South Florida: 2026 American Men's Basketball Champions

 

South Florida’s men’s basketball team is heading back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 14 years.

South Florida: 2024 Hawaii Bowl Champions

 

In the absence of NFL, NBA, NHL, and college basketball, the 2024 Hawaii Bowl was thrust into the thick of the sports spotlight on Christmas Eve. Not only did the matchup between South Florida and San Jose State revel in that spotlight — it did so in historic fashion.

South Florida and San Jose State strung together the longest bowl game in college football history by sheer number of periods needed to decide a winner. It took five overtimes before the Bulls prevailed 41-39 over the Spartans in Honolulu to earn the right to be called the 2024 Hawaii Bowl champions.

Overtime would have never happened in the first place if not for a fortuitous bounce off the goalpost where South Florida kicker John Cannon doinked in a 41-yard field goal attempt with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. That set up a war of attrition where neither team could gain an edge over the other until several rounds of a 2-point shootout passed. South Florida struck with a touchdown in first overtime, and San Jose State matched to keep it at 34 apiece. In second overtime, both teams nailed short field goals to extend the game into the 2-point shootout.

Third overtime is when the chaos was fully unleashed. After South Florida made its 2-point attempt, San Jose State answered but its successful conversion was nullified by a holding penalty to move back to the 13-yard line. However, the Bulls regifted the Spartans advantageous field position thanks to a pass interference penalty, and San Jose State capitalized with a conversion from the 2-yard line.

San Jose State and South Florida failed their attempts in fourth overtime, extending the game into a fifth overtime — becoming just the fourth game since the overtime rules changed in 2019 to tack on five extra periods (2019 Virginia Tech-North Carolina, 2021 Illinois-Penn State, and 2024 Georgia-Georgia Tech). In that fifth and final period, South Florida quarterback Bryce Archie connected with Keshaun Singleton to hand the Bulls a 41-39 advantage. San Jose State looked to respond as quarterback Walker Eget backpedaled while targeting wide receiver Justin Lockhart. Thanks to South Florida’s backfield pressure, the throw landed short and middle linebacker Mac Harris broke it up to usher in a thrilling victory.

The path from regulation to a quintuple overtime affair was anything but linear. South Florida took full command of the first half, opening its lead to as large as 21-7. One instrumental first quarter play that set the tone was a San Jose State fumble on the 1-yard line which was originally ruled a touchdown, but overturned to a touchback in favor of the Bulls. South Florida capitalized with an 80-yard drive, finishing in the end zone with Nay’Quan Wright to strike first in Honolulu.

An interception by Tavin Ward returned to the San Jose State 16-yard line perfectly positioned the Bulls for a 14-0 advantage. Five plays after the critical takeaway, South Florida sixth-year senior running back Kelley Joiner cashed in for his 16th and final rushing touchdown of a lengthy career in Tampa.

San Jose State dug its way out of the 14-0 hole with a Floyd Chalk Jr. rushing touchdown, but the Bulls instantly responded as Ta’Ron Keith raced 93 yards to the end zone on the ensuing kickoff. The tide didn’t begin to turn in San Jose State’s favor until a pair of Kyler Halvorsen field goals cut the deficit to 21-13 by the mid-third quarter.

The Spartans inched within one point on a Walker Eget passing touchdown and then rewrote the score to 27-24 lead with 11 minutes remaining on a Lamar Radcliffe rushing touchdown, assisted by an interception credited to inside linebacker Noah McNeal-Franklin.

South Florida watched its 14-point cushion dwindle into a deficit mainly due to offensive futility. The Bulls gained a collective nine yards on their first four drives of the fourth quarter, with none of those four series lasting more than four plays. They were subject to five three-and-outs overall, but remained in the game due to consistent stops generated by the defense. The most essentially stop transpired after the 2-minute timeout when Michael Williams II stuffed a Chalk run on 3rd and 1. San Jose State opted to punt rather than risk a 4th and 1 from its own 14, where converting would have sealed the victory.

A stellar return from super senior wide receiver Sean Atkins (11 receptions, 104 yards on the night) brought the ball to midfield and Archie did the rest, guiding the Bulls down to the Spartan 23 with six seconds remaining. Then on his 41-yard attempt, Cannon received an early Christmas present from the goalpost just a few hours early on Dec. 24, as the ball ricocheted off the right crossbar and through the uprights to force overtime, where South Florida prevailed after five periods.

San Jose State dropped to 7-6, while South Florida improved to 7-6 after securing its fifth win in its last seven contests in the historic Hawaii Bowl. The Bulls clinched back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2017 and 2018 and consecutive bowl wins for the first time since 2016 and 2017. Some bowl games are more memorable than others though, and this 5-overtime barnburner was a piece of history to all who participated and to all who watched.

South Florida: 2023 Boca Raton Bowl Champions

 

BOCA RATON, FLA. DEC. 21, 2023– The USF football team (7-6) put an exclamation mark on a memorable first season under first-year head coach Alex Golesh as the Bulls rolled to a 45-0 victory over Syracuse (6-7) in the Boca Raton Bowl in front of a vocal throng of Bulls fans and a national television audience on ESPN.

USF posted its first bowl win since 2017 and first winning record since 2018 to complete a season that also saw the greatest turnaround in program history with a six-win improvement, the first road win in three years, first bowl appearance since 2018, highest ranked recruiting class in 10 years and the program's first-ever 3,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard receiver.

On Thursday, the Bulls defense rose to the occasion, swarming Syracuse from the outset forcing four punts (including three three-and-outs) and three turnovers – including a pair of scoop-and-score touchdowns – in the first half as they limited the Orange to 91 first half yards (including -15 rushing) in pitching USF's first, first half shutout since 2019.

Syracuse finished with 159 yards, 10 punts, and just nine first downs (going 1-of-17 on third down) as the Bulls posted their first complete game shutout since 2009 and didn't allow the Orange to reach the redzone in a complete domination. Daquan Evans was named Defensive MVP after posting five tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and forcing a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Aamaris Brown-Bunkley was named Special Teams MVP after returning a botched field goal attempt for a touchdown and adding three tackles.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Byrum Brown, who was named Offensive MVP, started the game 10-of-11 before finishing 19 of 26 for 214 yards and three touchdowns passing, posted a team-best 64 yards rushing on 14 carries, and caught a 21-yard pass from Sean Atkins. He became just the second Bull to surpass 4,000 total yards in a season, finishing with 4,101 yards, second only to Quinton Flowers' 4,342 yards posted in 2016.

Sean Atkins became the Bulls' first 1,000-yard receiver, as he grabbed six passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bulls jumped to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. USF got on the board first when Brown hit Atkins in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Bulls had great field position, but a pass to the flanks from Brown to Atkins went astray and was ruled a lateral. Syracuse picked it up and ran it back to the end zone, but Brown, hustling downfield, was blocked in the back by an Orange player and Syracuse took over possession at the USF 28 after the penalty.

Syracuse went backward from there and was forced to attempt a 47-yard field goal. The snap was mishandled and then punched out the hands of an Orange player by Tavin Ward. Brown-Bunkley scooped it up and raced 64 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

The Bulls made it 21-0 when Brown hit Khafre Brown with a perfect 31-yard touchdown pass that completed and 81-yard drive.

A John Cannon 40-yard field goal made it 24-0 with 2:40 to play in the first half. Syracuse had 53 yards, four punts and two turnovers to that point.

The defense put another touchdown on the board when Evans hit Syracuse quarterback Braden Davis on a blitz, dislodged the ball and Tramel Logan scooped it up and ran 61-yards for the touchdown, his USF season record tying third defensive touchdown of the season, to make it 31-0 at the half.

The Bulls got their fourth turnover of the game with an interception by Tavin Ward on Syracuse's first possession of the second half, and Brown quickly capitalized hitting Atkins with a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-0.

Nay'Quan Wright plunged in from two yards out early in the fourth quarter to make it 45-0 as USF fans began the celebration.

KEY STATS

• The 45-0 victory marked USF's largest margin of victory ever in a bowl game and its fourth bowl win over an autonomous "power" conference program.

• The USF defense forced four turnovers, scored two defensive touchdowns, and posted its first, first half shutout since 2019 on the way to completing its first complete game shutout since a 59-0 victory over Charleston Southern in 2009.

• USF held Syracuse to 1-of-17 on third downs and 1-of-3 on fourth while allowing just nine first downs in the game.

• USF out-gained Syracuse 407 to 159 and allowed just 20 yards rushing from Syracuse.

NOTABLES

•   QB Byrum Brown became just the second Bull to surpass 4,000 total yards in the season, finishing with – yards, second only to Quinton Flowers' 4,342 yards posted in 2016.

•   Brown threw three touchdown passes in the game to set a new USF season record with 26 and completed 73 percent of his passes to set a new USF season completion percentage record with 64.6 percent on the year.

•   WR Sean Atkins posted six catches for 93 yards to extended his season receptions record to 92 and extended his season receiving yards record 1,054, becoming the first 1,000-yard receiver in program history. He also completed a 21-yard pass to finish 4-of-4 for 149 yards passing on the year.

•   DE Tramel Logan returned a fumble 61 yards for a touchdown, marking his third defensive touchdown of the season (two fumble returns, one interception) to tie Trae Williams (3, in 2007) for the most defensive touchdowns in a season in program history.

UP NEXT

USF welcomed 25 new Bulls on the first day of the NCAA Early Signing period in the top class in The American and among non-autonomous "power" programs on Wednesday. The Bulls will begin spring practice in March.

Season tickets • Single-game tickets • Group tickets (10+): call 1-800-GoBulls

ABOUT USF FOOTBALL

The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 26th season in 2022 while completing construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections, including 2021 consensus All-American kick returner Brian Battie, and had 32 first-team all-conference selections. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and has made 10 bowl game appearances (going 6-4 in those games), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and most recently making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. The Bulls posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season. 

South Florida: 2019 College Basketball Invitational Champions

CHICAGO -- David Collins had 19 points and eight rebounds, and South Florida beat DePaul 77-65 on Friday in the College Basketball Invitational championship.

USF made three 3-pointers in a four-minute span to take the first double-digit lead of the second half at 57-47 and extended it to a 14-point advantage after an 8-0 run. The Bulls led by double figures for five-plus minutes until Max Strus made three free throws at 1:06 to pull to 71-64. Xavier Castaneda sealed it with two free throws with 40.4 seconds to play.

Justin Brown had 12 points for South Florida (24-14), which was picked to finish last in the preseason American Athletic Conference coaches' poll. LaQuincy Rideau added 10 points. Antun Maricevic had seven rebounds for the visitors.

South Florida led 37-20 with 6:15 remaining in the first half but didn't score again until Rideau beat the halftime buzzer with a layup for a 39-34 lead. DePaul went on a 14-0 run during USF's drought to get within three points with 25.7 seconds left.

Devin Gage had 19 points for the Blue Demons (19-17), who never led in the game. Strus added 16 points. Femi Olujobi had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

South Florida: 2017 Birmingham Bowl Champions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Quinton Flowers did it again at the Birmingham Bowl, launching another winning touchdown throw with a game against a Power 5 team on the line.

Flowers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tyre McCants with 16 seconds left to give No. 23 South Florida a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech in the Birmingham Bowl on Saturday.

Flowers led the Bulls (10-2) to a second straight dramatic victory in the bowl game at Legion Field, throwing for a pair of touchdowns in the final 4:26 after struggling in the first half.

"I was telling myself, I've got to hit my guys in the chest," Flowers said. "I've got to put the ball in their chest and just give them a chance. I just went out there and my coach called the play that I wanted and thank God Tyre did what he was supposed to do and I did what I was supposed to do and we came out with the victory."

The Bulls, who are 21-4 the past two seasons, won last year's Birmingham Bowl on Flowers' 25-yard touchdown pass in overtime against South Carolina.

The Red Raiders (6-7) had taken the lead back with Nic Shimonek's 25-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open T.J. Vasher in the end zone with 1:31 remaining. That left Flowers with plenty of time to work, it turns out.

He ran 13 and 21 yards for first downs, the latter coming on a third-and-10 play. Then he found McCants on their second scoring connection.

The senior passed for 311 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran 14 times for 106 yards and a fifth score. Marquez Valdes-Scantling gained 133 yards on three catches.

Shimonek took Texas Tech across midfield in the final seconds but his desperation pass on the run was completed well short of the end zone.

Shimonek, who had led a fourth-quarter comeback in the regular-season finale against Texas, completed 32 of 59 passes for 416 yards. This time the Red Raiders couldn't seal the deal.

"That's really exactly what was going through my mind," Shimonek said. "It was almost the same exact type scenario (as Texas)."

He threw for three touchdowns and was intercepted twice on deflected balls.

Keke Coutee had 11 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown while Justin Stockton ran for 103 yards.

The Red Raiders set up two touchdowns in the third quarter off fumble recoveries, taking a 24-17 lead. The defense helped preserve the lead with a pair of fourth down stops, including a goal line stand. Quentin Yontz stuffed Darius Tice from inside the 1 early in the fourth, but Flowers wound up getting the ball back across midfield.

He cashed in this time with a 5-yard touchdown run to tie it with 9:30 left.

"Defensively, it was stop after stop that we had to go get," first-year South Florida coach Charlie Strong said.

"And even for our offense, they had two turnovers and then they had two big fourth-down stops and our offense just continued to play."

THE TAKEAWAY

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders couldn't translate a 249-130 edge in first-half yards into an advantage on the scoreboard. They converted 10 of 19 third downs.

South Florida: Flowers had a terrific second half after going 4-of-14 passing for 52 yards in the first. He concluded it on a 21-yard touchdown pass to McCants with 51 seconds left to tie it, 10-all. ... Defensive tackle Deadrin Senat had three first-half sacks for South Florida, matching his season total coming into the bowl.

FLOWERS RECORDS



Flowers became the American Athletic Conference's career leader in total offense with a 21-yard touchdown pass late in the first half. He broke the mark of 11,431 yards held by Temple's Phillip Walker. Flowers also set school records for career touchdown passes and rushing yards, finishing with 34 school or conference marks.

PENALTIES GALORE: Both teams were penalized 10 times, with Texas Tech flagged for 107 yards and South Florida for 100.

UP NEXT

Texas Tech: Shimonek and leading rusher Stockton are seniors, while all but two defensive starters have eligibility remaining. Coutee is a junior who said he hasn't made a decision on whether to enter the NFL draft.

South Florida: The Bulls must replace Flowers, plus leading receiver Valdes-Scantling and tailback D'Ernest Johnson on offense and eight starters on defense. Leading tackler Auggie Sanchez leaves a big hole to fill.

South Florida: 2016 Birmingham Bowl Champions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- South Florida's Quinton Flowers says there were a lot of big-name college football programs that thought he could be a star player. As a running back. Or maybe as a safety.

But Flowers knew he could be a great quarterback. And on Thursday in the Birmingham Bowl against a team from the Southeastern Conference, he proved it once again.

Flowers ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more -- including what proved to be the winner in overtime -- to help No. 25 South Florida beat South Carolina 46-39.

"A lot of big schools didn't give me a chance," Flowers said. "A lot of big schools wanted me to play a different position. But South Florida was the place that loved me, cared about me and wanted me to be their quarterback."

Flowers said South Carolina coach Will Muschamp -- who was then at Florida -- was among the coaches who wanted him to switch positions. Muschamp got an up-close look at Flowers' quarterback skills on Thursday.

"He's an outstanding athlete," Muschamp said.

South Florida (11-2) squandered a 39-21 lead in the second half, but recovered for its school-record 11th victory. Flowers threw a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime, finding Elkanah Dillon in the end zone.

South Carolina's overtime drive ended after Jake Bentley was sacked by Mike Love on fourth down. Bentley fumbled and Khalid McGee recovered to end the game.

It was a sweet ending for a South Florida program that has had a lot of upheaval during December. Coach Willie Taggart left for Oregon after the regular season and former Texas coach Charlie Strong was hired a few days later.

But the Bulls, who played Thursday under interim coach T.J. Weist, pushed aside the distractions and finished their season with another win.

"The bottom line is we finished this game off strong. We finished it right," Weist said. "We came through in the end."

Flowers, who was selected the game's Most Valuable Player, completed 23 of 32 passes for 261 yards and ran for 105 yards on 21 carries.

The Bulls controlled the game for most of the afternoon, but the Gamecocks rallied to tie it at 39 with 1:11 remaining on A.J. Turner's 1-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion.

Bentley completed 32 of 43 passes for 390 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Deebo Samuel caught 14 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown.

Muschamp said he was pleased with the offense. It was the defense -- specifically the lack of an effective pass rush against Flowers -- that left him frustrated.

"When you score 39 points, you should win the game," Muschamp said.

South Carolina (6-7) was hurt by five turnovers, including a pick-six thrown by Bentley that Tajee Fullwood returned 47 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

South Florida: The Bulls felt they weren't getting much respect on a national level after their 10-win regular season. A win over an SEC opponent is more evidence that South Florida might have been a little underappreciated.


South Carolina: The Gamecocks had their chances, but too many crucial mistakes doomed the program to a 7-loss season. The good news is South Carolina has a promising young quarterback in Bentley.

UP NEXT

South Florida: The Bulls have a lot of changes in store as the Strong-era begins. South Florida looks well-positioned to be a factor in the AAC for years to come.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks took a small step forward during Muschamp's first season. Now he'll try to improve the talent on the roster during recruiting to get the program back among the SEC East's elite programs.