10 Football Foundation Wins: Fifth Edition
July 08, 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 29, Bowling Green 7
Tampa
Nov. 16, 2002
Is USF Football's greatest season one in which it didn't play in a bowl game? You could certainly make the argument for 2002, when the still independent Bulls found themselves without a postseason opportunity after going 9-2 and finishing the season with seven straight wins. Given that the only two losses of the year were on the road against Oklahoma and Arkansas, this Bulls squad certainly has to be considered one of the great teams in USF Football history.
One of those 2002 victories had more story lines than all the others, yet, as time has passed it is somewhat overlooked. Instead, we tend to focus on the pain players, coaches and fans felt over a very deserving team being denied what would have been the first USF bowl game.
On Nov. 16, 2002, the Bowling Green Falcons came to Raymond James Stadium to play the Bulls. It had been a great season for both teams. Bowling Green was 8-1, and although it had lost the previous week, it was still ranked No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Head coach Urban Meyer had guided them to five straight weeks in the top 25, peaking at No. 16. The Bulls were 7-2, winners of five in a row, and had built an 18-game home winning streak.
The first big play of the game went Bowling Green's way, as the Falcons blocked a USF punt. Moments later, quarterback Josh Harris scored from 8 yards out, future NFL kicker Shaun Suisham added the extra point, and the Falcons led, 7-0.
And that's your Bowling Green scoring summary.
The Bulls would go on to crush the Falcons, scoring 29 unanswered points. Just over 3 minutes after the Falcons touchdown, Marquel Blackwell hit Chris Iskra from 42 yards out to tie the game, and shortly after that the Bulls took their first lead on a safety.
In the second quarter, DeJuan Green and Clenton Crossley had touchdown runs, putting the Bulls comfortably ahead 23-7 at the half.
Santiago Gramatica added 2 second half field goals, and the Bulls had their very first win over a nationally ranked 1-A opponent. Like so many of USF's great wins, it wasn't just victory, but the way they did it. The Bulls controlled every phase of the game.
Blackwell, by this time at the height of his USF career, was 21 of 40 for 220 yards, extending his streak of passes without an interception to 199. Blackwell surpassed 10,000 yards of total offense in this game. Crossley ran for 90 yards and Huey Whittaker had seven receptions. The Bulls defense, led by J.R. Reed (10 tackles, one interception, five passes defensed) held Bowling Green to just 226 total yards.
The win gave the Bulls a third consecutive undefeated home season. They finished the year the following week with a road win against Houston.
Meyer would coach only two more games at Bowling Green before moving on to Utah the following year. Bowling Green would keep winning though, with 11 victories in 2003 and nine in 2004.
Conference USA football membership would come the following season for the Bulls, but this year, with no conference bowl tie-ins, they would be left at the postseason altar. The first top 25 opponent had fallen though, foreshadowing what was to come in the next few seasons of USF Football.
First Edition: USF 44, Cumberland 0 (1997)
Second Edition: USF 24, Liberty 21 (1998)
Third Edition: USF 42, New Hampshire 41 (2 OT, 1999)
Fourth Edition: USF 20, Troy State 10 (2000)
