TAMPA, Fla. -- Andre Hall ran for 156 yards and three
touchdowns Saturday night, leading South Florida to a 37-3 rout of
Florida A&M.
Hall scored on first-half runs of 2, 2 and 31 yards while tying
a school record with the seventh 100-yard rushing performance of
his career. He went over the century mark early in the second
quarter and played sparingly after that, finishing with 18 carries.
The South Florida defense did its part, too, in helping the
Bulls (1-1) rebound from a season-opening 23-13 loss at Penn State.
FAMU (0-2) was limited to 85 yards total offense in its second
game under coach Rubin Carter, the former NFL player and assistant
who has been on the job less than two months after replacing Billy
Joe, who left behind a program reeling from NCAA violations and a
budget crisis.
The Rattlers were held without a first down until midway through
the third quarter, then benefited from two fourth-down penalties
against South Florida to score its only points on Westly Taylor's
21-yard field goal.
Pat Julmiste, starting at quarterback after coming off the bench
to throw for 200 yards and two touchdowns against Penn State,
completed 6 of 10 passes for 71 yards before giving way to Courtney
Denson in the second quarter.
Denson, a transfer from Auburn who started the season opener for
the Bulls, threw a 36-yard TD pass to Cedric Hill to make it 37-0
in the third quarter and shared playing time in the second half
with third-string freshman Carlton Hill.
Chris Owens made his first career start at quarterback for FAMU,
but was replaced by Josh Driscoll after completing 1 of 3 passes
for no yards. Rattlers running back Rashard Pompey was held to 11
yards rushing in 10 attempts after gaining 139 yards on 18 carries
in FAMU's 21-17 season-opening loss to Delaware State.
The trip to Tampa was FAMU's first since the annual Florida
Classic -- featuring the Rattlers and archrival Bethune-Cookman --
was moved to Orlando after the 1996 game because of complaints
about how fans of the schools were treated by local merchants and
hotels.
The crowd of 43,122 at Raymond James Stadium was the
second-largest to watch South Florida at home in the Bulls' brief
football history. The school attracted 49,212 to the old Tampa
Stadium for its inaugural game against Kentucky Wesleyan in 1997.