Kenny Britt had his fourth straight 100-yard game receiving, scoring on a 93-yard
pass play early in the fourth quarter. Rutgers (5-5, 4-2 Big East) also forced
six turnovers to hand USF (6-4, 1-4) its fourth loss in five games.
Britt finished with eight receptions for 173 yards. It was his sixth 100-yard
performance of the season, 12th overall - moving him into third place on the
career conference list for 100-yard games behind Larry Fitzgerald (14) and Antonio Bryant (13).
Jason McCourty returned one of his two interceptions 30 yards for a second-quarter
touchdown, and the Scarlet Knights recovered three fumbles - all in Rutgers
territory - to frustrate Matt Grothe and the rest of USF's offense.
Grothe, one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks, completed 28 of 43
passes for 292 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for a team-best 50 yards
on 13 carries, but hurt his team with three interceptions.
The Scarlet Knights beat the Bulls for the third straight season. Rutgers won
22-20 in Tampa two years ago when South Florida had a failed two-point conversion
in the closing seconds, and took another close one in 2007, prevailing 30-27
at home when USF was ranked second in the country.
Rutgers' four-game winning streak is the longest in the Big East and has revived
a season that looked bleak when the Scarlet Knights stumbled to a 1-5 start.
One of the biggest differences has been turnovers: Rutgers has forced 13 in
its five victories compared to none in its five losses.
It's been much the same story for South Florida, which has not only dropped
out of the Top 25 but also plummeted to near the bottom of the Big East after
a 5-0 start in which Grothe did a nice job of protecting the football.
The junior was intercepted three times in USF's first seven games. He's thrown
seven in the past three games, including two within a span of three passes in
the second quarter Saturday.
McCourty returned the second interception 30 yards for a score that put Rutgers
up 14-3. Grothe countered by leading an eight-play, 67-yard drive that Benjamin Williams finished with a 5-yard TD run, however that was as close at USF would
come to making it a game.
Teel directed TD drives on four of Rutgers' next five possessions to build
a 42-16 lead early in the fourth quarter. All of his TD passes came during that
stretch - a 2-yarder to Jack Corcoran, 28-yarder to Shamar Graves, and the one
that Britt turned into the longest reception of his career.
The Rutgers receiver caught the ball at his 40, where he bounced off lunging
defender Jerome Murphy and continued up the right side of the field to the end
zone. Joe Martinek added a 2-yard TD run in the closing minutes, finishing with
98 yards rushing on 21 carries.
Teel completed 18 of 29 passes and was intercepted twice.