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Syracuse vs. USF final score: Bulls fall apart late

USF has to watch as the Orange celebrate their game-winning drive that keeps the Bulls winless in Big East play.

Joe Robbins

Right when it looked like the South Florida Bulls had regained control and were headed to the win that looked like a sure thing early in the game, the Syracuse Orange pulled off a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter to complete the come-from-behind 37-36 win over the Bulls in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib took his team 75 yards on eight plays in just a minute and 20 seconds to steal the win on a one-yard touchdown pass to Alec Lemon for the winning score. Nassib ended the game with 328 yards on 27-for-40 passing and four touchdowns.

After the Bulls led 23-3 at the half, the Orange reeled off 21 straight third quarter points to take a one-point lead. But a 30-yard B.J. Daniels touchdown pass to Andre Davis and a Maikon Bonani field goal in the fourth quarter looked like it would be enough to give the Bulls the win.

But Nassib disagreed and pulled off his last minute drive.

Running back Jerome Smith had 127 yards on 28 carries for the Orange, and wide receivers Marcus Sales (eight catches, 106 yards and two touchdowns) and Jarrod West (seven catches, 98 yards and one touchdown) had big games as well.

It was the B.J. Daniels and Lindsey Lamar show for the Bulls. Daniels threw for 183 yards passing on 17-for-30 with one touchdown plus 134 yards rushing on 12 carries. Lamar had 145 yards rushing and one touchdown on just 10 carries. The Bulls rushed for 369 yards in the game.

Box Score Hero: Nassib's game-winning drive knocked Daniels out of this spot. Nassib put up 328 yards and four touchdowns, the last of which was the biggest of them all.

Rankings Ramifications: Neither team will be ranked in next week's rankings.

But Did They Cover?: South Florida was a 7.5-point favorite coming into the game and lost.

For More On The Game: Check out Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician to talk about the game with Orange fans andVoodoo Five to talk Bulls.

Next Scheduled Games: Syracuse travels to face Cincinnati on Nov. 3 and USF hosts Connecticut.

This story originally appeared on SBNation.com.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.