Top USF Bowl Game Performances
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, DEC. 13, 2018 –
Quinton Flowers, Matt Grothe,
Patrick St. Louis,
Deadrin Senat, Rodney Adams,
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Marlon Mack, Jerome Murphy, Terrence Royal,
D'Ernest Johnson,
Auggie Sanchez and the list goes on when it comes to USF greats putting on a show in postseason play.
USF fans will soon see who will be the next standout performers for the Bulls when the program kicks off its 10
th overall bowl game appearance on Thursday, Dec. 20. USF will face Marshall for the first time in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl with kickoff set for 8 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium (TV: ESPN).
Before the Bulls play in their fourth straight bowl game, let's take a look back some of the top performances through USF's first nine postseason outings.
Offense
Quinton Flowers, 2017 Birmingham Bowl
Quinton Flowers' final act with the Bulls was worthy of a standing ovation, especially his final pass. Flowers' 26-yard touchdown toss to
Tyre McCants with 16 seconds left made the difference in USF's 38-34 victory over Texas Tech.
Flowers threw half of his USF bowl game record four touchdown passes in the wild final five minutes that featured three lead changes. He finished 17 of 34 through the air for 311 yards, another top Bulls postseason mark. USF's all-time leading rusher also showed off his smooth scrambling skills one more time, gaining 106 yards on 14 carries with a 5-yard touchdown run to start the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Flowers earned bowl game MVP honors for the second straight year after racking up a USF record 417 yards of total offense. Fittingly, Flowers finished his collegiate career as the most productive offensive player in program postseason history. The dynamic dual-threat Bulls QB owns USF career bowl game records for total yards (1,164), passing yards (845), rushing yards (319) and touchdowns responsible for (11) on top of his many other historic program accomplishments.
Quinton Flowers, 2016 Birmingham Bowl
Quinton Flowers stole the show in Alabama with a five-score performance that was capped off with a 25-yard touchdown pass to
Elkanah Dillon on the first play of overtime.
The game's MVP completed 23 of 32 passes for 261 and two touchdowns, including a 37-yard scoring toss to
D'Ernest Johnson that helped the Bulls build a 29-14 halftime lead. Flowers rushed for three touchdowns in the first half and finished with 105 yards on 21 carries in the 46-39 victory over South Carolina.
Mike Ford, 2010 International Bowl
Mike Ford capped off the Bulls' 2009 season with a program bowl game record 207 rushing yards on 20 carries.
Ford rushed for 189 yards in the second half, including 106 yards in the third quarter. Ford put the finishing touches on his career day with a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of USF's 27-3 win over Northern Illinois in Toronto.
Matt Grothe, 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl
Matt Grothe passed West Virginia's Pat White as the Big East's career total offense leader while showcasing his dual-threat skills in USF's 41-14 victory over Memphis.
Grothe's 319-yard performance included 236 passing yards and three touchdowns on 17 completions with no interceptions. He also rushed 15 times for 83 yards and generated the fourth-most total yards in USF bowl game history.
Rodney Adams, 2015 Miami Beach Bowl
The former USF speedster racked up 183 all-purpose yards (third-most in school bowl history) that included 130 receiving yards on six catches. Adams' 53-yard touchdown catch on a pass from
Quinton Flowers is the second-longest in USF postseason history.
Adams also rushed five times for 45 yards and scored on a 34-yard run in the second quarter of USF's 45-35 loss to Western Kentucky. The game marked USF's first bowl appearance since 2010.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, 2017 Birmingham Bowl
Before he started stretching the field with the Green Bay Packers,
Marquez Valdes-Scantling treated USF fans to one last sizzling performance in green and gold.
USF's season leader in receiving yards hauled in a 64-yard touchdown pass from
Quinton Flowers to put USF ahead with 4:26 remaining in the thrilling 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. MVS finished with three catches for a USF bowl game record 133 yards before Green Bay wisely selected him in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Honorable Mentions
- Quinton Flowers – 381 total yards; 273 passing yards, 1 TD; 108 rushing yards, 2 TDs in 2015 Miami Beach Bowl.
- D'Ernest Johnson – USF bowl game record 220 all-purpose yards; six catches for 95 yards, TD; 96 kickoff return yards in 2016 Birmingham Bowl.
Andre Hall – 118 rushing yards on 19 attempts, two receptions for 49 yards in 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl.- B.J. Daniels – Completed 20 of 27 passes for 189 yards, 2 TDs; 22 rushing yards, 1 TD in 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl vs. Clemson.
- Marlon Mack – 108 rushing yards on 17 carries in 2015 Miami Beach Bowl.
Tyre McCants – Six catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns, including a 26-yard touchdown that gave the Bulls the lead with 16 seconds left in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl.- A.J. Love - Three catches for 56 yards and two touchdowns, including a 46-yard scoring reception, in the 2010 International Bowl that capped off the 2009 season.
- Benjamin Williams - The 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl MVP posted a team-leading 67 rushing yards and his two touchdown runs helped the Bulls jump out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter of a 24-7 win over East Carolina.
Defense
Patrick St. Louis, 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl
The linebacker was a man on a mission in the Bulls' 14-0 loss to NC State, setting a program bowl game record that still stands with 13 total tackles.
St. Louis made 11 stops in solo fashion along with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in the Bulls' first-ever bowl game appearance that started a string of six straight trips.
Jerome Murphy, 2010 International Bowl
The All-Big East selection had a stellar collegiate finale with a 23-yard interception return, a 13-yard fumble recovery return, two pass breakups and six tackles in the Bulls' 27-3 win over Northern Illinois in Toronto to end the 2009 season.
Terrence Royal, 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl
The senior defensive end from Tampa was in the backfield often, setting a USF bowl game record, since equaled by
Deadrin Senat, with 3.0 sacks for a loss of 17 total yards.
Four of Royal's five total tackles were solo stops and he also forced a fumble in USF's 14-0 loss to NC State, the Bulls' first of what is now 10 bowl game trips.
Deadrin Senat, 2017 Birmingham Bowl
The current Atlanta Falcons rookie drove up his NFL Draft stock by matching Terrence Royal's USF bowl game record of 3.0 sacks and Senat accomplished the feat against Big 12 foe Texas Tech.
Senat's final performance as a Bull included five tackles (four solo) and his three sacks that set Texas Tech back 27 total yards in USF's 38-34 victory.
Tajee Fullwood, 2016 Birmingham Bowl
The safety returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown, caused a fumble that was recovered at the Bulls' 1 and totaled six tackles in USF's 46-39 victory over South Carolina.
Khalid McGee, 2016 Birmingham Bowl
Totaled nine tackles, two fumble recoveries near the USF end zone, one sack and one QB hurry in the Bulls' 46-39 win over South Carolina. McGee recovered a fumble on the game's final play to secure the program's record 11
th victory of the season.
Honorable Mentions
- Auggie Sanchez - USF's career tackles leader was a force all over the field, making 11 tackles (10 solo) against Western Kentucky in the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl. Sanchez totaled 28 tackles in three bowl games as a Bull.
Tyrone McKenzie – 11 tackles, one tackle for loss in 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl vs. Memphis. Ten total tackles (nine solo) and a pass breakup in 2007 Brut Sun Bowl vs. Oregon.
- George Selvie – 3.0 tackles for loss, eight total tackles (seven solo stops), one forced fumble in 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl vs. ECU.
- Stephen Nicholas – Three tackles for loss, two sacks, six solo tackles, two pass breakups in 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl vs. ECU.
- Jaymon Thomas – Caused and recovered a fumble on top of posting five solo tackles, a sack and 2.0 tackles for loss in 2016 Birmingham Bowl.
Special Teams
D'Ernest Johnson, 2015 Miami Beach Bowl
The versatile back set a USF bowl game record with 97 kickoff return yards on five attempts when he wasn't wowing Bulls fans on offense with a 34-yard touchdown pass in USF's 45-35 loss to Western Kentucky at Marlins Park.
Dontavia Bogan, 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl
Two kickoff returns for 71 yards with a USF bowl game record long of 56 yards in a 45-14 victory over Memphis.
Honorable Mentions
- Eric Schwartz – Set USF kicker bowl game record with nine points, 2-for-2 on field goal attempts with long of 39 yards, another Bulls postseason record; 61.2-yard kickoff average on six attempts in 2010 International Bowl vs. Northern Illinois.
- Maikon Bonani – 2-for-2 on field goal attempts with a long of 37 yards; eight kickoffs for a 63.1-yard average in 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl.
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
In just its 22nd season of football, and 19th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
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