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It's December, and it's still college football season for the Bulls! In honor of their seventh bowl game, let's look back at the previous six times the Bulls have been part of the bowl season. I've been fortunate enough to be at each game, and they all provide their own unique memories.
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Dec. 31, 2005
Charlotte, N.C.
North Carolina State 14, USF 0
By JIM LOUK
Voice of the Bulls
TAMPA, DEC. 14, 2015 - Man, were we excited. The first bowl game! It was a good one, too; the Meineke Care Car Bowl was in its fourth year and pitted the Big East against the ACC.
It's easy to forget that as recently as 2005, most teams played 11 regular season games, not 12. So at this point, the Bulls were 9 years old, and had played exactly 99 games. The first bowl game would be the 100th game for USF Football. It was all pretty neatly scripted for a program that had created history at almost every turn.
Everything was new to us. There were very few, if any, bowl experiences among players, coaches and staff members. The folks in Charlotte really knew how to make it fun; there were multiple activities every day. My most vivid memory is hosting a street festival/pep rally in downtown Charlotte with our public address announcer Jason Loughren. Standard stuff, with Jason and I introducing players, coaches, and local dignitaries, including the mayor of Charlotte. It was stunning to me to look out and see, for the very first time, thousands of USF fans gathered together that far away from home. It was a moment similar to the inaugural game, when you realized that all things were possible with this program.
The pep rally went on. I remember Andre Hall bringing the USF crowd to a frenzy, and I remember how strong the Herd of Thunder was that day.
Finally, we got to the big finish of the program; the introduction of former boxer George Foreman, who was scheduled to make bowl-related appearances throughout the week. Unfortunately, George made all of his appearances except one; the one I needed him at.
I guess it was a scheduling error, but we wound up one heavyweight champion short, and Jason and I filled the time the best we could. I have no memory of what we talked about, which is probably quite a blessing.
For many years afterward whenever I emceed a USF event, there was one staff member that delighted in asking me if George was here yet.
The game? Well, North Carolina State was pretty good. Mario Williams had a sack or two, and USF was shut out for the first time in team history. But it was still a blast.
By the way, the person who scored the first touchdown ever against USF in a bowl game now works for the Bulls Club. Take a bow, Brian Clark. I'm afraid I've blown your cover with Bulls fans who didn't know that. Brian caught a pass for a score in the second quarter that day.
We stayed in Charlotte that night and flew home on the first day of 2006. I'm not sure I would have predicted five more bowl games in the next five years, but I might have. It wasn't hard to see there was a bright future ahead.
Season ticket deposits for the 2016 season start at $125 and can be placed at USFBullstix.com. The Bulls will play seven home games in Raymond James Stadium in 2016, hosting Florida State on Sept. 24 as well as conference clashes with UCF, Navy, East Carolina and UConn.
Follow @USFFootball on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.
