USF Headed To Miami Beach Bowl
December 06, 2015 | Football
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Bulls to face Conference USA Champion, No. 25-ranked Western Kentucky
Willie Taggart takes on alma mater and program he helped build
Ten Bulls to play bowl game in home area of Miami
Students can purchase discounted $20 ticket
TAMPA, DEC. 6, 2015 – USF Director of Athletics Mark Harlan has accepted a bid to represent the American Athletic Conference in the Miami Beach Bowl on Monday, Dec. 21 at Marlins Park, returning USF to bowl action for the first time since 2010.
The Bulls (8-4) will take on Head Coach Willie Taggart's alma mater and No. 25-ranked Western Kentucky (11-2), winners of Saturday's Conference USA Championship Game, in a 2:30 p.m. kickoff live on ESPN. The game will pit two of the most exciting offenses in college football against each other with both teams averaging better than 51 points and 500 yards per game in their last three outings. Memphis defeated BYU 55-48 in double overtime in the inaugural Miami Beach bowl last year.
Miami Beach Bowl tickets are $68.75 (fees included) and may be reserved by visiting USFBullstix.com or calling 1-800-GoBulls. Further information on USF's bowl schedule and activities surrounding the bowl can be found at www.USFBowlCentral.com.
USF Students can purchase a discounted ticket for $20.00 (plus service fees) compliments of USF Athletics and USF Student Government. Students can log in to their USF Student Account to purchase tickets and may purchase a maximum of one (1) discounted student ticket. Students may purchase additional guest tickets for $68.75 each, and all seats will be seated next to one another. Students who purchase a bowl game ticket will be notified on Monday, December 14th with further instructions regarding ticket pick up.
“I am so happy for our players, coaches and fans,” said Taggart, who guided the Bulls to victory in seven of their last eight games. “The young men in our program believed in what we are building and committed themselves to the hard work, energy and team-first attitude needed to achieve their goals and set this program on an exciting path. I am so proud of them and so happy, particularly for our seniors, that they have the opportunity to complete this season in the Miami Beach Bowl.”
For fans that purchase tickets through USF in the official Bulls seating sections they will receive a commemorative Miami Beach Bowl ticket for each ticket they have purchased. Commemorative tickets will be mailed out to ticket purchasers in the early part of 2016.
“We are thrilled to be returning the USF Football program to a bowl game and the Miami Beach Bowl is a tremendous destination to celebrate that achievement,” Harlan said. “Coach Taggart, his coaching staff and all of the student-athletes are very deserving of this opportunity and I know they will have a fabulous experience. I am also excited for our fan base, which supported this team all year, and I look forward to seeing many Bulls in attendance. This has been a very exciting and historic season for the Bulls and we can't wait for the opportunity to continue it in Miami.”
USF BOWL HISTORY
USF will be making its seventh bowl appearance in just its 15th season of play at the FBS level. The Bulls are 4-2 in their previous six bowl trips, including a 31-26 overtime victory over Clemson in their last bowl appearance in the 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. This will be USF's first trip to Miami to play in a bowl game and first game in Miami since playing at the University of Miami in 2012.
BULLS FROM MIAMI
Ten current Bulls hail from the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area including major contributors on the 2015 team in starting quarterback Quinton Flowers (Miami Jackson HS), cornerback Deatrick Nichols (Miami Central HS), cornerback Ronnie Hoggins (Monarch HS), running back Darius Tice (Northwestern HS), kicker Emilio Nadelman (Miami Central HS), safety Khalid McGee (Northwestern HS) and linebacker Danny Thomas (Amos P. Godby HS).
USF SEASON
USF finished the season with the 11th ranked rushing offense in the nation (242.9 ypg), 239 yards shy of the USF season offense record with more than 5,100 yards and 49 points off a new school scoring record after averaging 51 ppg in its last three outings. The Bulls defense also ranked 15th nationally in tackles for loss (7.5 tpg), 22nd in scoring defense (21.1 ppg) and 25th in pass efficiency defense (113.28). USF's 6-2 mark in The American set a new program record for conference wins. USF enters the bowl as one of the hottest teams in America having won seven of its last eight games, including routs of No. 21 Temple (44-23), Cincinnati (65-27) and UCF (44-3) to close out the regular season. A program-record eight Bulls were named to the all-conference team led by two-time, first-team running back Marlon Mack who led the conference posting 115.7 ypg and eight 100-yard games. He brings a program record string of four-straight 100-yard outings into the bowl game.
SERIES HISTORY WITH WKU
This will be the Bulls' seventh meeting with WKU. The Bulls lead the series 4-2 and have won the last four meetings, including 24-14 in Tampa in the last meeting in 2010.
WESTERN KENTUCKY
Western Kentucky is making its second-straight bowl game appearance after posting a 49-48 victory over Central Michigan in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl. The Hilltoppers and quarterback Brandon Doughty rank fourth in the nation in scoring offense (44.2 ppg), sixth in passing offense (365.4ypg) and 10th in total offense (519.8 ypg). Doughty, a Taggart recruit to WKU, leads the nation in passing touchdowns (45), ranks second in passing yards (4,594), third in pass efficiency (176.7) and fifth in passing yards per game at 353.4. WKU downed Southern Mississippi, 45-28, to win the Conference USA Championship, its first conference championship at the FBS level. The Hilltoppers entered the Associated Press rankings this week at No. 25 and are one of 10 teams in the rankings with 11 wins on the year.
TAGGART WKU CONNECTION
Taggart is considered a WKU Legend and is one of four men to have their football jersey retired at the school after starting at quarterback for four years from 1995-98 and setting 11 school records. Her earned All-America honors in 1998 after posting a then NCAA Division I career record for rushing by a quarterback with 3,997 yards. Taggart, who had his No. 1 jersey retired in 1999, still owns the WKU career record for touchdowns scored (47) and now ranks third in career total offense (8,112) and rushing yards behind players he later recruited. He served as an assistant coach at WKU from 1999-2006, helping guide the Hilltoppers to the I-AA national title as co-offensive coordinator in 2002. He returned as head coach at WKU in 2010 and led the program from an 0-26 stretch to back-to-back 7-5 seasons and the program's first-ever FBS bowl game in 2012 during his three seasons at the helm.
Season ticket deposits for the 2016 season start at $50 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.
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