South Florida tops Kansas, 37-34
Associated Press
| |||
TAMPA, Fla. — South Florida coach Jim Leavitt had a hunch about Maikon Bonani that turned out to be right.
The freshman's third field goal, a 43-yarder as time expired last night, gave the 19th-ranked Bulls a 37-34 victory over No. 13 Kansas (2-1) in a game both viewed as an opportunity to make a strong case for more national attention.
Bonani, making his college debut, also converted kicks of 34 and 23 yards after missing badly on a 41-yard attempt in the second quarter, justifying Leavitt's decision to use him instead of junior Delbert Alvarado.
Alvarado, USF's kicker the past two seasons, was 1-for-4 on field goal attempts in the team's first two games.
"I knew it was the right thing to do," Leavitt said. "Maikon's a very good kicker."
Matt Grothe threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns for USF (3-0), which overcame a 17-point deficit to take a 34-20 lead before Kansas' Todd Reesing tied the game with two fourth-quarter TD passes.
BAYLOR 45, WSU 17
WACO, Texas — Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin ran for a school-record 217 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries to lead the Bears (2-1) over the Cougars, a day earlier than scheduled because of Hurricane Ike.
Griffin threw for 129 yards, including a 27-yard TD pass to Ernest Smith.
WSU, forced to fly to Texas and play on the same day, dropped to 0-3 for the first time since 1999. The Cougars were coming off the worst loss in school history, 66-3, to California.
The Cougars will play Hawai'i at Aloha Stadium on Nov. 29.