The South Florida Bulls showed no ill effects from their mentally exhausting week, setting a school record for first downs and moving the football at will on their way to a 37-7 win over the Ball State Cardinals at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night.
B.J. Daniels only played about two and a half quarters as the Bulls raced out to a 30-0 halftime lead. He ended up completing 28 of 39 passes for a career-high 359 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Daniels and the USF first-team offense made it look easy all night long — Darrell Scott ran for 85 yards and a score, and receivers were open for Daniels all over the field. In all, the Bulls established a school record with 33 first downs, and rolled up 519 yards of total offense.
The defense also stepped up, holding the Cardinals to just 216 yards and recovering two Keith Wenning fumbles. Only after the backups started coming into the game for USF did Ball State have any sustained success moving the ball, or stopping the Bulls on offense. In fact, Skip Holtz had his backup offense on the field for one series in the third quarter, watched them go three and out, and then immediately put the first team back on the field to drive for another touchdown. The second team finished the game, but couldn’t add any more points to the total. Bobby Eveld was especially wild throwing the football, going just 3-for-11 for 13 yards and an interception.
Depth could ultimately be an issue for USF, but for right now the Bulls are 2-0 and likely to move up in the polls after an easy win. They can now look forward to another favorable matchup against the Florida A&M Rattlers next Saturday in Tampa.