30th Anniversary Series: Essential Games
August 31, 2026 | Football
30th Anniversary Series
PART 1: Essential Games
Editor's Note: To commemorate the University of South Florida's 30th football season, GoUSFBulls.com is presenting a 12-part series that covers the sights, sounds, milestones, biggest games, top performers and unforgettable personalities from the program's first three decades. The installments will appear each Sunday that precedes a South Florida game week.
The University of South Florida can play football from now until eternity, but there will never be another occasion or atmosphere to rival the proceedings of Sept. 6, 1997.
The inaugural game.
After decades of false starts in pursuit of a football program — then an interminable year of practices, scrimmages and pent-up anticipation — it was finally time. At the old Tampa Stadium, Coach Jim Leavitt addressed his Bulls in the locker room before their stampede, the full sprint from the tunnel to the sideline.
"I had no clue what to expect,'' defensive back Jay Mize said. "You're used to high school games and a few hundred people. I'll never forget the feeling of coming out of that locker room and having the stands come into view.
"Those three seconds, seeing the top of the stadium to the bottom completely full, saying you 'had goose bumps' is a disservice to describing that feeling. It was this incredible bubbling up of energy and passion. Those fans wanted USF college football and we wanted to give it to them. We came out of there like we were shot from a rocket.''
The stadium's made-for-South Florida configuration was a sellout — 49,212 fans in all. And the Bulls' momentum didn't stop until the incredible result was official:
South Florida 80, Kentucky Wesleyan 3.
The Bulls scored 11 touchdowns and ran 68 plays for 572 yards (which stood as the program's total offense record until 2007). Meanwhile, the defense allowed just 74 yards (minus-2 yards in the second half) and a lone field goal (after an 81-yard kickoff return).
Kentucky Wesleyan, an NCAA Division II program that began football in 1983, was a carefully selected opponent that received a $20,000 guarantee to face the Bulls, who debuted at the NCAA Division I-AA level (now known as the Football Championship Subdivision). While the Bulls went through a year of practices (and no games) in 1996, the Panthers went 3-8.
Still … 80-3?
"You never expected a score like that,'' Leavitt said. "You got tears in your eyes when you saw all that green and gold. It was an emotional night.''
"The whole thing was like a dream,'' said running back Otis Dixon, a Clearwater native who was the first player to sign a South Florida football scholarship. "Most of the time, you train a month before the first game. We had trained for a year like we were astronauts going to the moon or getting ready for the Olympics.''
In 1996, the Bulls prepared like games were imminent. There were meetings. There were chicken and spaghetti "pregame'' meals. They practiced warmups. They practiced running on the field, then running off the field. The players even got several bus-ride dry runs from South Florida's Tampa campus to Tampa Stadium (22 minutes).
The Bulls were absolutely, positively ready. Mostly.
Less than an hour before kickoff, place-kicker Steve Riggs realized that a kicking tee had not been packed. So, a motorcycle policeman sped to a nearby sporting goods store and got one. Thank goodness the weather was perfect. The Bulls didn't have rain gear (other than six boxes of Hefty bags).
The game itself was near-flawless.
South Florida's first touchdown was scored on a 1-yard run by Rafael Williams to cap the first drive. And the rout was on.
"I was up in the press box with Greg Frey (fellow USF assistant) and he kept saying, 'I want 100 (points), Chico! I want 100!' '' offensive coordinator Mike Canales said. "I mean, maybe we could've scored 100, but 80 was plenty. We were just thrilled to finally play a game and actually win it.''
Essential Games in South Florida's 30-season football history (listed chronologically):
South Florida 20, No. 1-ranked Troy State 10 (9/30/00) — The Bulls were transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision and ineligible for the FCS playoffs but gave the nation something to think about with a solid win against the top-ranked and FCS powerhouse Trojans.
South Florida 35, Pittsburgh 26 (9/8/01) — The first national splash for the Bulls' 5-year-old program. The visiting Bulls, 22-point underdogs, opened the game with a successful onside kick and led from start to finish against the Panthers (in their 111th season of football).
South Florida 29, No. 25 Bowling Green 7 (11/16/02) — Coach Urban Meyer's visiting Falcons, thought to be BCS spoilers, were exposed by South Florida's rugged defense.
South Florida 31, Louisville 28 (11/4/03) — Thrilling Conference USA home debut had the Bulls tying it on Clenton Crossley's 1-yard run with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, then winning it on Santiago Gramatica's 22-yard field goal in the second overtime.
South Florida 45, No. 9 Louisville 14 (9/24/05) — In the program's inaugural Big East Conference game, the home-standing Bulls were dominant from the jump as WR Amarri Jackson twice scored on reverses and also threw an option touchdown pass.
South Florida 24, No. 7 West Virginia 19 (11/25/06) — A stunner for the visiting Bulls, who forced five turnovers and limited the Mountaineers to 132 rushing yards (they were averaging 330 rushing yards and 41 points per game).
South Florida 24, East Carolina 7 (12/23/06) — The program's first bowl victory (PapaJohns.com Bowl at Birmingham, Ala.) was paced by former walk-on RB Ben Williams (two touchdowns).
South Florida 26, No. 17 Auburn 23 (9/8/07) — The visiting Bulls clinched the program's first victory against an SEC opponent on Matt Grothe's walk-off 14-yard touchdown pass to WR Jessie Hester Jr. (after Auburn was held to a field goal in its portion of overtime).
No. 18 South Florida 21, No. 5 West Virginia 13 (9/28/07) — On a standalone Friday night ESPN2 showcase before 67,012 fans at Raymond James Stadium, the Bulls put on an unforgettable show and positioned the program for a No. 2 national ranking later that season.
No. 19 South Florida 37, No. 11 Kansas 34 (9/12/08) — The Friday night roller-coaster game included a 17-point deficit for the home-standing Bulls, followed by their furious 31 unanswered points — all leading to a 43-yard walk-off field goal from freshman Maikon Bonani.
South Florida 17, No. 18 Florida State 7 (9/26/09) — In a road game better suited for a Hollywood script, freshman QB and Tallahassee native B.J. Daniels, forced into his first college start after a season-ending injury to Matt Grothe, threw two touchdown passes and accounted for 341 yards of offense.
South Florida 23, Miami 20 (11/27/10) — Behind backup QB Bobby Eveld, an opportunistic defense and a 1-yard TD run by Demetris Murray in overtime, the visiting Bulls prevailed against the state-rival Hurricanes.
South Florida 31, Clemson 26 (12/31/10) — This Meineke Car Care Bowl victory has aged well with the Bulls claiming a win against one of college football's prime brand names.
South Florida 23, No. 16 Notre Dame 20 (9/3/11) — In a six-hour endurance test that saw the stadium twice evacuated by threatening weather, the visiting Bulls woke up the echoes by forcing five turnovers and winning in a legendary setting.
South Florida 45, Syracuse 24 (10/10/15) — After Coach Willie Taggart's team began 1-3, the home-standing Bulls turned around their season dramatically with a wide-open show, punctuated by a third-quarter 42-yard flea-flicker play from QB Quinton Flowers to WR Ryeshene Bronson.
South Florida 44, No. 21 Temple 23 (11/14/15) — The home-standing Bulls rolled up 556 yards against the American Conference's top defense and got a 230-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance from RB Marlon Mack.
South Florida 52, No. 22 Navy 45 (10/28/16) — In seven first-half possessions, the home-standing Bulls had 464 yards and six touchdowns, then hung on for a wild win after surrendering 24 fourth-quarter points against the Midshipmen.
South Florida 48, Central Florida 31 (11/26/16) — The home-standing Bulls got a "War On I-4'' triumph and clinched a 10-win season for the first time in program history behind the rushing of RB Marlon Mack (155 yards) and QB Quinton Flowers (152).
No. 25 South Florida 46, South Carolina 39 (12/29/16) — The Bulls (11-2) secured the best season in program history with an overtime victory against the SEC's Gamecocks at the Birmingham Bowl, surging ahead for the final time on Quinton Flowers' 25-yard TD pass to TE Kano Dillon.
No. 22 Central Florida 49, No. 13 South Florida 42 (11/24/17) — The visiting Bulls were left with a crushing defeat — the Black Friday showdown routinely turns up on lists of the 21st Century's best college football games — but the nation's ABC-TV viewers witnessed a command performance from QB Quinton Flowers (503 yards passing, 102 rushing, accounting for five touchdowns).
No. 23 South Florida 38, Texas Tech 34 (12/23/17) — In a riveting Birmingham Bowl, the Bulls got the winner on the final play of Quinton Flowers' college career, a 26-yard pass to WR Tyre McCants with 16 seconds remaining, to beat the Big 12's Red Raiders.
South Florida 45, Syracuse 0 (12/21/23) — In a dominant Boca Raton Bowl performance, the Bulls forced four turnovers, scored two defensive touchdowns and registered the program's first shutout since 2009.
South Florida 41, San Jose State 39 (12/24/24) — The Bulls stayed alive at the Hawaii Bowl on John Cannon's game-tying 41-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in regulation and won it in the bowl-record fifth overtime when QB Bryce Archie hit WR Keshaun Singleton on a 3-yard pass.
South Florida 34, No. 25 Boise State 7 (8/28/25) — In the program's first win against a ranked opponent since 2016, the home-standing Bulls put away the Broncos on a daring fake-punt attempt during the third quarter, when freshman QB Locklan Hewlett lined up at punt, then delivered a 45-yard TD pass to WR Keshaun Singleton.
South Florida 18, No. 13 Florida 16 (9/6/25) — QB Byrum Brown led an eight-play, 87-yard drive that positioned Nico Gramatica for a 20-yard field goal as time expired, clinching a monumental victory for the visiting Bulls.
–30thAnniversarySeries–
Joey Johnston
Athletics Senior Writer
