South Florida (8-3; 5-2 American) vs Rice (5-6; 2-5 American)
Saturday, November 29 • 7:00 PM • Raymond James Stadium (65,000) • Tampa, Fla.
SURFACE: Bermuda Grass
TV: ESPN+: Eric Rothman (P-by-P), Patrick Murray Jr. (Analyst) & Savanna Collins (sideline)
RADIO: Q105 FM & Bulls Unlimited (digital)
SERIES: Tied 1-1, last, L, 35-28 at Rice in 2024
IN TAMPA: 1-0, last, W, 42-29 in 2023
IN HOUSTON: 0-1, last, L, 35-28 in 2024
LAST TIME: Rice won 35-28 in Houston in 2024
VS AMERICAN: 43-60,
AMERICAN HOME GAMES: 23-26, last: W vs. UTSA, 55-23
AMERICAN ROAD GAMES: 19-31; last: won one
SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES
FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT GIVEAWAYS
There are a ton of interesting components to USF's regular-season finale on Saturday night, when the Rice Owls visit Raymond James Stadium.
* It's Senior Night, a chance for 30 players (and their families) to be honored, including about a dozen who played on USF's 1-11 team from 2022, a group integral to the program's turnaround.
* Before the game, fans can visit and get pictures taken with a live Bull – Bon Jovi, a 6-year old, 1,500-pound bucking bull, representing the PBR (Professional Bull Riders). Bon Jovi will be on sight from 3:30-5:30 p.m. near Bulls Bay in the south plaza of Raymond James Stadium.
* The Bulls (8-3, 5-2 American Conference) can secure their fourth unbeaten home season (and first since 2002) while reaching their sixth nine-win season (and first since 2017).
* USF quarterback Byrum Brown, who has his fingerprints all over the program's single-season and career record book, leads the nation in total offense (344 yards per game) and points responsible for (20.5). Brown needs 117 passing yards and 96 rushing yards to become the 12th Football Bowl Subdivision player ever with 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in the same season (that list includes four Heisman Trophy winners).
* Rice (5-6, 2-5), needing a victory to clinch a bowl bid, will present difficult challenges. Under first-year head coach Scott Abell, the Owls now employ a "gun triple option'' offense that generally utilizes a shotgun formation, where the quarterback triggers option and veer concepts. Abell ran his offense to perfection during seven seasons at Davidson College, a Football Championship Subdivision program that once rushed for 789 yards in one game.
* And, of course, there's the "revenge'' factor.
Revenge?
Yes, it's real.
Many of the coaches and players have changed, but Bulls head coach Alex Golesh and veteran USF performers remain disgusted by the 2024 regular-season finale — a 35-28 defeat at Rice. The Owls led by 20 points at halftime and 35-14 late in the fourth quarter.
One year later, Golesh still remembers.
"I think the biggest thing for the guys who have been here is understanding what happened a year ago over there (in Houston),'' Golesh said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. "It took all the way through the bowl game to get that feeling and taste out of our mouths. It's a year ago, but man, that game has stuck with me. It has certainly stuck with our staff. And sitting in that team meeting (Monday), it has stuck with our guys.
"It's the expectation here that you go finish this thing absolutely the right way. The expectation is that we go play high-level football here at home Saturday night. You get ready for this Rice team, which is a unique challenge to prepare for and a unique system that they bring. We played (terribly) a year ago there in Houston. So, it's huge for us to be the best version of ourselves on Saturday night. When you're playing in November, you're waiting to see an energy-level drop … but that's not where we are. I am motivated by the fact that the energy level today (Tuesday) was as good as it has been all year.''
USF will get a different helping of Rice this season.
In 2023 at Ray-Jay, Rice quarterback JT Daniels passed for 432 yards in USF's 42-29 victory. Last season, Rice's E.J. Warner passed for 430 yards.
Don't look for a pro-style replay on Saturday night.
Rice quarterback Chase Jenkins has passed for only 986 yards all season, completing 69.3 percent of his attempts (113-for-163) for nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. The Owls are the nation's 13th-best rushing team (2,407 yards), led by 5-foot-7, 160-pound back Quinton Jackson, who has 808 yards rushing (5.0-yard average) and six touchdowns.
In Rice's most impressive win, a 37-34 double-overtime victory against nine-win UConn, Jackson rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns.
With as much as Rice emphasizes the ground game, USF actually ranks just ahead of the Owls (12th nationally) with 2,433 yards. And that rushing sets up the Brown-led passing attack. Last week, in a 56-24 defeat against North Texas, Rice was blitzed by 469 yards from Mean Green freshman Drew Mestemaker, the nation's leading passer.
Golesh wants to make certain his Bulls have saved their best for last — unlike the haunting regular-season finale of 2024.
"Our energy is real and our confidence is real,'' Golesh said. "I think our team has grown and learned through the (bad) moments as to what it looks like to prepare at a high level. When our process is elite, our effort is elite and our focus is elite, this is one of the best teams in the country right here. When it ain't, we're just good enough to be one of the worst teams in the country and be as average as average can be.
"I think as you build a program, you've got to go through the hard (times) to learn and come out on the other side. You've got to have success to learn (as well). We've lived both sides of it. But the energy, focus and continuity are there. Three years ago, we set out to build a team full of guys who are truly going to play for each other. In modern college football, that's really hard to do. But I think we continue to get better and play to that expectation.''
–#GoBulls–
