Cincinnati Bearcats @ South Florida Bulls Football Recap

Cincinnati 37, South Florida 34

Raise your hand if you thought that the Cincinnati Bearcats would have undisputed control of the Big East Conference with only one weekend left in the month of October. One of the more surprising stories of the 2011 college football season is emerging in the Queen City.

It was just last year that Cincinnati - fresh off back-to-back BCS bowl appearances and a legitimate pursuit of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game - tumbled from view. UC failed to make a bowl, posting a losing season right after immensely successful and popular coach Brian Kelly jumped ship and took the open job at Notre Dame. The status of the program was thrown into question, the long-term prospects of Bearcat football shrouded in skepticism. The excellence breathed into the program by Kelly abruptly evaporated, leading Big East observers to wonder if a new coaching staff could right the ship.

Clearly, UC's skipper is matching the moment with the leadership and wisdom his program so desperately needed when the previous head coach packed his bags for South Bend, Indiana.

There’s no longer any doubting that Cincinnati is on the rise. The Bearcats might not be all the way back to their 2008-2009 form under second year head coach Butch Jones, but they're definitely headed in the right direction as they recall their brief halcyon days. What Brian Kelly initially instilled into the Bearcats a few years ago is being pumped back into the program by Jones, who is quickly turning doubters to believers after his train wreck of a 2010 season.

A year removed from a parade of agonies caused by a constant struggle to protect the ball and an inability to play even adequate defense, Jones and his Bearcats are bowl eligible and in control of the Big East race after winning a wild shootout at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa against the South Florida Bulls. While the defense wasn’t quite as stingy as it had been in previous weeks, the Bearcats offense came back to life against South Florida, especially through the air. Prior to Saturday’s game, Cincinnati had been winning with a solid ground game and a ball-hawking defense that was one of the nation’s best in forcing turnovers. Saturday, it was the arms (and legs) of quarterback Zach Collaros that led them to victory. Collaros torched the South Florida secondary for 389 yards and two touchdowns. He also added two rushing touchdowns, the second of which proved to be the game winner with just twelve second remaining.

This is the third loss in a row, all in Big East play, for South Florida. After just three weeks, the Bulls are effectively eliminated from conference contention in a year where the league is clearly down. The Bulls had struggled to move the ball in games against Pitt and Connecticut, but against Cincinnati, BJ Daniels for a career high 409 yards and three touchdowns. But, it was not enough, as Cincinnati was able to answer every Bulls score down the stretch and hold on for the win. The Bulls now will have regroup and focus on getting two more wins to obtain bowl eligibility.

Before the season, USF rated higher than Cincinnati in the Big East pecking order. Now, however, the league standings have that 2008 look. It's a development few pigskin pundits ever could have anticipated.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer