10 Football Foundation Wins: Fourth Edition
July 03, 2015 | Football
Over the years, the stories have been told, the game stats analyzed, the memories shared and celebrated. USF Football beats Florida State. Miami. Notre Dame. West Virginia. Louisville.
Great days indeed, but the list of landmark wins for the Bulls doesn't end there. As we approach the 19th season of USF Football, some very good and very memorable wins from USF Football's first dozen seasons helped take the program to the next level.
This summer we take a look back at 10 USF Football foundation wins. They are not the greatest Bulls games of all time, and some of the opponents are far from national powerhouses, but the story lines for each are intriguing. And these games, maybe as much as the blockbuster wins we all remember, show how the meteoric climb of USF Football began.
By JIM LOUK
Voice of the Bulls
USF 20, Troy State 10
Tampa
Sept. 30, 2000
Although the Bulls had dipped their toe in the water of 1-A football in 1999 by playing San Diego State, 2000 was the season the USF schedule of opponents really began to change. Still an independent but now in full preparation mode for Conference USA football membership, the Bulls loaded up on 1-A challenges. As a result, a landmark win over a 1-AA team is often overlooked when reviewing this fourth season of USF Football.
After a one-sided win over Jacksonville State to open the season, the Bulls had September road games against both Kentucky and Baylor. Although USF came up short by 18 and 15 points in those games, the Bulls were competitive in both. In Waco, the Bulls had a very legitimate chance to beat Baylor, and some felt that a chance at USF Football history was lost on that trip. Sandwiched between those two games was a fairly routine 26-7 home win over James Madison, so USF hit the fifth week of the season with a 2-2 record.
That brought the undefeated Troy State Trojans to town, and with them came the No. 1 ranking in 1-AA football. Now known simply as Troy, the Trojans had beaten in Bulls in Alabama, 41-24, the previous year.
It was human nature to focus on the 1-A opponents during this era (another one was looming the following week), but what a defeat of the top-ranked 1-AA team would mean wasn't lost on the Bulls.
The 1999 game at Troy had been particularly frustrating for USF, as it raced to a 14-0 first quarter lead only to be outscored, 27-3, in the second half on the way to the loss. The 2000 game would be a much different story.
The Bulls opened the scoring in the final minute of the first quarter when Marquel Blackwell hit Scott McCready from 22 yards out for a score. Troy responded with a touchdown, and a few minutes later future New York Giant and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Lawrence Tynes hit a 44-yard field goal to give Troy a 10-7 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the first half. It would be the only time all day the Bulls would trail.
In the second half, USF captured the lead on an Otis Dixon touchdown run early in the third quarter. Bill Gramatica added field two field goals, and the Bulls had a 20-10 win over the No.1 ranked team in 1-AA.
The win itself is impressive, but what really stands out is how the Bulls dominated this game. They outgained Troy 436 yards to 221, holding the Trojans to just 55 yards passing. Blackwell threw for 273 yards and ran for 113. McCready, who would go on to win a Super Bowl ring as a member of the New England Patriots practice squad, caught six passes.
The Bulls' defense recorded 11 tackles for loss by 10 different players. The always dependable defensive back Roy Manns led the team with 11 tackles.
Even at the time, this may have been an undervalued win. Troy would finish the year 10-2 and win their conference. Seven days later, the Bulls had moved on to Hattiesburg, Miss., resuming their hybrid 1-A/1-AA schedule against Southern Miss. Against the upgraded schedule, the Bulls would finish 7-4, setting the table for an eight-win season the following year. They would beat their highest profile opponent to date (Connecticut, also moving toward 1-A) in October.
By the 2002 season, the Bulls would be down to just a single 1-AA team on the schedule. The new era of USF Football was upon us, and even more so than those first few games against the big boys, the win over the top team in 1-AA showed that USF Football was ready for the next step.
First Edition: USF 44, Cumberland 0 (1997)
Second Edition: USF 24, Liberty 21 (1998)
Third Edition: USF 42, New Hampshire 41 (2 OT, 2000)
