USF holds off Irish, 2 storm delays
Kayvon Webster #6 of the University of South Florida Bulls runs 99 yards for a touchdown after picking up a fumble by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish near the goalline at Notre Dame Stadium. (Sept. 3, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Kayvon Webster returned a fumble 96 yards for an early touchdown as South Florida came to Notre Dame for the first time and stunned the 16th-ranked Irish, 23-20, yesterday in a game disrupted for hours because of storms.
The victory gave Skip Holtz an emotional victory in his return to Notre Dame, where he went to school and his dad, Lou, led the Irish to their last national title in 1988.
"To have the kind of adversity they had to battle through and all the highs and lows of this day," USF coach Skip Holtz said of his team. "The weather, the two-hour halftime and everything we went through as a football team. It's hard enough to come in here and play the tradition."
Webster's long return for a score four minutes triggered a nightmare first half for the Irish, which included two fumbles, a costly holding penalty that nullified a Cierre Wood TD run and an interception of Dayne Crist by USF's Devekeyan Lattimore in the end zone that turned the Irish away.
Maikon Bonani kicked three field goals and the Bulls had a 16-0 halftime lead.
Then things got even stranger. With lightning flashing near the stadium, officials asked fans to evacuate Notre Dame Stadium and decided to keep the teams in their locker rooms.
They stayed there for 2 hours, 10 minutes. When the Irish finally emerged, they had switched quarterbacks from Crist to Tommy Rees, who'd led them to four straight victories as the starter at the end of last season.
The game was delayed a second time by severe weather with 4:21 to go and after a 43-minute delay, Jerrell Young intercepted Rees -- Notre Dame's fifth turnover of the game.
Rees threw an 8-yard TD pass to Michael Floyd to cap a 99-yard drive with 21 seconds left as the Irish closed to 23-20. But USF recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.
The game lasted 5 hours, 59 minutes.-- AP
