In particular, 220 yards against Colorado and the 178 he hung on UConn had Devine's name on the outer edges of the discussion. Over at HeismanPundit.com, Devine was the first name in the "others receiving votes" listing.
Entering the game, his 130.3 per game average was third in the entire nation.
After last night's onslaught by the South Florida defense, however, any talk of Devine being in the running for the hardware took a fatal blow.
Devine was held to a season-low 42 yards -- his previous worst showing was 80 yards against East Carolina the second game of the season -- on 17 carries as the Bulls upset the No. 21 Mountaineers 30-19.
Needless to say, the Bulls' game plan heading into the game was putting a stop to Devine.
"We talked a lot about him," USF head coach Jim Leavitt said. "We didn't want to let him get outside -- we wanted to keep him hemmed up inside. ... He's such a great back. If he gets out, he's gone."
The loss dropped the Mountaineers to 2-2 2-1 in Big East play, effectively ending what slim hope WVU had for a conference crown. Unless, of course, they can drop No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 15 Pittsburgh in consecutive weeks.
Both the Bearcats and Panthers are unbeaten in league play entering today's games.
unless Auburn joined the Big East, then WVU is 2-1 in big east play not 2-2