STORRS, Conn. - Andre Dixon ran for a career-high 189 yards and Connecticut used a late goal-line stand to upset No. 10 South Florida 22-15 Saturday, the Huskies' first victory over a ranked opponent.
The victory keeps UConn (7-1, 3-0 Big East) in sole possession of first place in the Big East, and all but assures them of the first Top-25 ranking for the program.
South Florida (6-2, 1-2), which was ranked No. 2 two weeks ago, has lost two consecutive games.
Dixon ran for 115 yards in a rainy first half, helping UConn build a 16-0 lead. He carried the ball 32 times and also caught three passes for 42 yards.
The Bulls came back in the second half and cut the lead to 19-15 in the fourth quarter, before a 20-yard Tony Ciaravino field goal with 5:19 left gave UConn its final margin.
Matt Grothe drove the bulls to the UConn 2 late, but was hit by UConn's Greg Robinson for a 10-yard loss on a naked bootleg before his fourth-down pass sailed out of the end zone.
Grothe finished with 146yards rushing on 25 carries. He also threw for 189 yards, but had two interceptions.
The first came on a deflected pass with 8:25 left in the first half that UConn linebacker Scott Lutrus grabbed and returned 23 yards for a touchdown to make it 16-0. It was Lutrus's fourth interception of the season, and the second that he returned for a score.
South Florida didn't score until Jerome Murphy blocked a punt with 6:07 left in the third quarter. UConn's Dahna Deleston fell on the ball in the end zone for a safety.
It took the Bulls just 29 seconds to score after the free kick. Grothe ran 53 yards on second down to the UConn 10, and kept the ball again on the next play for the touchdown.
UConn made it 19-9 on a 27-yard field goal from Tony Ciaravino with 1:34 left in the third. The Bulls then answered with a 47-yarder from Delbert Alvarado with 12:48 to go, and a 27-yarder five minutes later.
South Florida was forced to settle for that field goal after a 2-yard touchdown run was called back on a holding penalty against receiver Cedric Hill, and a pass into the end zone that Hill dropped.
UConn quarterback Tyler Lorenzen completed 13 of 25 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown. He also threw one interception.
In other Big East games, Steve Slaton ran for three touchdowns and Pat White rushed for 156 yards and a score as West Virginia beat Rutgers 31-3 in Piscataway, N.J.. Slaton went from sideline to sideline on a spectacular 38-yard run that gave West Virginia (7-1, 2-1) the early lead, and he scored on second-half runs of 1 and 6 yards to bury Rutgers (5-3, 2-2). White, who missed last year's wild 41-39 triple overtime victory over Rutgers with an ankle injury, scored on a 1-yard run. He also threw for 144 yards, highlighted by a 51-yard screen pass to Slaton to set up a touchdown. ... Brian Brohm threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns and the Louisville defense used a late goal-line stand to escape pesky Pittsburgh 24-17 in Louisville, Ky. Brock Bolen added 52 yards rushing and the go-ahead touchdown with 1:54 remaining for Louisville, which needed a late stop from its much-maligned defense to snap a two-game home losing streak. The Cardinals (5-4, 2-2) seemed to finally put the Panthers (3-5, 1-2) away when Bolen dived over from 1 yard out.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Wolpack upsets Virginia
RALEIGH, N.C. - Daniel Evans threw for a career-high 347 yards and three touchdowns, two to Donald Bowens, to lead North Carolina State past No. 21 Virginia 29-24 on Saturday.
Bowens finished with 11 catches for 202 yards for the Wolfpack (3-5, 1-3), who snapped a ninegame conference losing streak that dated to the middle of last season. Koyal George added a touchdown on the first catch of his career, while Jamelle Eugene ran for 112 yards.
Jameel Sewell threw for 260 yards and two scores for the Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1) before leaving the game with an apparent right leg injury with about 7 minutes left. Mikell Simpson also scored a pair of touchdowns, but it wasn't enough to allow Virginia to set a school record with its eighth consecutive victory.
In other ACC games, Kevin Marion returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, Josh Adams rushed for two scores and Wake Forest routed North Carolina 37-10 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Linebacker Aaron Curry returned one of his two interceptions 77 yards for a touchdown - the Demon Deacons' ninth non-offensive touchdown of the season. ... James Davis ran for 129 yards and a touchdown to lead Clemson past mistake-prone Maryland 30-17 in College Park, Md. Clemson (6-2, 3-2) led 20-3 at halftime and coasted. Cullen Harper threw two touchdown passes to tie the single-season school record of 21, set by Woodrow Dantzler in 2001 and matched by Charlie Whitehurst in 2003. ... Preston Parker caught a touchdown pass and scored on an end-around to help Florida State end a two-game losing streak with a 25-6 victory against Duke, handing the Blue Devils' their 22nd consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference loss. After going more than five quarters without an offensive touchdown, the Seminoles made it to the end zone six minutes into the third quarter when Parker raced 9 yards with a short sideline pass from Drew Weatherford, giving Florida State a 16-0 lead.
Sports, Pages 43 on 10/28/2007