Syracuse’s defense had no answer for B.J. Daniels.

The Orange felt it was ready for the South Florida quarterback going into the game. It had success against Daniels in a win last year, limiting the dual-threat signal-caller to 123 total yards and forcing him to throw two interceptions.

But this time around did not go as planned for SU.

‘We knew that B.J. was a truly gifted guy who could do it with his arms or his legs and could throw the ball,’ free safety Phillip Thomas said. ‘We prepared pretty well for it. Things didn’t come out the way it was supposed to be.’

Daniels beat the Orange with his arm and his legs Friday, amassing 371 total yards in USF’s 37-17 romp in the Carrier Dome. For the second straight week, SU failed to contain a running quarterback as Daniels ran 21 times for a team-leading 117 yards. And the senior’s success came without the Bulls’ leading rusher or receiver on the field due to injuries.

‘I thought B.J. Daniels played arguably one of his best games since he has played here,’ USF head coach Skip Holtz said. ‘He stood in the pocket and made some key throws on third down in the second half. He utilized his feet when he needed to. He made some plays.’

Connecticut had great success using a read-option offense with quarterback Scott McCummings and running back Lyle McCombs last weekend against the Orange. The Huskies picked up 198 yards on the ground in a 28-21 win over SU.

South Florida used the same formula Friday to gash the Orange for 236 yards rushing, and Daniels was at the heart of that attack.

On USF’s second play, the Bulls went to the zone read for the first time, where the quarterback has the option of giving the ball to his running back or keeping it himself. Daniels faked the handoff to Demetrius Murray around the left end and took it up the middle through a huge hole. The play could have gone for a huge gain, but Daniels tripped himself up and fell untouched after a 7-yard pickup.

‘He’s a good quarterback,’ SU middle linebacker Marquis Spruill said. ‘He played the zone read very well. … He just got the better of us.’

But it was more than just Daniels’ athleticism that SU struggled to defend. Daniels also went 23-of-34 for 254 yards in the game. He completed passes to 11 different receivers, did not throw an interception and was not sacked in the game.

And it was Daniels who really put the game away in the fourth quarter.

After SU wide receiver Alec Lemon dropped a fourth-down pass in the end zone, the Bulls quarterback led his team on a scoring drive to put the game out of reach.

South Florida led 23-10 with just less than 10 minutes left and took over on its own 17. Daniels started the drive with a zone-read keep up the middle for a 9-yard gain. Three plays later, he bounced another run down the left sideline for a 30-yard pickup to the SU 22.

Daniels ran for 46 yards on the drive and threw for 22 more before Murray capped it off with a 2-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 30-10.

‘B.J. Daniels played an excellent football game,’ Holtz said. ‘He has really matured as a quarterback. He is not just an athlete that plays quarterback. He has truly become an athletic quarterback who can stand in the pocket.’

Chew’s consecutive catch streak ends

Though Syracuse’s receivers struggled with drops throughout the loss to USF, one of its starters watched from the sideline.

Van Chew had one pass thrown his way in the first quarter and that was it for the senior wideout. Chew made a catch in 22 straight games entering Friday’s contest, but he left the game with an undisclosed injury after just the one target.

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib threw his first pass of the game for Chew. Nassib faked a handoff and went deep downfield, but the ball was overthrown and Bulls cornerback Kayvon Webster almost came up with the pick.

There was no contact between Chew and Webster on the play, and it did not appear the receiver got hurt, but he was not involved in the offense the rest of the game.

SU head coach Doug Marrone said Chew’s disappearance was not performance-related.

‘He got hurt today,’ Marrone said. ‘He was banged up.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm