By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y.(AP) -- B.J. Daniels dashed Syracuse's hopes just
when the Orange had momentum, and the South Florida defense took
care of Greg Paulus.

Daniels hit Carlton Mitchell with an 85-yard touchdown pass on
the first play of the second half to break open a one-point
game. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul returned an interception
18 yards for another score, and the Bulls remained unbeaten,
34-20 over the mistake-prone Orange on Saturday in the Big East
opener for both teams.

"I had to put some points on the board," said Daniels, who a
week ago led the Bulls to a stunning 17-7 win at Florida State
in his first college start. "Carlton just came open deep, the
corner was cheating inside, and I hit him long."

Syracuse (2-3) had won two straight behind Paulus, who entered
the game completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. But against
one of the top defenses in the country the former Duke point
guard faltered, throwing five interceptions as the Orange
committed seven turnovers.

Paulus finished 25 for 46 for 269 yards, was sacked three times,
and equaled the school mark for interceptions set by Todd Norley
in a 28-7 loss at Penn State in 1982.

"I don't think I've had five interceptions before," said Paulus,
a star quarterback in high school in Syracuse. "I've had eight,
nine, 10 turnovers in basketball. You just can't do that against
a good opponent. You start to press a little bit. It's all on
me."

Daniels' strike to Mitchell gave South Florida a 21-13 lead, but
Paulus guided the Orange right back down the field to the USF
21, converting on third-and-long situations three straight
times. But the fourth third down of the drive led to another
turnover when Pierre-Paul hit Paulus' throwing arm as he
released the ball and Kayvon Webster intercepted.

Daniels then guided USF on a 48-yard scoring drive capped by
Mike Ford's 5-yard run.

Pierre-Paul made his critical interception on the Orange's next
possession, laying back at the line of scrimmage on first down.

"I saw it and I grabbed it," said Pierre-Paul, who scored
untouched. "I was waiting and I was surprised."

"I didn't see him," said Paulus, who had touchdown throws of 11
and 29 yards to Mike Williams. "They brought pressure. I thought
I could throw it over the pressure. I probably should have
thrown the ball away. We'll learn from this. Sometimes, you have
to have an experience like this to take a couple of steps
forward."

Since joining the Big East, the Bulls are 22-5 out of
conference, with wins over Auburn, Florida State, Kansas, North
Carolina and North Carolina State. In conference, they are only
15-14 and have never finished better than 4-3.

The lone exception has been Syracuse. South Florida is 5-0
against the Orange, having beaten them by a combined 174-53. But
this one was by far the most difficult because, even though the
Bulls scored four times off SU turnovers, they also lost three
fumbles.

"We needed all of them for us to win that game," South Florida
head coach Jim Leavitt said. "You can't imagine how difficult it
was for him (Daniels) to come in here today, after the game he
had last week with all the pressure, and face a group that
defended him well. He kept his head about him and finished the
game out, and that is pretty impressive."

Ford also scored on a 26-yard run in the first quarter and
Mitchell caught a 33-yard TD pass from Daniels in the second.

The first 5 minutes of the game featured five turnovers.
Syracuse lost two fumbles and Paulus was intercepted deep in USF
territory. Orange nose tackle Arthur Jones recovered fumbles by
the Bulls on their first two plays from scrimmage. Daniels
fumbled his first snap of the game and wideout Dontavia Bogan
lost another fumble right after Nate Allen picked off a Paulus
pass at the USF 17.

"It was like high school after the first five minutes," said
Daniels, who was 12 for 20 for 208 yards and gained 32 yards
rushing. "I guess our focus wasn't all the way there."

The Bulls settled down after their shaky start. Mitchell had six
catches for 139 yards, more than offsetting another stellar
performance by his counterpart on the Orange. Williams had a
career-high 13 catches for 186 yards for Syracuse.