TAMPA (AP) -The rapid development of quarterback B.J. Daniels may be the biggest reason South Florida has remained a Top 25 team after the loss of Big East career total offense leader Matt Grothe.
Since taking over when Grothe was sidelined for the season with a knee injury, the redshirt freshman has emerged among the nation’s leaders in average yards per completion (17.1 yards), average yards per rush for a quarterback (5.58) and yards per game rushing for a QB (64.9).
USF has won three of Daniels’ first five starts, and he’s been one of the most efficient passers in the Big East.
“He’s continued to grow each and every rep that he takes. Even in practice, the more reps he can get the better he gets,” offensive coordinator Mike Canales said.
“In terms of his progress, we’re extremely happy. … He’s played four ranked teams. That’s pretty impressive to go and do that. He’s hungry. He’s like a sponge. He’s soaking everything up.”
Daniels said being able to spend a season-plus on the bench behind Grothe is one of the keys to his success.
ere last year really helped me out a lot. I’m still learning, each game and each week,” he said. “I just want to continue to learn and get better.”
Canales is impressed with the way Daniels has handled the spotlight.
“He just plays the game. When he gets on the field, he forgets about the cameras, he forgets about being on TV. I don’t think those things bother him at all,” the offensive coordinator said. “He’s very composed and very mature for a young man.”
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LOOKING TO BREAK ONE: Mardy Gilyard hasn’t returned a kickoff for a touchdown this season – yet.
Last season, Gilyard emerged as one of the nation’s top returners, taking two kickoffs back all the way. The most important one came in Morgantown, W.Va., where he returned the opening kick 100 yards – the first time in 18 years that the Mountaineers gave up a kickoff return for touchdown.
“We’re still working out some things here and there,” Gilyard said. “I am anxious to get one, like I’m anxious to score every game, to get that first catch every game.”
Fifth-ranked Cincinnati would like for him to get that breakthrough return on Friday night, when the Bearcats have their rematch with the Mountaineers.
and Cincinnati had the early confidence. The Bearcats won 26-23 in overtime, putting themselves in line for their first Big East championship.
“I can remember cutting across the grain and it was like, ‘There’s nobody here. Oh, my God, I did it,”’ Gilyard said. “I think that was the turning point of the season pretty much.”
Gilyard ranks third in the conference in kick return average at 26.8 yards per try. His longest return was 75 yards.
Kelly sees teams focused on containing him whenever he returns a kick.
“Whether he snuck up on people last year or not, you could argue that,” Kelly said. “Clearly when he’s on the field, there’s an attention to him. But he’s done great in getting field position for us.”
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TURNOVER CHAMPIONS: Syracuse upped its turnover count by three in Saturday’s loss at Pittsburgh. That gives the Orange 23 for the season – already is six more than all of last year.
Head coach Doug Marrone says that of the 14 interceptions thrown by his quarterbacks – 13 by starter Greg Paulus and one by backup Ryan Nassib – 10 have been on the plus side of the 50-yard line. The average yard line for those 10 picks is the opponent’s 28.
ession of the second half to break open what had been a tight game for 27 minutes.
“That’s where we have to do a better job,” Marrone said. “Yes, football is a game of momentum. It’s always hard to judge where you’re at in a football game. It’s 6-3 and all of a sudden the next thing you know it’s 20-3. If you hang in there and go, where does the game go? That’s the question I ask myself all of the time.”
The response by the offense after the interceptions also has troubled the first-year head coach. Marrone said in 18 offensive possessions after turnovers, the Orange have either punted or committed another turnover.
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THREE GOES INTO TWENTY-FIVE: Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt didn’t moan about a lack of respect when there wasn’t a single Big East team ranked among the AP preseason Top 25. His plea at the time: Be patient. Now, three Big East teams (No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 8 Pitt, No. 23 South Florida) are ranked – two in the Top 10 – and West Virginia is just outside the Top 25.
“I have to pull out my quotes from August,” Wannstedt said. “That’s why I said what I said: Let’s wait until December to see. We have good football teams here, we know that … as good as anybody around. Sometimes things just have to take their course.”
Florida and unranked Rutgers both need one more victory to qualify for a bowl game.
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DON’T COPY UCONN: Connecticut picked apart unbeaten Cincinnati’s defense with a 35-point second half last week before the Bearcats prevailed 47-45. UConn’s Jordan Todman romped for 162 yards on 26 carries and scored four TDs – three in the second half – and Cincinnati surrendered a season high for points.
But West Virginia coach Bill Stewart says he doesn’t plan to copy UConn’s game plan because the Mountaineers’ offensive flow is different than that of the Huskies and the offensive line’s depth is untested.
“We are not a big, physical, grind-it-out team. That’s not our strong suit,” Stewart said. “We are more of a balanced, spread-the-wealth football team. I don’t know if our offensive line can go up and down the field on them.
“We are going to have to do what we do, try to spread the wealth and get the ball out on the screen, try the short passing game with a deep pass every now and then and do our very best running the football.”
To do that, West Virginia will need a healthy Noel Devine and Jarrett Brown. Both tweaked ankles in a 17-9 win over Louisville on Saturday and Stewart said they’re expected to play against the No. 5 Bearcats.
West Virginia managed just 57 offensive plays against Louisville.
“If we have 57 snaps against Cincinnati, it will be a mess,” Stewart said.
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HOME SWEET HOME: Louisville’s struggles the last three seasons have worn thin with the fan base, the evidence coming in the number of empty seats at Cardinals Stadium.
A crowd of just over 21,000 – a record-low – watched Louisville beat Arkansas State two weeks ago. The numbers might not be much better on Saturday when the Cardinals host Syracuse, not exactly the best news for a program that is in the process of adding around 15,000 seats to the stadium in time for next season.
Coach Steve Kragthorpe allows a lack of enthusiasm for his performance hasn’t helped things. He is 14-19 with the Cardinals, and Louisville’s home-field advantage has all but disappeared. Louisville is 3-5 in the Big East under Kragthorpe and hasn’t won a conference game in more than a year.
Kragthorpe has no problem with people who don’t like him, but he takes it personally when the negativity shifts to his players.
“I know there’s people that don’t like me, don’t like way I do things, if they don’t want to come support me, that’s fine,” Kragthorpe said. “But I think they need to come and support these players.”
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AP Sports Writers John Kekis in Syracuse, N.Y., Joe Kay in Cincinnati, John Raby in Morgantown, W.V., Alan Robinson in Pittsburgh and Will Graves in Louisville, Ky. contributed to this report.
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