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Chasing Grothe: Post-Game 2

By Mike Nascarella
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 03: B.J. Daniels #7 of the University of South Florida Bulls throws a pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 3, 2011 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 03: B.J. Daniels #7 of the University of South Florida Bulls throws a pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 3, 2011 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Getty Images


After game one against UT-Chattanooga, B.J. Daniels's pursuit of Matt Grothe's Big East all- time yardage record was technically on track, but his performance left something to be desired. If B.J. was going to ink his name in the record books, he needed to really break out against a respectable Nevada defense. Luckily, Daniels got some serious help from a handful of long passes and acrobatic catches.

After a pretty weak first quarter, things looked bad for not only Daniels, but the Bulls in general. Nevada had taken complete control over the game, both offensively and defensively, and led 21-6 after one. Blame it on the altitude differential, blame it on Nevada's pistol, either way, they were getting outplayed. USF got a bit of a spark in the second quarter from Lamar's long TD run, and that's where the offense really got going. If B.J. has one person to thank for his day through the air, it has to be Andre Davis, who had 12 catches for 191 yards and two 50+ yard touchdown completions. In addition to that, Daniels also had a 52 yard touchdown completion to UF transfer Chris Dunkley with 2:37 left in the game.

Now for the math part. At the end of it all, Daniels finished the day with 363 passing yards and 53 on the ground. That brings his career total to 8241 career yards, now 2218 off Grothe's career mark. In a perfect season, B.J. will participate full-time in all 12 regular-season games. If that is indeed the case, he'll need to average 221.8 yards per game to achieve history. If the Bulls are fortunate enough to make it to the postseason this year, he'll need 201.64 YPG. Of course, those numbers are based purely on a fully healthy season, and if there's anything I've learned from being a USF fans, it's that you always should prepare for the worst. So, if B.J. tweaks a hammy mid-season and has to sit one out, in order to attain the record in the regular season he'd need 246.44 YPG. Miss two games, and iit jumps to 277.25. All of those numbers are perfectly reachable, but B.J. is going to need some more help from Andre Davis this year.