Rutgers Batters the Bull Out of South Florida, 31-0

It was beyond bad, it was "Horri-Bull."

It was beyond awful, it was "Terri-Bull."

In other words, it was just another Thursday night for the University of South Florida, just another game against Rutgers, a team that owns the Bulls.

Final score was 31-0 on a chilly night in Piscataway, all Scarlet Knights and it could have and should have been worse.

"They beat the dog out of us," lamented USF coach Jim Leavitt, who is now a woeful 1-6 on Thursday nights. It was a woeful performance with a national audience tuned in on ESPN.

Rutgers didn't beat all of the dog out of USF, the Bulls played like dogs. But that might be an insult to dogs. The Bulls sunk to a new all-time low in the program's history, getting shut out for the first time in a regular season game.

USF dug deep into the realms of ineptitude in this one. There was no offense and one half of defense. Indeed, it was 13-0 at the half and should have been worse except for the effort of the defense that kept the Bulls in the game, seemingly.

It was a litany of mistakes that doomed the Bulls in this latest loss to Rutgers, a loss that now extends the USF losing streak to four when Rutgers is the opponent.

Two interceptions, two fumbles, a blocked punt, a muffed punt return, it all added up to a night to forget for USF and its fans.

"This has to be laughable to USF coaches and fans," said ESPN announcer Craig James at one point during the national telecast.

It was certainly more embarrassing than laughable. It was Rutgers (7-2, 2-2) that got the last laugh. USF (6-3, 2-3) is the team that came in ranked, 24th in the BCS and 23rd in the  AP poll. No doubt the Bulls will be banished from all polls for the remainder of the season.

Rutgers tormented quarterback B.J. Daniels all night. USF only managed 159 yards total offense. There was no ground attack for the Bulls. Daniels was sacked seven times. It was ugly.

Rutgers and its true freshman quarterback Tom Savage manged 354 yards on offense.  Joe Martinek, the blue-collar runner for the Scarlet Knights, put up 128 yards on the ground. 

USF has no excuses for this latest travesty. The Bulls had a bye week to prepare for their nemesis.

This latest loss was as bad as it gets.

"USF looks like it came in with no respect for Rutgers," James said early in the telecast. "It's as though they have no sense of urgency."

Perhaps he was right. USF is the team with the stars on defense, a team going up against Savage, a first year player.

Rutgers let its play do the talking.

Cornerback Devin McCourtney was all over the field for Rutgers, on defense and special teams and was the sparkplug of the destruction of the Bulls.

"We're not going to talk about what we're going to do. We're just going to prepare and come out and play," he said afterwards.

Rutgers' play carried a very loud message.

And yet another message was sent to South Florida:

Stay away from Thursday nights and stay clear of Rutgers.