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Last week, before their opponent or destination was known, the USF Bulls held two bowl practices. Christmas music blared in the background. December football never felt so good.
"The guys are geeked and ready,'' head coach Alex Golesh said. "It has been a renewed sense of energy. We're excited to keep practicing. We're excited to play another one.''
On Sunday afternoon, the Bulls (6-6) got a double dose of good news when they accepted a bid to face the Syracuse Orange (6-6) in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. There's an 8 p.m. kickoff for the Thurs., Dec. 21 game to be televised by ESPN.
The schedule seems ideal: It's a pre-Christmas game at a location just three hours from much of the Tampa Bay area. And it is opportunity to defeat yet another "Power" conference team in a bowl (USF has downed three) while heading into 2024 with an upbeat winning record.
USF's program, making its first postseason appearance since 2018, has a long history with Syracuse. The Bulls and Orange were conference foes in the Big East from 2005-12. After Syracuse joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, their current home, USF swept the Orange during home-and-home non-conference meetings in 2015-16 and holds an overall 8-2 advantage in the series.
"I'd love to play the very best team we could,'' Golesh said when asked about a bowl opponent prior to the announcement of Syracuse. "We'll continue to use (the bowl game) as a test for where we are, who we are and where we're going. But to me, the better the team, the better (the situation).''
When USF earned back-to-back Birmingham Bowl bids in 2016-17, it defeated an SEC foe in South Carolina (SEC) and a Big 12 foe in Texas Tech. The Bulls also captured a bowl-game victory against ACC opponent Clemson following the 2010 season.
In 2023, Syracuse defeated Wake Forest, 35-31, to become bowl eligible in the Orange's regular-season finale. That was one week after the firing of head coach Dino Babers, who led the Orange to a 4-0 start before they lost six of their next seven games. Syracuse operated with interim head coach Nunzio Campanile (tight ends coach) against Wake Forest and have since hired Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown as the new head coach.
It's USF's 11th career bowl-game appearance and three of the previous trips were in the state of Florida (2008 St. Petersburg Bowl, 2015 Miami Beach Bowl and 2018 Gasparilla Bowl).
USF, which had a program-best, five-victory improvement over last season's 1-11 mark, has a few individual statistical marks at stake in the bowl game.
Quarterback Byrum Brown, who ranks No. 7 nationally in total offense (318.6 yards per game) and already has the program mark for season passing yards at 3,078, needs three touchdown passes to set the USF record (26) and with a solid performance can set the season completion mark and post just the second 4,000-yard total offense season in program history.
Meanwhile, wide receiver Sean Atkins has set program records for receptions (86) and receiving yards (961), leaving him 39 yards short of becoming USF's first 1,000-yard pass-catcher.
If the Bulls defeat Syracuse, they will finish 7-6, the program's first winning record since 2018. Golesh welcomes that possibility, but he's keeping it in perspective.
"I think this sets the tone that we've laid a foundation for playing in the postseason and how we work and how we attack every single day,'' Golesh said. "It's certainly a step in the right direction. But I wholeheartedly mean that 6-6 is not the standard here. It's not what we were brought here to do as a staff. I think it does signify progress. I think it sets the tone that we've laid a foundation for playing in the postseason.
"Bowl games are certainly a reward for the season. But it's the bare minimum of what we want (to accomplish). We're going to have fun and enjoy doing things together. But when it's time to work, it's time to work. We're playing to go win a football game. Any man that puts on a pair of pants and helmet (knows) you better be ready to roll because that other team is going to be ready to punch you in the face.''
Golesh said he's excited to experience a bowl game with a roster mostly filled with players who haven't been to the postseason. He's hoping for a strong green-and-gold presence in Boca Raton.
"I like the ease of your fan base being able to get there,'' Golesh said. "We've obviously got fans and alumni all over the state and this (Boca Raton Bowl) makes it easier for them to travel.
"For somebody who lived in the Midwest most of their life, how cool is that? We live in a state where there are bowl games. … For our fan base, donor base, alumni base and our students, they won't have to spend an arm and a leg to go watch us play. It's an awesome city and I'm sure (the temperature) will be I the 70s or 80s. What else could you ask for?''
–#GoBulls–
