News / Sports
AP Top 25 scores Saturday: South Florida 24, #7 West Virginia 19
In a stunning upset in Morgantown the South Florida Buffalos shocked the West Virginia Mountaineers 24-19.
The two schools were locked in a scoreless tie after the first quarter but West Virginia began the second quarter with a 30-yard field goal from Pat McAfee to give the Mountaineers a 3 point advantage. McAfee then kicked a 33-yard field goal on West Virginia’s next possession and it looked as if the Mountaineers would be able to do enough to beat their fellow Big East member.
That all changed on West Virginia’s next possession when South Florida’s George Selvie picked up a Mountaineers fumble and scrambled nine yards for a touchdown and a 7-6 lead.
South Florida ended the first half on a 10-yard touchdown run from quarterback Matt Grothe with 35 seconds remaining.
Pat White got the Mountaineers on the board in the third quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Myles but the two point conversion attempt failed. Matt Grothe answered for the Buffalos, connecting with Ean Randolph on a 21-yard touchdown strike to push the South Florida lead back to nine.
Delbert Alvarado added an 18-yard field goal for South Florida to give them a 24-12 advantage.
The Mountaineers struck back with a 44-yard touchdown strike from Pat White to Brandon Miles, the duo’s second touchdown hook up. The comeback fell short though when Pat White threw his second interception of the game and South Florida won their biggest game in school history.
Perhaps the most amazing statistic of the game was West Virginia’s total yards on the ground. The Mountaineers had managed to dominate just about every team they faced this year with a ground attack that featured quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton but the two combined for just 60 yards on the ground and West Virginia could only manage 132 yards on the ground all day.
Matt Grothe led South Florida’s offense completing 22 of 30 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown. He also had the rushing touchdown that closed the first half.
