During South Florida’s 27-0 win over Syracuse, the Bulls offense let Syracuse know early it had to be prepared for a little bit of everything while defending USF’s spread offense.

On South Florida’s second drive, the Bulls had a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line and gave the ball to tailback Andre Hall, who had little running room up the middle or to the left.

Hall ended up backpedaling, looking for room, but Syracuse surrounded the shifty back. That didn’t stop Hall from trying something else. He saw speedy quarterback Pat Julmiste languishing near the line of scrimmage, so Hall tossed a spur-of-the-moment pass to Julmiste, who dropped it.

It wasn’t by design, but it nearly worked, and it was only the start of things to come. South Florida tried several laterals throughout the game, and combined with Julmiste and Hall, the Bulls spread offense gave SU fits, totaling 427 yards on 65 plays, including 338 yards rushing.

‘They were kind of playing a little backyard football out there,’ senior defensive end Ryan LaCasse said. ‘They were pitching balls around.’

Hall was the main source of frustration for Syracuse. The senior gained 222 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns and he moved into first place on South Florida’s all-time rushing list.

On the very first play of the game, Hall showed when SU allowed him into open field, he’d make defensive backs miss. Hall gained 38 yards on that play but SU had several chances to wrap him up near the line of scrimmage.

Syracuse missed a few tackles and Hall forced several more in open field, nearly breaking the play for a touchdown.

‘I give them credit. They earned their yards,’ SU head coach Greg Robinson said. ‘The first break out, we had guys there, we just missed tackles. I give the kid credit. It’s hard to imitate in practice what exactly it’s gong to be and that first hit, you get a little low compact guy that explodes on you and boom, he’s out.’

Hall, at 5 feet, 9 inches and weighing 205 pounds, reminded LaCasse of Cadillac Williams, a rookie tailback with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Syracuse faced Williams’ Auburn team three years ago and SU had difficulty containing him, just like it did Hall on Saturday.

‘He’s a little more of a slasher,’ LaCasse said. ‘He was quick and strong and could slash up the field.’

One play illustrated SU’s difficulty containing Hall. In the third quarter with South Florida wining 13-0, Hall broke a 44-yard touchdown run. SU had a few chances near the line of scrimmage to contain him and limit the gain.

Once Hall got into the secondary, he forced a one-on-one situation with senior safety Anthony Smith. Hall faked left and quickly broke right, leaving Smith standing in the same spot as Hall raced up the sideline.

‘That kid was a good back because he ran hard,’ SU cornerback Steve Gregory said. ‘But that is no excuse. We work on tackling every day and we have been practicing it all year, so there is no excuse for missed tackles, especially when you have the guy in the backfield and he turns it into a 10-yard gain or something.’

SU safety Dowayne Davis said the defense had poor fundamentals, often getting out of possession and leaving gaps open that lead to bigger gains and poorer tackling.

‘Hall’s a shifty guy,’ Davis said. ‘You kind of have to adjust how you’re coming at him. Like the first play, he had a really good cut. Then you’ve just got to contain him.’

Hall’s speed pressured Syracuse, but so did Julmiste. Earlier in the year, Syracuse had problems containing Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans. The Orange looked better Saturday but still allowed Julmiste some room on a few scrambles.

Julmiste rushed for 45 yards on 11 carries with only a few of those coming on broken scrambles. Julmiste threw for 89 yards on 5-of-12 passing. His longest pass, a 48-yard completion on the Bulls’ second drive, set up a Hall touchdown run.

‘Containment wasn’t much of an issue with the quarterback,’ LaCasse said. ‘We were able to keep him in the pocket. He might have only scrambled once or twice for a total of 11 yards.’

As much as all the speed and quick laterals entertained fans, it nearly cost South Florida the ball. On the Bulls’ third possession, Julmiste scrambled and as he was falling down, he tried a lateral. The side judge called Julmiste down, but replays seemed to indicate that the ball came out before he hit the ground.

The play was reviewed, but the replay official said a whistle on the field ended the play.

‘They were playing a little bit of flag football out there,’ said LaCasse, who tackled Julmiste. ‘I could have swore he tried switching hands and tried pitching it out to a wide receiver there. I didn’t hear any whistles.’

Hall said he knew the Bulls would have success running the ball against Syracuse, which is No. 97 in rushing defense in D-I but No. 6 in passing defense.

‘You could see on film that it was going to work,’ Hall said. ‘That was our game plan – to come in and run the ball. We knew those guys were hard-hitting guys, a hard-hitting defense, but their defense was pinched in.’

Published on November 12, 2005 at 12:00 pm