Colleges

Knights shrug off late TDs, or so they say now

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 14, 2007

TAMPA - UCF coach George O'Leary said he wasn't offended, but next year when the Bulls travel to Orlando, don't be surprised if the Knights are talking about the Bulls, up 38 points with six minutes to play, throwing for not one but two touchdowns.

The first was a play-action 75-yard score from backup Grant Gregory to freshman Carlton Mitchell with 5:06 left. Then with 2:16 to play, third-stringer Anthony Severino threw a 28-yarder to Jessie Hester Jr. when the Bulls went for it on fourth and 14.

"That's football," O'Leary said. "Our job's to stop them and their job is to score. I don't get upset about that."

Leavitt was mildly apologetic after the game, but said he needs his backup quarterbacks ready in case of injury to starter Matt Grothe.

"I wanted to have Gregory throw and run, just like he'd be in a game," Leavitt said. "We'd be really foolish not to let him play in a game. We're trying to get to prepare down the road. People will probably talk about it. I could take some heat on that. I didn't really want to do that, but we did."

After outgaining UCF 136-8 in the third quarter, the Bulls backups outgained the Knights 192-39 in the fourth. Offensive coordinator Greg Gregory, Grant's father, said even with a 57-12 lead, there was no discussion of taking a knee on the fourth-down play.

"It was never a thought of running it up. It was running our offense. If works, it works," he said. "We're not going to kick a field goal. Let 'em play. Anthony Severino is a fifth-year senior, and he doesn't want to go in and take a knee. He works, too. I'll never complain about another team running their plays against us."

Right after discussing the late touchdowns, Leavitt said: "There were some things personally written, the players were bothered by it a lot during the week. We wanted to play football and play 60 minutes of football. We wanted to keep our mouths shut and ... do it on the field. I'm glad our players do that."

QUICK CHANGE: Defensive end Jarriett Buie wears No.90, but he had a nameless No.50 jersey on when he recovered a fumble after George Selvie hit UCF quarterback Kyle Israel in the first quarter. He gave the Knights credit for forcing the temporary change.

"They were holding me and stuff. They ripped it off me, but I got it sewed back," said Buie, who returned to No.90 shortly after and finished with two tackles for losses.

THIS AND THAT: Mitchell finished with 107 yards, the first 100-yard receiving game for USF since last November. ... Walk-on running backs Shawn Cannon and Mike Padilla had their first career carries, and sophomore Moise Plancher had his first since tearing knee ligaments in last year's opener. ... USF is 6-0 for the first time, having won a school-record eight straight, the second-longest streak in the nation. The Bulls moved up a spot with LSU's loss.

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@sptimes.com and at (813) 226-3346. Check out his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/usf.

[Last modified October 13, 2007, 21:43:50]