Sep 9, 2007, 5:42 GMT
Auburn, AL - Matt Grothe's 14-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hester Jr. in overtime boosted South Florida to a 26-23 upset of 17th-ranked Auburn.
Wes Byrum kicked a 39-yard field goal on a low trajectory on Auburn's possession of the OT, and the Bulls faced a 4th-and-1 at the Tigers 16. Grothe moved the pile on a QB sneak for a yard, and two plays later, he passed to the left side to Hester, the son of former NFL player Jessie Hester. There was spacing between the wide receiver and safety Eric Brock, and Hester made the catch cleanly and scored easily.
'It was so emotional when he caught it,' Grothe said. 'I wasn't sure what happened. It took me a minute to realize we had just won the game. This is my all-time favorite win because it happened on my birthday.'
Grothe finished 18-of-27 passing for 184 yards and also ran for a score for South Florida (2-0), which beat Elon in its opener a week ago. Mike Ford ran for 74 yards and a touchdown for the Bulls, who won despite four missed field goals from Delbert Alvarado. That included one block, but his 18-yarder with 55 seconds left forced 0overtime.
Brandon Cox connected on 16-of-35 passes for 165 yards and a TD with a pair of interceptions for Auburn (1-1), who topped Kansas State last week. Mario Fannin rushed for 62 yards and a TD in defeat as the Tigers had five turnovers.
'We beat ourselves. We had five turnovers. You can't win games like that,' Cox said. 'I just want to apologize to our defense. They did their part. Offensively we didn't.'
Byrum's 46-yard field goal with 2:54 left boosted the Tigers to a 20-17 lead with 2:54 remaining in regulation, but Jerome Murphy returned the ensuing kickoff 59 yards, leading to the tying field goal. Some South Florida players wanted to go for it on 4th-and-goal at the one, but the Bulls, out of timeouts, took a delay of game penalty before Alvarado kicked the tying field goal.
Auburn, with timeouts to spare, chose to run out the clock after Cox was sacked.
The Bulls struck first, as Grothe scored on a one-yard run with 9:02 left in the opening quarter, but Byrum nailed a 49-yard field goal later in the period.
Ford scored on a two-yard run with 1:58 left in the first before Fannin ran into the end zone from four yards out 45 ticks into the second. Cox's three- yard TD pass to Gabe McKenzie with 29 seconds left in the half made it 17-14 Auburn.
Alvarado missed a 37-yard kick early in the third.
Fannin then fumbled the ball away, but Alvarado missed a 45-yard kick. Fannin fumbled again, but the Tigers blocked the ensuing field goal try on the final play of the third.
Alvarado kicked a 38-yard field goal midway through the fourth to tie the game at 17-17.
'We had the field position advantage after the turnovers and even though we weren't able to score, we just kept fighting and never doubted ourselves,' Hester said. 'We knew we could get the job done. Everybody played hard tonight, everybody.'
Game Notes
This was the first meeting between the teams...South Florida's next game is at home against North Carolina on September 22, while Auburn hosts Mississippi State next Saturday.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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