In what will probably turn out to be the best game that nobody saw this weekend, USF was able to pull out a win against Kansas thanks to some last-minute heroics from kicker Maikon Bonani.
Considering that ESPN has been saturating the viewing public with its coverage of the "Collision at the Coliseum" between Ohio State and USC, it wouldn't be surprising to know that many viewers were unaware of the clash between the No. 13 Jayhawks and No. 19 Bulls, but in case you missed it, here's a brief recap of the game.
Kansas gained an early lead when quarterback Todd Reesing hooked up with Jonathan Wilson for a 36 yard touchdown pass 6:09 into the game. The Jayhawks added a field goal to build a 10-0 first quarter lead.
USF got on the board in the second quarter when Bonani connected on a 34 yard field goal. Kansas responded by scoring a touchdown and field goal to bring the Bulls' deficit to 20-3 with 3:24 left in the first half. However, the Bulls were able to score on a 28 yard rush from quarterback Matt Grothe to head into the locker room with a manageable 20-10 deficit.
USF started the second half with a vengeance, outscoring the Jayhawks 17-0 in the third quarter. If you add in Grothe's pre-halftime touchdown and a touchdown pass in the first minute of the fourth quarter, the Bulls scored 31 unanswered points.
Kansas was not ready to quit though. The Jayhawks scored two touchdowns to even the score at 34, and with just under two minutes to go, were looking to march down the field to get the game-clinching score. From his own 40 yard line, Reesing chucked a pass downfield into the Bulls' territory and was picked off by Nate Allen who returned the interception 40 yards to the KU 27.
The Bulls ran the ball, called a timeout and left their fate in the hands of the freshman Bonani. Bonani kicked the 43 yarder into the air and after the ball appeared to be headed wide right, it curved in to narrowly squeeze through the goal posts.
The USF players then swarmed the field and put the Brazilian kicker on their shoulders as they carried him to the sideline in an inspiring moment.
It was an exciting finish to a game that had more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film.
It's going to be unfortunate that the one memorable moment from the game will be Reesing's costly interception. One could say he cost them the game, but without its junior quarterback, Kansas wouldn't have been in the game.
Reesing finished the game 34 of 51 for 373 yards with three passing touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown, and, aside from his last-minute interception, committed no turnovers.
In fact, both QB's played well.
Grothe, in an equally gutsy performance, completed 32 of 45 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 30 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
These two quarterbacks are probably the best signal-callers in college football that won't play in the NFL. Both of them are good passers with above-average wheels for a quarterback. Unfortunately, another trait they share is that they're both short. Reesing is listed at 5-11, while Grothe checks in at 6-0, and those heights are probably generous by an inch apiece.
The quarterbacks weren't the only impressive performers tonight--George Selvie, USF's star defensive end, is an absolute beast. Selvie already has a lot of NFL buzz around him and it's easy to see why. He was blowing by the Kansas tackles and was often in the backfield before Reesing had finished dropping back. While he is a little small for a pro defensive end, Selvie has some serious athletic ability, and the NFL draft has seen plenty of sub-260 lbs. ends taken in the first round in recent drafts. Who knows, maybe we'll see Selvie do something akin to what Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman did when he entered the draft.
Merriman was listed at 245 lbs. in college, but showed up at the combine tipping the scales at a much heavier 275 lbs. which improved his stock.
Now onto the coverage of the game.
Perhaps I've been a poor college football fan this week, but I was unaware these two were going to be going at it tonight until I saw the game mentioned on the ESPN bottom line while watching SportsCenter. It's a shame that this game received such little attention from the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
ESPN has been so busy giving the OSU-USC game the Super Bowl treatment, that no other football story, other than the Vince Young fiasco, has received any attention. Every sports radio and TV program has had such a fetish with "Beanie" Wells' injured foot, that they forgot to mention there would be a contest between two top-20 teams...in primetime...on Friday...with a baseball game between the Rays and the Yankees the only other sports programming on television.
Part of the problem could be that both these teams are relatively new to the national spotlight. USF has been competing in the Big East for less than a decade and Kansas has toiled in mediocrity for what seems like forever. Kansas Head Coach Mark Mangino provided a hilarious quote last season when he said about the Jayhawks' ineptitude in football, "Anybody can have a bad century."
These two squads weren't even relevant until last season when both put together great seasons and were nationally ranked for much of the season, but the tradition for both of these programs lies mostly in the 2007 season. They don't have the NFL pedigree of a USC or a tradition like Ohio State, but USF and Kansas look like programs on the rise and tonight can't hurt either teams' reputation.
I really hope the Buckeyes-Trojans game (I won't be watching it since MTSU will be playing Kentucky at the same time) turns out to be a real barn-burner, because if not, then everyone may have just missed the best game of the weekend.
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