Another Thursday night, nationally televised game against a ranked opponent, the year after their stunning win against #3 Louisville. The 6-0 South Florida Bulls came into Piscataway ranked #2 with national championship hopes only to fall 30-27 in an exciting, back and forth game.
A fake punt led to the game’s first points when Ito heaved a pass 40 yards to wide receiver James Townsend down the right sideline, bring Rutgers to South Florida’s 13-yard line. The Scarlet Knights settled for a 26-yard Ito field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
South Florida did not wait long to even the score with an 8-play, 34 yard drive capped by a Delbert Alvarado 47-yard field goal.
Rutgers was forced to punt on their next possession and USF ended up 4 plays later with a second and 10 at the Rutgers 18 yard line. Grothe dropped back to pass and found his receivers covered. Grothe whirled to the outside and dove over a defender at the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown run, leading to a 10-3 Bulls lead.
Rutgers opened the second quarter with a 13-play, 73-yard drive featuring several runs by Ray Rice and capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass from Mike Teel to Tiquan Underwood that tied the score at 10-10.
After Rutgers fumbled a punt, a 28-yard touchdown pass from Grothe to Jessie Hester gave South Florida its second lead at 17-10, midway through the 2nd quarter.
It appeared the Bulls had scored another touchdown late in the second quarter when a 48-yard field goal attempt by Ito was blocked by Tyrone McKenzie. The blocked kick was picked up by South Florida’s Mike Jenkins, and as he was tackled, Jenkins appeared to throw the ball forward with both hands. It was picked up by McKenzie, who carried the ball a few yards and then seemed to toss the ball forward as he was about to be tackled. The ball was scooped up by Trae Williams, who ran it into the end zone as the officials signaled touchdown. The play was reviewed on video and the apparent touchdown was nullified when South Florida was penalized for an illegal forward pass.
The first half ended with USF leading 17-13 on a Jeremy Ito field goal with 5 seconds remaining.
Rutgers started the second half quickly when Underwood caught a simple square-out pass at the Scarlet Knights’ 40-yard line and bounced it outside toward the sideline. Eluding two defenders, Underwood dashed untouched, sprinting alongside Rutgers’s bench for a 69-yard touchdown for a 20-17 lead.
Late in the third quarter kicker Jeremy Ito prepared to attempt a 32-yard field goal with Rutgers leading 20-17. Holder Andrew DePaola, a backup quarterback who had never before attempted a pass in college, did not put the football on the ground for the kick, but instead rolled to his right. Eluding a South Florida defender, DePaola coolly tossed the ball to tight end Kevin Brock, who rumbled into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. The extra point by Ito gave Rutgers a 27-17 lead.
South Florida cut the lead to 27-20 on a 34-yard field goal late in the 3rd quarter.
Ito extended the score to 30-20 early in the fourth quarter with a career long (at that point) 51-yard field goal.
South Florida answered with an 8-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Mike Ford rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 30-27 with 9:16 left to play.
A fumble by Rice on his 36th rushing attempt of the night gave the football back to South Florida at Rutgers’s 40-yard line with 4 minutes 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But the Rutgers defense stiffened, spurred by Brandon Renkart’s first-down sack of South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe.
South Florida got the ball again on a Rutgers punt with 1:48 remaining at Rutgers’s 49-yard line. But another first-down sack took South Florida out of field-goal range. A completion by Grothe to Amarri Jackson that would have put the ball inside Rutgers’s 30-yard line was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty. A last-gasp passing attempt by Grothe was intercepted by Zaire Kitchen.
As they had following the Louisville win the prior year, fans stormed the field to celebrate another exciting finish.