Head coach Skip Holtz loved the way his special teams and defense played on Saturday night. But despite some miscues and a couple turnovers the University of South Florida Bulls defeated the talented University of Tennessee Chattanooga Moccasins 34-13.
The first game of the season is the closest a lot of teams in the Big East can get to a preseason game. The first opponent is typically a lower division team that the home team can roll over. And even though that was the design behind Saturday’s game, Holtz wasn’t looking past the Mocs.
“To come in here and find a way to win, I’m really proud of this team and how they’ve worked,” Holtz said. “I give UTC a load of credit. I think they have a well-coached football team. I thought they played hard.”
Senior quarterback B.J. Daniels gave way to the second string with seven minutes left in the game and 265 yards in the air on 17 completions. He tossed three touchdowns and ran for one while turning the ball over twice.
“There were a lot of things we could work on,” Daniels said. “I hate that I missed a couple throws that were easy and wide open. Also, protecting the football is something I’m hoping to work on this week.”
Daniels’ three touchdown passes went to different receivers. One of those receivers, Derrick Hopkins, earned the first score of his career. Sterling Griffin was also on the receiving end of a long Daniels pass that led to a Bulls score.
“We threw the deep ball really well,” said offensive coordinator Todd Fitch. “There were some flashes but we are way away from where we want to be.”
The Bulls receiving corps got a boost from Terrence Mitchell, who had 78 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown from Daniels in the second quarter. Mitchell was back on the field for South Florida after missing a lot of last season with a concussion.
“Here’s a guy, had a couple of big punt returns,” Holtz said about Mitchell. “As shifty as he is, they started punting the ball away from him. As a receiver to get the ball into his hands he can be an impact player.”
South Florida’s defense also had an impressive showing against Chattanooga. The Bulls held the Mocs to 12 yards in the first quarter. Defensive end Ryne Giddins had two sacks on the first Chattanooga possession alone.
The two turnovers by Daniels led directly to 10 points for Chattanooga, which took away from the overall stellar performance by the defense. In the end, the Bulls had six sacks and held the Mocs to only 151 total yards.
“A lot of that pressure comes from the inside,” said defensive coordinator Chris Cosh. “I give our ends a lot of credit. It required a lot of people to be assignment sound. And we did that”
Saturday was also a historic night for placekicker Maikon Bonani. With his third extra point of the night in the second quarter he became the all-time leading scorer in USF football history.
The goal on Saturday night was to go 1-0. Even though there were some struggles on the offensive side of the ball, the win over Chattanooga had Holtz smiling.
“Loved the leadership of this team, how hard they’ve worked,” he said. “It’s great to be in Tampa.”
