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BULLS COLUMN

Still Much For USF To Play For, But This Hurts

By MARTIN FENNELLY

Published: Oct 19, 2007

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The season isn't over.

There's still a Big East championship there for the taking.

There's a bowl out there, too, maybe a big one.

And, small as the consolation was, it's a sign of how far USF has come that the other team's fans stormed the field.

This can still be a great USF football season.

It doesn't seem that way this morning, though, does it?

It just doesn't matter as much.

The glass slipper has been smashed.

This morning, it seems all was lost with a 30-27 loss to Rutgers.

The perfect season is gone. The No. 2 ranking is gone.

So is the dream that grew and grew these last few dizzying weeks - a shot at a national championship. You can forget that.

It was gone with all those mistakes and missed chances. It was gone with those Ray Rice runs. It was gone with all those times Matt Grothe was sacked. It was gone on a night the Bulls were outplayed, outmuscled, outsmarted - tricked, really - and outcoached.

It's gone.

So Much Was Lost

USF doesn't matter as much this morning.

The season goes on.

But not that season.

To those who thought the Bulls never deserved their ranking - I thought they did - this morning is for saying they told you so.

But think: Would USF fans have taken a one- or two- or even three-loss season before it all started?

Of course they would have.

But that's not the story this morning.

So much was lost.

The dreamy part.

Don't blame the officials.

That was pass interference on that last-gasp grab by USF receiver Amarri Jackson.

And the zebras were correct to whistle down that wacky second-quarter USF touchdown off that blocked Rutgers' field-goal attempt. The ball was thrown ahead to Bull Tyrone McKenzie after he made the block.

That's not to say the play wasn't pivotal.

This game rolled from there.

USF led 17-10 at that point, and even after McKenzie's penalty the Bulls had the ball at the Rutgers 44-yard line with a chance to put two scores between themselves and the Scarlet Knights before halftime.

But, no.

A 5-yard penalty. A sack of the valiant Grothe. Even so, faced with second-and-31 and hit with another penalty, the Bulls still made a first down.

They came away with no points.

Delbert Alvarado hooked a field goal try left.

And Rutgers came down and kicked one for three.

And it was 17-13.

And momentum was lost.

And soon that perfect season.

Lots To Play For

The second half was as imperfect as they come, filled with moments that said No. 2 wouldn't be No. 2 anymore.

Like that third-and-4 pass that Rutgers receiver Tiquan Underwood turned into a 69-yard foot race that the USF defense lost. It gave Rutgers a lead it never surrendered.

Like that Alvarado field goal try that was blocked, so USF came away with nothing after recovering another fumbled punt at the Rutgers' 24.

Like that fake Rutgers field goal USF fell for, just like the fake punt early in the game, though this fake became a holder-thrown touchdown pass.

Like the personal-foul penalty by Bulls cornerback Ryan Gilliam that fronted Rutgers 15 yards, enough for the 51-yard field goal that made it 30-20 and turned into the game's winning points.

USF didn't quit. For a moment, the magic seemed to live. A late USF touchdown drive, followed by a later fumble by Rice, forced by USF's Brouce Mompremier and recovered by Ben Moffitt at the Rutgers 40.

But, no.

The Bulls went three and out and punted.

They had one last chance, but Grothe was smashed again, sacked for the seventh time, his line overmatched as it was all night.

Jackson's interference was evident before the official threw a flag.

It was fourth-and-37.

A Grothe pass/prayer high in the night.

It settled in Rutgers' arms.

There is still season left.

But as Rutgers fans stormed the field by the thousands, you knew that Cinderella was under there, trampled but good.

There are more games to win.

But more than a game had been lost.