BOCA RATON, FL – The South Florida Bulls beat the Syracuse Orange in the Boca Raton Bowl on Thursday night with a final score of 45-0.
The South Florida Bulls earned bowl eligibility for the first time since 2018, when they played in the Gasparilla Bowl. USF was led by new Head Coach Alex Golesh with a five-win turnaround, finishing the regular season with a 6-6 record.
“I feel like everyday is a learning experience,” says Coach Golesh. “Being in year one and going through everything for the first time; it’s kind of like a feeling out process.”
Syracuse earned bowl eligibility in the dying moments in the last week of the regular season, hanging on to the win against Wake Forest. They also earned a 6-6 record, making the perfect matchup between the Syracuse Orange and the South Florida Bulls.
“I think [the players] are super excited to go out and play,” says Syracuse Interim Head Coach Nunzio Campanile. “ They’ve been practicing for what feels like forever when you go through a couple of weeks of this. Now they’ll get the chance to actually put the ball on the field and play.”
Syracuse went into the Boca Raton Bowl without a sizable chunk of the team. According to Sports Illustrated, 13 players entered the Transfer Portal before the game. The Orange were also without starting quarterback Garrett Shrader, who had shoulder surgery at the end of the regular season, according to Syracuse.
A key element to USF’s game was their defense and special teams. The big question was if the Bulls’ lackluster run defense could stop Syracuse RB LeQuint Allen Jr., who ran for over one thousand yards in the regular season. The South Florida Bulls plugged every hole and kept Allen Jr. to minimum yardage.
The South Florida defense and special teams also got on the scoreboard. One came from a botched field goal attempt, ran back by USF DB Aamaris Brown. The other was a sack fumble by DB Daquan Evans, recovered and scored by USF DE Tramel Logan.
USF WR Sean Atkins achieved a huge milestone in the Boca Raton Bowl, as the former red shirt freshman surpassed 1000 receiving yards on the season. He’s the first player in USF history to achieve this. Atkins finished the game with six receptions for 93 yards, while also scoring two touchdowns.
Standout QB Byrum Brown also caught the attention of everyone in attendance, throwing for a little over 200 yards on only 19 attempts. Brown also threw three touchdowns.
In the end, the South Florida Bulls took this game and ran with it. This win marks USF’s first championship since 2017.
“I think there’s a lot of positives that’ll come out of it for our program; probably hard to see that if you’re watching the game,” says Coach Campanile.
“I just remember sitting at [AAC] Media Days in July in Dallas and we’re picked 13th out of 14,” says Coach Golesh. “Seven wins is not the pinnacle of college football, but it’s certainly a foundation for something elite.”