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TAMPA, Fla. -- North Carolina coach Butch Davis didn't flinch when T.J. Yates threw yet another interception. Instead, he shared a story with his redshirt freshman quarterback.

Davis recalled a game when Troy Aikman was a young Dallas Cowboys quarterback and playing against the Philadelphia Eagles. Davis, then a Dallas assistant, watched Aikman get sacked 11 times.

By comparison, Yates finished Saturday's 37-10 loss to No. 23 South Florida with four interceptions -- the most by a UNC quarterback in a game in eight years.

Those mistakes, Davis told his rattled quarterback, are learning experiences. Process what you did wrong, grow from it and erase the day from your memory. The history lesson stuck with Yates, who echoed Davis' command after the game about moving on. And his memory might recover as quickly as his body, which held up despite four sacks.

But South Florida's defensive backs constantly reminded Yates of their presence Saturday. Their pressure, combined with that of defensive end George Selvie (three sacks for 18 yards) and the slick conditions, made locating a receiver tough. Yates also was playing with a backup center, Lowell Dyer. Regular starter Scott Lenahan didn't play because of a death in his family.

Yates stressed that the Bulls' pressure made the difference.

"They did a heck of a job covering our receivers," Yates said. "There were a lot of tight windows I had to squeeze it in there."

Carolina's inability to get things going on offense inevitably put more pressure on the defense. The Tar Heels (1-3) finished with a meager 164 yards in offense. South Florida (3-0) gained 428. Bulls sophomore Matt Grothe passed for 230 of those yards. He threw for 216 in the first half, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Amari Jackson that put South Florida up 14-0.

Trailing 17-0, UNC used its two-minute drill mentality late in the half. That strategy had worked in previous games, but speeding it up turned out to be a bad idea.

"That's a great plan if it works," Davis said. "But if it doesn't, you go out there and throw three incomplete passes and use up 11 seconds. The bad news is your defense is back out on the field."

That's exactly what happened. Yates threw his second interception, and Delbe Alvarado nailed his second field goal of the game, a 23-yarder, with three seconds left in the half.

UNC's defense tried to give its offense chances. Hilee Taylor sacked Grothe and forced a fumble that E.J. Wilson recovered in the third quarter. But Yates threw another interception, which led to another Alvarado field goal.

The Tar Heels' bright spots were few and far between. Connor Barth kicked a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter and Ryan Houston ran 5 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Houston is the 11th true freshman UNC has used this season.

"Anybody that thought this was going to be an easy transition, just come in here and snap your fingers and all of sudden cure 10 years' worth of issues, that's not going to happen," said Davis, in his first season at UNC. "But ... if they won't quit, we have a chance."

North Carolina 0 3 0 7 -- 10

South Florida 14 6 10 7 -- 37

USF--Ford 5 run (Alvarado kick)

USF--Jackson 12 pass from Grothe (Alvarado kick)

NC--FG Barth 40

USF--FG Alvarado 32

USF--FG Alvarado 23, :03.

USF--FG Alvarado 40

USF--B.Williams 5 run (Alvarado kick)

USF--Taylor 1 run (Alvarado kick)

NC--Houston 5 run (Barth kick)

A--37,693

Nc Usf

First downs 11 26

Rushes-yards 35-79 52-194

Passing 85 234

Comp-Att-Int 11-27-4 18-33-0

Return Yards 11 96

Punts-Avg. 6-37.8 2-50.0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-3

Penalties-Yards 7-41 7-55

Time of Possession 26:06 33:54

Individual Statistics

RUSHING--North Carolina, Houston 11-43, J.White 13-36, Elzy 2-3, Team 1-(minus 1), Yates 8-(minus 2). South Florida, B.Williams 15-64, Samuels 6-36, Grothe 12-35, Gregory 4-23, Taylor 6-21, Ford 6-13, Jackson 1-5, Team 2-(minus 3).

PASSING--North Carolina, Yates 11-27-4-85. South Florida, Grothe 17-30-0-230, Gregory 1-3-0-4.

RECEIVING--North Carolina, Nicks 3-32, Foster 2-22, Pianalto 2-8, Barham 1-7, Rome 1-6, Tate 1-6, Elzy 1-4. South Florida, Jackson 4-33, Hester 3-34, Johnson 3-34, Taylor 2-20, Ce.Hill 1-32, B.Williams 1-27, Alcin 1-26, Denson 1-15, Mitchell 1-9, Bogan 1-4.