SYRACUSE - Andre Hall wears No. 2 for South Florida. Syracuse must have thought it was 44.

Hall rushed for a season-high 222 yards and three touchdowns, and South Florida beat the Orange 27-0 Saturday.

The victory kept the Bulls (5-3, 3-1 Big East) in the running for a BCS bowl bid. They came into the Bowl Championship Series picture in late September with a stunning 45-14 victory over then-No. 9 Louisville and control where they go from here. If they win their remaining three games - Cincinnati, Connecticut and No. 16 West Virginia - they'll capture the Big East's automatic spot in the BCS.

“We needed to come out and get another road win,” said Hall, who scored on runs of 4, 1 and 33 yards. “We knew they were hard-hitting, but I wasn't surprised at how we ran against them. Our bread and butter is the running game. Once we were able to move the ball, we were all right.”

It was the seventh straight loss for Syracuse (1-8, 0-6), and it came on the day the university retired jersey No. 44, one of the most storied numbers in the annals of college football.

“I was worried a lot about this game, especially with all the distractions of the No. 44 retirement,” South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. “I was really worried about our ability to stay focused.”

As it turned out, there wasn't much need to worry.

Not even the presence of two of the running backs who helped make 44 famous - Jim Brown and Floyd Little - could help the Orange. Syracuse finished 1-5 in the Carrier Dome, matching its worst record since the building opened in 1980.

First-year coach Greg Robinson was disheartened but far from defeated.

“We didn't take the step I wanted to take, but we will,” Robinson said. “I wanted our team to be able to go out and win with those people watching them so they could walk away with something to hang their hats on.”

It was the Orange's first shutout loss at home since being beaten 26-0 by Miami in 2000, and it sure spoiled the day for the team's 21 seniors.

“It's really, really hard. We've got to put this squarely on our shoulders, the seniors. It was our day to shine and we just didn't get it done,” said tight end Joe Kowalewski, who grew up in the suburbs of the city. “I just think back to being a kid and sitting up in section 317 and just praying one day I'd get the chance to come down here and play. It's a rough way to end things, but you've got to stay positive.”

That might be easier said than done with only road games at Notre Dame and Louisville remaining. Losses in those games would give Syracuse its first 10-loss season in 116 years of football.

“Being in front of all the great players and seeing on their faces the disappointment, it hurts your feelings,” Kowalewski said. “You want to do good, you kind of want to show off for those people because they were so great.”

South Florida outgained Syracuse 427-182, intercepted three passes, and limited the Orange to only seven first downs over the first three quarters.

The first play of the game from scrimmage set the tone for the day. Hall, who had 24 carries, weaved his way up the middle of the Syracuse defense for 38 yards, breaking two tackles and causing two more defenders to miss. The Orange defense then stiffened, and Kyle Bronson kicked a 29-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

“It was good to get the three points,” Bulls quarterback Pat Julmiste said. “We just wanted to get Andre going. Once we saw Andre get the big runs, we felt more comfortable that we could control the ball.”

Syracuse's inept offense sure helped. The Orange, 114th in total offense of the 117 teams in Division I-A, lived down to its woeful statistics. They punted four times and threw two interceptions on their first six possessions and completed only 8-of-26 passes for 65 yards in the game.

Sophomore Joe Fields, making his second straight start at quarterback for Syracuse, was intercepted on his first pass of the game by Johnnie Jones near midfield, and the Bulls quickly struck again.

Julmiste rolled right on the next play and hit Marcus Edwards in stride and between two defenders for 48 yards to set up Hall's 4-yard scoring run, which gave the Bulls a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Orange seemed poised to break through in the second quarter after a punt and two penalties pinned the Bulls at their own 7. That all changed when Hall broke a 34-yard run on a second-and-24 play and tacked on runs of 22 and 10 yards to help set up Bronson's 22-yard field goal, giving South Florida a 13-0 halftime lead.

Hall reeled off a 38-yard run early in the third period to become South Florida's all-time leading rusher, surpassing Rafael Williams' five-year-old record of 2,253 yards. Hall, a junior college transfer, has 2,345 yards in his brief career.