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Daniels paces USF's 34-22 win over Louisville

Nov 21, 2009 - 9:06 PM By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer

TAMPA, Fla.(AP) -- B.J. Daniels rebounded from the worst game of his young career to throw for 304 yards and run for 141 more in South Florida 's 34-22 victory over struggling Louisville on Saturday.

Daniels, shut down in a 31-0 loss to Rutgers last week, threw for one touchdown and ran for two others while leading four scoring drives of at least 75 yards. With a combined 445 yards, the red-shirt freshman finished 12 shy of the school record set by Big East career total offense leader Matt Grothe in 2007.

USF (7-3, 3-3) was limited to 159 yards against Rutgers, with Daniels going 7 of 17 for 129 yards and two interceptions passing and rushing for just 11 yards on 15 attempts. He was 20 of 34 passing Saturday and compiled his fourth 100-yard game rushing on 22 carries.

Louisville (4-7, 1-5) lost for the ninth straight time on the road. The Cardinals assured themselves a second straight losing season under coach Steve Kragthorpe, who has a three-year record of 15-20.

Daniels threw a 16-yard TD pass to Dontavia Bogan on USF's first drive of the game and later scored on runs of 1 and 20 yards. Mo Plancher had a 2-yard scoring run and Eric Schwartz kicked field goals of 22 and 44 yards.

Adam Froman threw for 232 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Louisville, which erased an early 14-point deficit but couldn't manage much offense after halftime. Scott Long had a 20-yard TD reception, Trent Guy scored on a 60-yard punt return, and Darius Ashley's 1-yard run trimmed USF's lead to 27-22 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Daniels put it out of reach, leading a 75-yard march that he finished with his second touchdown.

Midseason slides have knocked South Florida out of the Top 25 each of the past three years after 5-0 starts. The Bulls had dropped three of their previous four games, losing to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Rutgers by a combined 106-31.

Louisville, coming off an ugly 10-9 victory over Syracuse that stopped a nine-game conference losing streak, dropped to 3-13 on the road in three seasons under Kragthrope. The Cardinals finish 0-6 away from home this year and were outscored 191-107, including 59-7 in the opening quarter.

South Florida surpassed last week's production against Rutgers its first two possessions alone.

In the opening half, Daniels threw for 149 yards and ran for 85 more, including a pair of 18-yard scampers that set up Schwartz's 22-yard field goal for a 17-16 lead on the last play of the second quarter.

Daniels opened the second half with another 80-yard drive, covering the final 20 yards on a nifty run that put him over 100 rushing for the fourth time. He's the first USF quarterback to top the century mark rushing and throw for 300 in the same game.