South Florida's Offense Comes Out of Hibernation Against Cincinnati Bearcats

If you saw this one coming, then perhaps you should call your short-term investment broker or take up a new career as an oddsmaker.

If someone told you that the University of South Florida defense would give up 590 yards of offense to Cincinnati Friday night, surely you'd think that it would have been a very, very ugly loss for USF.

You can't be serious. If the Bearcats gained 600 yards, the score must have been something like Cincinnati 52, South Florida 10, right?

Ski[ Holtz got his team ready, somehow, and went out and won a game he had no business winning, which he has done numerous times in the past.

No mirage. Final score: South Florida 38, Cincinnati 30.

Who would have thought that USF would win a football game and surrender 512 passing yards, most of it to South Florida nemesis, Zach Collaros? This USF team is known for its solid defense. How did this happen?

Holtz began the evening with a smile as he strolled the field at Nippert Stadium with a big smile, walking up to his guys and telling them "Hey, have some fun tonight. This is what it's all about. This is old school. This is Friday Night Lights."

It was Friday Night Lights Out for the Bearcat offense, but somehow, USF's dormant offense came out of hibernation and B.J. Daniels finally, at last, went an entire game with NO interceptions. We need to say that again: NO interceptions.

In the process, USF found a ground game that was reliable enough to help Daniels. Although 92 yards rushing is nothing to get excited about, this victory was.

The Bearcats had won 13 straight Big East games and 14 straight on campus. This was supposed to be No. 15.

It was exciting, for sure.

USF led 38-30 late in the game and got a huge break. Collaros had to leave the game with a left knee injury, leaving backup Chazz Anderson to try and pull this one out. But the situation and pressure was too much for Anderson to handle. Bad for the Bearcats, beautiful for the Bulls.

The defense would finally clamp down when it needed to. After giving up 137 yards receiving to D.J. Woods, 158 to Armon Binns and another 174 to Marcus Barnett, the leak would be sealed in the final minute.

The Bulls got it done, somehow, someway, but that's a Skip Holtz trademark: Win when you're not expected to.

That's the way East Carolina surprised teams like Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

Now, in Cincinnati, they've got to be wondering out loud: How did that happen?

It happened, and Holtz got his first Big East victory. Who would have thought that?