER: SOUTH FLORIDA - FG, DELBERT ALVARADO 38 YD, 7:14.
SOUTH FLORIDA 17-17
AUBURN - FG, WES BYRUM 46 YD, 12:06. AUBURN
20-17
SOUTH FLORIDA - FG, DELBERT ALVARADO 19 YD, 14:05.
SOUTH FLORIDA 20-20
1ST POSSESSION: AUBURN - FG, WES BYRUM 39 YD, AUBURN 23-20
SOUTH FLORIDA - TD, JESSIE HESTER JR. 14 YD PASS
FROM GRANT GREGORY SOUTH
FLORIDA 26-23</div>

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">NCAAF TD SOUTH FLORIDA
JESSIE HESTER JR. 14 YD PASS FROM GRANT GREGORY

SOUTH FLORIDA 26
AUBURN (17) 23 IN 1ST OT POSSESSION</div>

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NCAAF
SOUTH FLORIDA 26
AUBURN (17) 23 FINAL IN OVERTIME</div>

 

AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) -- South Florida announced itspresence on the National stage Saturday night.


The Bulls forced five turnovers and finally prevailed inovertime, 26-23, over No. 17 Auburn.


Sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe completed 18-of-27 passes for184 yards, rushed for a score and tossed a 14-yard touchdownpass to Jessie Hester in overtime to clinch the upset and giveSouth Florida its first-ever win against a SoutheasternConference opponent.


The Bulls squandered three separate opportunities to tie thescore or take the lead in a disastrous third quarter.

Auburn fumbled the ball away three times, leaving South Floridawith drives beginning at the Tigers' 41-, 21- and 23-yard lines.Bulls' kicker Delbert Alvarado's tumultuous night began with amissed 37-yarder with 7:43 remaining in the third.

He missed a 45-yarder five minutes later and had another37-yarder was blocked before the end of the quarter. As aresult, South Florida entered the fourth quarter still trailing17-14.


Alvarado momentarily redeemed himself in the fourth, convertinga 38-yard try to even the score at 17-17. However, anotherBulls' drive failed to result in any points when he missed a21-yarder with 6:37 left in the game.


The Tigers took advantage of that miss and embarked on a 3:19drive that resulted in a 39-yard field goal by Wes Byrum and a20-17 advantage with 2:53 remaining in the game.


South Florida used a 33-yard kickoff return and a 26-yard driveto set Alvarado up for yet another field goal try. This timethe sophomore converted the 19-yard attempt and set the contestinto overtime.


Auburn was burned by the inconsistent play of fifth-year seniorquarterback Brandon Cox, who completed just 16-of-35 attemptsfor one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. He was alsoresponsible for one of the Tigers' fumbles.


Cox was erratic in the opener last week against Kansas State aswell, completing just 17-of-30 attempts for 229 yards and a pairof interceptions.


Mike Ford rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries forthe Bulls.

 

AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) -- South Florida announced itspresence on the National stage Saturday night.


The Bulls forced five turnovers and finally prevailed inovertime, 26-23, over No. 17 Auburn.


Sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe completed 18-of-27 passes for184 yards, rushed for a score and tossed a 14-yard touchdownpass to Jessie Hester in overtime to clinch the upset and giveSouth Florida its first-ever win against a SoutheasternConference opponent.


"We had tried a couple of times to run that play in the game,"Grothe said of the game winner. "They are mostly a cover-two orman team but when we ran those plays earlier they were in twoand only gave us the underneath. Jessie (Hester) made a goodmove on his man and made the play."


The Bulls squandered three separate opportunities to tie thescore or take the lead in a disastrous third quarter.

Auburn fumbled the ball away three times, leaving South Floridawith drives beginning at the Tigers' 41-, 21- and 23-yard lines.Bulls' kicker Delbert Alvarado's tumultuous night began with amissed 37-yarder with 7:43 remaining in the third.

He missed a 45-yarder five minutes later and had another37-yarder was blocked before the end of the quarter. As aresult, South Florida entered the fourth quarter still trailing17-14.


Alvarado, who also serves as the team's punter momentarilyredeemed himself in the fourth, converting a 38-yard try to eventhe score at 17-17. However, another Bulls' drive failed toresult in any points when he missed a 21-yarder with 6:37 leftin the game.


"I really didn't want him punting because I didn't want him tooverdo it," South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. "I don't wantto use that as an excuse and neither would he. There is noexcuse for the one that got blocked and the next one got tipped,I think, so we have a lot to work on in that area."

The Tigers took advantage of that miss and embarked on a 3:19drive that resulted in a 39-yard field goal by Wes Byrum and a20-17 advantage with 2:53 remaining in the game.


South Florida used a 33-yard kickoff return and a 26-yard driveto set Alvarado up for yet another field goal try. This timethe sophomore converted the 19-yard attempt and set the contestinto overtime.


"I really didn't want to go for that field goal at the end whenit was fourth-and-inches, but I felt like we needed to drive,but I was concerned," Leavitt said.


Auburn was burned by the inconsistent play of fifth-year seniorquarterback Brandon Cox, who completed just 16-of-35 attemptsfor one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. He was alsoresponsible for one of the Tigers' fumbles.


"We beat ourselves," Cox said. "We had five turnovers. Youcan't win games like that. I just want to apologize to ourdefense. They did their part. Offensively we didn't.

"When we weren't turning the ball over, we were putting togethersome pretty good drives. I think we got better in some partsof our offense. Turning the ball over like that, you can't wingames."


Cox was erratic in the opener last week against Kansas State aswell, completing just 17-of-30 attempts for 229 yards and a pairof interceptions.


"It was a good effort," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "Wemade a little improvement. We played a good football team, andI thought our guys hung in there well. We just didn't executewell enough tonight to win."


Mike Ford rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries forthe Bulls.


"Of course (the win) is going to give you confidence, there isno doubt about that," Leavitt said. "We have probably thetoughest schedule that we have ever had and we are going to haveto play just as good as we did tonight to continue to win."

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NCAAF
SOUTH FLORIDA 26
AUBURN (17) 23 FINAL IN OVERTIME</div>

 

NCAAF: SOUTH FLORIDA at AUBURN

<div class="pre">NCAAF FINAL IN OT 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -- -----
SOUTH FLORIDA 14 0 0 6 6 26
AUBURN (17) 3 14 0 3 3 23 FINAL IN OT

SOUTH FLORIDA-TD, M Grothe 1 YD RUN (D Alvarado KICK) 5:58 1st
Qtr
AUBURN-FG, W Byrum 49 YD 10:41 1st Qtr
SOUTH FLORIDA-TD, M Ford 2 YD RUN (D Alvarado KICK) 13:04 1st
Qtr
AUBURN-TD, M Fannin 4 YD RUN (W Byrum KICK) 0:45 2nd Qtr
AUBURN-TD, G McKenzie 3 YD PASS FROM B Cox (W Byrum
KICK) 14:31 2nd Qtr
SOUTH FLORIDA-FG, D Alvarado 38 YD 7:14 4th Qtr
AUBURN-FG, W Byrum 46 YD 12:06 4th Qtr
SOUTH FLORIDA-FG, D Alvarado 18 YD 14:05 4th Qtr
AUBURN-FG, W Byrum 39 YD 1st Ot
SOUTH FLORIDA-TD, J Hester Jr. 14 YD PASS FROM M Grothe 1st Ot


SOUTH FLORIDA AUBURN
First downs 18 16
Rushed-yards 52-135 35-125
Passing yards 184 165
Sacked-yards lost 3-36 2-6
Return yards 90 43
Passes 18-27-0 16-35-2
Punts 6-42.8 5-44
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-3
Penalties-yards 7-60 7-55
Time of possession 32:44 27:16


Individual Statistics

RUSHING: SOUTH FLORIDA-Mike Ford 21-74, Matt Grothe 18-31, Benjamin
Williams 5-18, Jamar Taylor 5-8, T.J. Johnson 1-4, Aston Samuels 2-0.
AUBURN-Mario Fannin 14-62, Ben Tate 14-61, Robert Dunn 1-6, Brandon
Cox 5-3, Carl Stewart 1-MINUS 7.

PASSING: SOUTH FLORIDA-Matt Grothe 18-27-184- 0. AUBURN-Brandon Cox
16-35-165- 2.

RECEIVING: SOUTH FLORIDA-Jessie Hester Jr. 6-64, T.J. Johnson 4-57,
Amarri Jackson 2-32, Mike Ford 1-11, Ben Busbee 2-8, Marcus Edwards
1-4, Jamar Taylor 1-4, Carlton Mitchell 1-4. AUBURN-Carl Stewart 3-45,
Prechae Rodriguez 3-35, Rodgeriqus Smith 3-34, Gabe McKenzie 3-27,
Robert Dunn 2-15, Montez Billings 1-5, Chris Slaughter 1-4.


Att: 82,617</div>