Saturday, November 10
Syracuse, NY
12:00 p.m.
Syracuse University
10
vs
41
South Florida
Mike Williams pulls in a three-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Dantley in the third quarter.
Williams Excels In 41-10 Loss To USF
11/10/2007 11:30:49 AM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Sophomore receiver Mike Williams continued his sensational season with a career-high tying eight catches for 99 yards and a touchdown in the Orange's 41-10 loss to USF on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. Legendary fullback Larry Csonka addressed the Orange crowd when his number #39 jersey was retired at halftime
Williams extended his school record for consecutive games with a touchdown to seven, and he now has 653 yards this year, the fourth-highest total by an Orange sophomore. Throwing him the ball was junior quarterback Cameron Dantley, who finished 21-of-38 for a career-high 276 yards and one touchdown in his first career start. Junior receiver Taj Smith and sophomore receiver Lavar Lobdell added to the Orange aerial assault with 64 and 36 yards, respectively.
The Orange (2-8, 1-4) defense was led by senior safety Joe Fields, who registered a career-high 15 tackles and had his fourth interception of the season and eighth of his career. Senior safety Dowayne Davis and freshman linebacker Mike Mele each finished with 10 tackles – a career high for Mele.
The two-headed USF rushing attack of freshmen Mike Ford and Aston Samuals combined for 235 of the Bulls' 346 yards on the ground. Ford ran for 134 yards on 28 attempts and two touchdowns, while Samuals gained 101 yards on two attempts. Sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe was 15-of-22 for 181 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a score. His favorite target, freshman Carlton Mitchell, caught six passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
After recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff, the Bulls took over on the Syracuse 26-yard line. Their drive lasted 1:20 and consisted of four plays, including a 19-yard gain by Ford. At 13:40 Ford went up the middle for the game's first touchdown and an USF 7-0 advantage.
Two possessions later, USF (7-3, 2-3) took control on its own five-yard line with 14:51 left in the second quarter. During the opening play of the drive, Samuels broke for 75 yards and was tackled just shy of the goal line by a diving Davis. The Orange stuffed the Bulls on their first two attempts, and on third-and-goal the Orange faithful helped cause two false start penalties. The end result was a 42-yard field goal by sophomore Delbert Alvarado with 12:34 remaining in the half to move the score to 10-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, freshman Max Suter returned the ball 26 yards, passing Will Blackmon of Boston College (2003) for the most kick return yards in a single season by a BIG EAST student-athlete. Suter set the school record with eight kickoff returns in the game. He finished the contest with 168 return yards to bring his season total to 1,042.
At 9:09 of the second, USF got the ball back after an interception and drove 53 yards on five plays. Samuals rushed for 26 yards on the first play and set up a 15-yard touchdown toss from Grothe to Mitchell four plays later at 7:19.
Freshman punter Rob Long launched a career-long 73-yard punt on SU's next possession. The kick tied a school record held by Sean Reali, who booted a 73-yarder in the 1996 Gator Bowl.
USF allowed Long's punt to roll into the endzone and its drive started on the 20-yard line. The Bulls took 4:25 off the clock, going 64 yards on 14 plays. Grothe was 5-of-7 for 51 yards and helped set up a 33-yard field goal by Alvarado with 1:03 remaining in the half.
Dantley moved the Orange 47 yards by connecting with tight end Jawad Nesheiwat, Smith and Williams to set up a 50-yard field goal try with just three seconds remaining. With the ball on the right hash, junior Patrick Shadle blasted the pigskin through the uprights, setting a new career-high mark, to make the score 20-3 at the half.
USF opened the second half with a seven play, 59-yard scoring drive that was capped at 12:22 by an eight yard Grothe scamper. The Bulls' QB finished with 73 rushing yards.
Syracuse responded with a scoring drive of its own. On first-and-five from the South Florida 33-yard line, Dantley found Williams for a 46-yard gain. Three plays later the tandem hooked up again, this time Dantley fired a rocket from three yards out to Williams in the back of the endzone at 11:07.
The Bulls came right back with scoring drives of 76 yards and 82 yards. Ford rushed for his second touchdown when he crossed the goal line at 6:49. Grothe connected with junior receiver Taurus Johnson from nine yards out at 1:40 produced the final score.
Syracuse plays its final road game of 2007 at nationally-ranked Connecticut on Saturday, Nov. 17. Kickoff is 12 p.m. on ESPN2.
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