THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Mike Ford put the University of South Florida Bulls on his muscular shoulders Saturday.
Ford rushed for 207 yards and a TD — 189 coming in the second half — as the Bulls took total control after halftime en route to a convincing 27-3 International Bowl victory over the Northern Illinois University Huskies.
Freshman B.J. Daniels threw two second-half touchdown passes to break open a 3-3 halftime stalemate, but it was Ford, the game MVP, who ignited the Bulls’ offensive attack. Not only did the six-foot-two, 225-pound junior effectively wear down the Huskies’ defence, but once Northern Illinois began concentrating on him it allowed Daniels to effectively use play action and freeze the linebackers and give his receivers more room in one-on-one coverage.
"We wanted to take the pressure off B.J. and our offensive line so I told the coaches we needed to put the ball in Mike Ford’s hands and then go play action," said Bulls head coach Jim Leavitt. "We moved the chains and controlled the clock and our defence was able to rest.
"When you face adversity you have to decide how you’re going to handle it. It’s up to the players, they’re the ones who make it happen."
After having just one carry for 18 yards in the opening half, Ford readily accepted the heavier workload.
"When the coach said that, it was ‘Let’s play South Florida football,"’ Ford said. "We didn’t do that in the first half so we talked and said we’d run the ball more."
Added Daniels: "He (Ford) really sparked our offence and defence in terms of getting the momentum back."
Neither offence had momentum in a lethargic first half before a Rogers Centre gathering of 22,185 — the lowest attendance in the game’s four-year existence and a far cry from the 40,184 that witnessed UConn’s 38-20 win over Buffalo last year. But the Bulls, who were minus three yards rushing at halftime, got it going in the second half, scoring a field goal and two Daniels TD strikes to A.J. Love on their first three possessions.
Ford became the third straight 200-yard rusher in the International Bowl after Rutgers’ Ray Rice (280 yards) and UConn’s Donald Brown (261).
South Florida opened the second half with a smart nine-play, 81-yard drive to the Northern Illinois two-yard line. But Leavitt drew a chorus of boos with his decision to settle for Eric Schwartz’s 19-yard field goal and a 6-3 lead at 4:25.
That was all forgotten at 9:48 when freshman Daniels hit Love on a 47-yard TD strike that put Huskies ahead 13-3 and capped an eight-play, 81-yard march.
South Florida rolled up 406 yards offensively, including 189 yards rushing. Defensively, the Bulls did a stellar job against the Huskies, recording five sacks and holding them to 238 total yards of offence.
Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill said Love’s first touchdown catch was a pivotal one.
"When they hit that deep pass it seemed the momentum shifted there," he said.
Kill also tipped his hat to Ford but added the Huskies contributed to the stellar performance.
"We got worn down by a big back like (Ford)," he said. "But I think it had more to do with not keeping the ball and being on the field as an offence and having our defence out there too much.
"I think momentum got away from us."
Daniels also contributed to that, finishing 14-of-22 passing for 217 yards and the two TDs. Not bad, considering he became South Florida’s starter after incumbent Matt Grothe sustained a season ending knee-injury in the third game of the season. Daniels led his team in rushing yards (798) and touchdowns (nine) while passing for 1,766 yards and 12 TDs.
There was also a bizarre sequence of plays later in the third, starting with Northern Illinois tailback Chad Spann losing a fumble to South Florida’s Jerome Murphy. But on the return, Murphy coughed up the ball, which Spann recovered. However, on the next play, Murphy intercepted Chandler Harnish’s pass –the Huskies third turnover of the game — and this time held on when tackled.
The Bulls converted the turnover into a touchdown as Daniels ended a seven-play, 52-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Love five seconds into the fourth for a commanding 20-3 lead.
Harnish was replaced by sophomore DeMarcus Grady in the fourth but returned shortly afterwards, only to lose a fumble that set up Ford’s 24-yard TD run at 8:35 of the fourth. Grady again replaced Harnish after the turnover.
With the win, South Florida (8-5) improved the Big East’s record in the International Bowl to 4-0 and handed the MAC its 14th straight bowl defeat. And the win capped a roller-coaster season for the Bulls, who opened 5-0 for the third consecutive year but won just two of their final seven regular-season contests.
Northern Illinois (7-6) lost its third straight post-season game and was making consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in school history. The Huskies were playing in their fourth bowl game in six years but were coming off a 17-10 loss to Louisiana Tech in last year’s Independence Bowl.
Schwartz finished with two field goals and three converts.
Mike Salerno booted the field goal for Northern Illinois.
NOTES — The game attracted a number of CFL officials, including Hamilton Tiger-Cats GM Bob O’Billovich, Toronto Argonauts officials Nick Volpe and Miles Gorrell and Montreal Alouettes assistant GM Marcel Desjardins and club scout Mike McCarthy. But also in attendance was Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian, who spent time in the CFL with Montreal and Winnipeg. The Colts first-round pick last year was Donald Brown, the UConn tailback who was the MVP of last year’s International Bowl after a 261-yard rushing performance … Northern Illinois nose guard Brian Lawson returned to the lineup after missing six games with a hand injury. Interestingly, Lawson’s mother and former Toronto Blue Jays star Joe Carter are second cousins.