USF 38, ECU 37 (2OT): The third double-OT win keeps the Bulls alive for a possible bowl berth.
By PETE YOUNG
Published November 9, 2003
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
USF players hoist Elgin Hicks on their shoulders after Hicks caught a 22-yard pass in the second overtime.
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Looking for someone to perform a perilous task? You might want to request a South Florida football player. The Bulls are the masters of the art of living dangerously.
For the third time this season, USF played into double overtime. For the third time, it triumphed.
On a cold, gray Saturday afternoon with darkness encroaching, the Bulls blew a three-touchdown lead and teetered on the brink - again - until clasping the 38-37 win over East Carolina before 27,100 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"I've been saying this over and over: We just have great heart. The whole team just battles and battles," said kicker Santiago Gramatica, whose 40-yard field goal sent it to the second OT, where his extra point provided the winning margin. "After (the Oct. 4 double-OT win vs.) Louisville, I kept saying, "Incredible, incredible.' My new word for today is "super-duper."'
Incredible, super-duper, fortunate, whatever; USF survived another one.
Elgin Hicks' third touchdown catch of the game on a disputed call - replays indicated Hicks trapped it - put USF ahead in the second OT. ECU then scored, but Huey Whittaker partially blocked the extra point. It clanged off the left upright, no good.
"It's amazing," center Alex Herron said. "We've been doing it all year."
Oct. 31 vs. Cincinnati, the 6-foot-5 Whittaker stuffed a field-goal attempt at the end of regulation, and the Bulls won 24-17.
That game ended with USF starting quarterback Ronnie Banks on the bench. This game began with Banks on the bench and ended with Banks sparking USF to victory.
Redshirt freshman Pat Julmiste (4-of-6, 15 yards) started but was ineffective. Banks, a junior, replaced him early in the second half and responded with a 33-yard touchdown to Hicks to put USF up 28-21.
"I just want to be there for Pat, support him, and if I need to be in there, he's there for me," Banks said. "It's a team thing. An individual doesn't win this game. A lot of people win this game."
ECU, playing USF on its homecoming for the second straight season, tied it late. The Pirates forced a Chris Iskra fumble and took over at the USF 33 with 4:09 remaining. They handed the ball to Vonta Leach nine straight times, and on the last, with 21 seconds to go, he crashed into the end zone from the 1, sending it to overtime.
"I told our football team that East Carolina was going to fight until the bitter end," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "We made a million mistakes and we were real fortunate."
Leach (111 rushing yards) and Marvin Townes (107) both eclipsed the 100 mark, and ECU outgained USF 362-243, but it wasn't enough for the downtrodden Pirates (1-9, 1-5 in Conference USA). USF (6-3, 4-2) kept its no-margin-for-error bowl hopes alive. The Bulls must beat UAB (Nov. 22) and Memphis (Nov. 29) to qualify.
Banks (6-of-16, 86 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions) had started seven of USF's first eight games, but about 45 minutes after kickoff he was accelerating toward oblivion. Julmiste, who relieved Banks midway through the Cincinnati game, was at the controls as USF bolted to a 21-0 lead.
Cornerback Bruce Gipson's blocked punt set up a Julmiste-to-Hicks touchdown for the 7-0 lead. On the ensuing possession Townes swept left and linebacker Courtney Davenport knocked the ball loose. Safety Kevin Verpaele scooped it and dashed 50 yards, putting USF up 14-0 with 54 seconds to go in the first quarter.
On the first series of the second quarter USF drove 61 yards in three plays to make it 21-0. DeJuan Green's 48-yard run set up Vince Brewer's 11-yard TD scamper.
ECU also had a redshirt freshman making his first start at quarterback, James Pinkney (16-of-34, 166 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions). Though the Pirates were somewhat effective against USF's highly rated defense, it was a Julmiste fumble - he was crunched by blitzing cornerback Erode Jean - that led to ECU's second score. Then a gift-wrapped ECU defensive touchdown tied it at 21 early in the third quarter.
Julmiste wasn't looking as Herron's shotgun snap sailed past him, and ECU's Guy Whimper picked up the ball at the 7 and rumbled in.
"He started to give the hand signal (for the snap) and then he looked to the sideline," Herron said. "I thought he had given the signal. It was just a miscommunication."
That's when Banks, who came in for one play late in the first half, was inserted for good. He was under pressure when he lofted the ball to a streaking Hicks for the winning score. Two officials deliberated for several seconds before signaling touchdown.
"I went and got it," Hicks said. "(Receivers) coach (Tom) Pajic says if it's close just sell (it), put the ball up to make it look like you caught it. I wasn't sure, but it was a touchdown."
