As the USF Bulls (6-6) prepare for the Dec. 24 Hawai'i Bowl against the San Jose State Spartans (7-5) — the program's 12th bowl game — here are a dozen notables and observations from USF's postseason history:
1. Top Game-Winner (Offensive Division) — Quinton Flowers, USF's quarterback from 2014-17, is arguably the best player in program history. You'll get no argument from anyone who witnessed USF's 38-34 victory against the Big 12 Conference's Texas Tech Red Raiders at the 2017 Birmingham Bowl.
With 16 seconds remaining at Legion Field — punctuating a fourth quarter that saw four lead changes — Flowers hit 235-pound wide receiver Tyre McCants on a 26-yard wheel-route touchdown pass.
"He's special,'' Texas Tech safety Jah'Shawn Johnson said afterward. "He can beat you with his feet, beat you in the air. We saw on film all month that he's making guys miss, getting out of the pocket, extending plays for his team. And that's what he did tonight.''
Flowers, who accounted for 417 yards and five touchdowns in the game, rushed for 106 yards and passed for 311 (17-for-34). He finished his career with a program-record 11,802 total yards and 3,672 rushing yards, along with 34 school records.
2. Top Game-Winner (Defensive Division) — Flowers had just provided the lead by finding tight end Kano Dillon with a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime at the 2016 Birmingham Bowl. But nothing ever felt secure in this game, not when the SEC's South Carolina Gamecocks stormed back with a 15-point fourth-quarter blitz to force OT.
Then USF's defense took over. Mike Love sacked South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley to force a fumble that was recovered by Khalid McGee and it was finally over. USF had earned a 46-39 OT decision and the Bulls clinched a program-record 11th victory and first-ever final season ranking in the Top 25.
3. Best Quote: After USF's 45-0 win against Syracuse in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl, Coach Alex Golesh was summoned for an ESPN postgame interview.
Asked for his reaction to USF's start-to-finish performance, Golesh didn't bat an eye.
"We just went and whooped that ass, didn't we?''
It wasn't just the words. It was the casual, matter-of-fact delivery, followed by a little head nod. Social media went crazy. Former head coach Rick Neuheisel, a commentator on Sirius radio, described it as "savage.''
Golesh promptly doubled-down during the formal post-game news conference.
"I'd say it was a complete ass-whipping,'' Golesh said. "We played harder than those guys.''
4. Canadian Backflips — Say what? Backflips? Bull-lieve it! It's an unforgettable part of USF's bowl experience.
Two days before the 2010 International Bowl at the Rogers Centre in Toronto — with the Canadian winter raging outside — Bulls defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul made a mark that rivaled his pass-rushing feats.
JPP, a 6-foot-5, 270-pounder with superb agility, did 14 consecutive backflips. Following a USF pre-bowl practice, JPP and linebacker Kion Wilson looked to settle a bet on who could do more backflips.
JPP, who had earlier executed a standing backflip in full shoulder pads, did his 14. Wilson managed just seven. And the USF Athletics video of the event quickly went viral.
"How big he was, how long he was … it took your breath away,'' said USF assistant Kevin Patrick, who recruited JPP from Fort Scott Community College, where the Greyhounds' football squad shared indoor practice space with the school's rodeo team.
Fourteen breathtaking backflips later, JPP had forged the final chapter of his USF legacy.
5. Juking The Tigers — Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels supplied the knockout punch early in the fourth quarter of the 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., with a dazzling 8-yard touchdown run that the Clemson defenders still haven't figured out. Daniels' run put the Bulls up 31-13 in a game they would hold on to win, 31-26.
"B.J. did a super job." Bulls coach Skip Holtz said of Daniels' play. "A little shovel, option pass. Faked the shovel, took off outside, then he faked the option, took the other guy outside and then turned and split it and walked into the end zone. It was just a great individual effort.''
6. Bowl Sponsors Explained — Seven of USF's 12 bowl games have featured title sponsors.
* Meineke Car Care Bowl (2005 and 2010) — Franchise-based international automotive repair chain with 966 locations.
* PapaJohns.com Bowl (2006) — Papa Johns pizza, once made by John Schattner from an oven in a broom closet at his father's tavern in Jeffersonville, Ind., now has more than 5,000 locations in 45 countries and territories around the world.
* Brut Sun Bowl (2007) — A line of men's grooming and fragrance products. Introduced in 1964. Trivia: Elvis Presley used Brut.
* magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl (2008) — A service that allows people in the United States and Canada to make telephone calls over the Internet.
* Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (2018) — Bad Boy was the first brand to market zero-turn mowers to rural landowners and homeowners. The company says its mowers are known for "sporty design, uncompromising power, relentless innovation and a signature attitude that is truly one-of-a-kind.''
* RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl (2023) — It does various roofing work, including minor repairs, full replacements and storm damage restoration.
7. Fashion Statement — For the first time in program history, USF football broke out the white helmets and that new look provided some immediate emotion at the 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl. On the third play of the inaugural game at Tropicana Field, quarterback Matt Grothe hit Taurus Johnson with a 26-yard touchdown pass, triggering USF's 41-14 rout of the Memphis Tigers.
USF, which began 5-0 with a No. 10 national ranking, had limped home with a 2-5 regular-season finish. Grothe said the Bulls finally loosened up and played pressure-free. The white helmets were a symbol of that new approach. They had USF all dressed up with somewhere special to go.
8. Most Valuable — USF players have earned Most Valuable Player Awards nine times in the program's 11 previous bowl appearances. USF's first MVP was the most surprising. Walk-on running back Benjamin Williams (17 carries for 67 yards and two touchdowns) was the MVP in USF's 24-7 win against East Carolina at the 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl.
Others:
* QB Matt Grothe, 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl (17-for-24, 236 yards, three touchdowns, 83 yards rushing).
* RB Mike Ford, 2009 International Bowl (20 carries for 207 yards, one touchdown).
* QB B.J. Daniels, 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl (20-for-27, 189 yards, two touchdowns, 22 yards rushing, one touchdown).
* QB Quinton Flowers, 2016 Birmingham Bowl (23-for-32, 261 yards, two touchdowns; 105 yards rushing, one touchdown).
* QB Quinton Flowers, 2017 Birmingham Bowl (17-for-31, 311 yards, four touchdowns; 106 yards rushing, one touchdown).
* (Offensive MVP) QB Byrum Brown, 2023 Boca Raton Bowl (19-for-26, 214 yards, three touchdowns; 64 yards rushing).
* (Defensive MVP) CB Daquan Evans, 2023 Boca Raton Bowl (five tackles, two tackles for a loss, one forced fumble, one sack).
* (Special Teams MVP) Aamaris Brown-Bunkley, 2023 Boca Raton Bowl (returned a botched field goal attempt for a touchdown and had three tackles).
9. Hit Show — USF has had numerous hard-hitting defensive plays during its bowl history, but one stands out.
Nearing halftime at the 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl, Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker looked to score on an option run near the goal line. But Parker was slammed down by USF linebacker Sam Barrington. The quarterback suffered a broken rib, ending his day (and his college football career because he had signed a baseball contract with the Colorado Rockies).
As it turned out, Parker (Bartram Trail High School) was the longtime nemesis of Barrington (Terry Parker High School) from the Jacksonville prep football scene.
Parker wound up in the big leagues with the Rockies, while Barrington played four seasons with the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
10. Talkin' Baseball — Three of USF's bowl-game appearances were at venues where the primary tenant was a major-league baseball team:
* 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl — Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays).
* 2009 International Bowl — Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays).
* 2015 Miami Beach Bowl — Marlins Park (Miami Marlins).
11. Powerful Moments — USF's last four bowl victories came against opponents from major conferences — the ACC's Clemson Tigers (2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl), the SEC's South Carolina Gamecocks (2016 Birmingham Bowl), the Big 12's Texas Tech Red Raiders (2017 Birmingham Bowl) and the ACC's Syracuse Orange (2023 Boca Raton Bowl).
12. Trophy Time — If the Bulls defeat San Jose State on Dec. 24, USF will receive an addition to its trophy case, a 20-pound bronze beauty in the shape of a pineapple with the iconic island fruit's leafy crown sprouting from the top of a football.
It can join this collection of USF bowl hardware:
* 2006 PapaJohns.com Bowl (silver football atop a wooden base).
* 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl (metal palm tree and St. Petersburg skyline display atop a wooden base).
* 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl (gold football atop a 2-foot-tall wooden base).
* 2016 Birmingham Bowl (3-foot-tall steel plate mounted on top of a marble base, symbolizing the iron industry in Birmingham).
* 2017 Birmingham Bowl (4-foot-tall, 50-pound steel-and-marble statue depicting Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge, with iron working equipment to symbolize the key Birmingham industry and replicating a 56-foot tall statue in the city).
* 2023 Boca Raton Bowl (the Howard Schnellenberger Championship Trophy, named for the founder and head coach of Florida Atlantic's football program, features a silver football atop a wooden base).
–#GoBulls–
