Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Matt Grothe threw for 135 yards and a touchdown, and the South Florida defense forced six West Virginia turnovers as the 18th-ranked Bulls downed the No. 5 Mountaineers, 21-13 in the Big East opener for both clubs.

Grothe added 38 yards on the ground for South Florida (4-0, 1-0 Big East), which beat West Virginia for the second straight time. Jamar Taylor rushed for 58 yards and a score and Carlton Mitchell caught a 55-yard touchdown pass.

"Our team wants to win the Big EastT Championship," Grothe said. "If we keep doing well and executing and winning the big games like we need to we'll do it. It's just a matter of staying together and sticking together until the end."

Patrick White completed 12-of-18 passes for 100 yards and an interception before leaving the game with an injury for the Mountaineers (4-1, 0-1), who were coming off a 48-7 thrashing of East Carolina.

White limped off the field after being tackled at the end of an 18-yard run in the second quarter. Backup Jarrett Brown finished the game for West Virginia by connecting on 11-of-20 passes for 149 yards with a TD and two interceptions.

Steve Slaton added 54 yards on 13 rushed for West Virginia.

South Florida took a 7-0 lead late in an error-filled first quarter. Ben Moffitt dropped into coverage, picked off a White pass and returned it 26 yards for a TD with 1:13 left in the opening frame.

"I stepped up and he threw it right to me," Moffitt said. "It was easy. I just took off and had a free shot at the end zone, and I took it."

The Bulls extended their advantage in the second quarter. It looked like the Mountaineers had Grothe sacked on a key third-and-eight play but the quarterback broke containment, rolled out of the pocket and found a wide open Mitchell for a 55-yard touchdown with just under 10 minutes to go until intermission.

West Virginia finally got on the scoreboard when Pat McAfee nailed a 36-yard field goal with just three ticks left before intermission. But, the Mountaineers missed a golden opportunity to find the end zone when Mike Dent air-mailed a snap past Brown on third-and-goal from the USF two-yard line.

The Mountaineers amassed four turnovers in the opening half and suffered through a number of bad shotgun snaps from Dent.

South Florida kept pulling away in the third quarter. The Bulls took the opening kickoff and went 74 yards on 13 plays to take a 21-3 advantage. Taylor finished the march with a 19-yard TD run with 10:14 remaining in the frame.

A second field goal from McAfee, this one a 35-yarder, made it a two- possession game with under six minutes to go in the third.

West Virginia then finally found the end zone in the fourth quarter. Brown finished an impressive 85-yard drive by hitting Darius Reynaud for a nine-yard TD with 5:45 left in the game. The ensuing PAT made it 21-13.

The Mountaineers defense held and gave their offense one last shot. Brown converted a 4th-and-11 try with a brilliant 27-yard run to put the ball at the USF 44 with under two minutes to go. The Bulls defense stiffened from there to hold on for the win.

"That was a very physical ball game, a lot hitting," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "I thought it would be a pretty good game. I thought the match-up was there. I thought we had a real good shot. They were as good as what I thought, and what you think. They're that good, they're extremely well coached and they're awfully good. They have talent all over the place."