Football Jim Louk's Foundation Games Series (All)

[Triple B]

10 Football Foundation Wins: Eighth Edition

 

 

 

By JIM LOUK

Voice of the Bulls

 

USF 27, Syracuse 0

Syracuse, N.Y.

 

Nov. 12, 2005

 

The 2005 football season was a year of change for USF. It featured a new league (Big East), new conference foes (Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, etc.), and a new level of success as the program went to a bowl game for the first time.

 

The result of this game was by no means a surprise (Syracuse entered the day ranked 114^th in offense of the 117 1-A football teams at the time), but the fact that the win pushed USF toward bowl eligibility while keeping the dream of a BCS bowl game alive makes a look back worthwhile.

 

USF traveled to the Carrier Dome with a 4-3 record.  There had been some good wins (Louisville in the unforgettable Big East opener) and some clunkers (double-digit losses to Pittsburgh and Miami), but it was clear the team had made great strides from the disappointing 4-7 team of a year ago.  With the Big East bowl tie-ins now available to the Bulls, it seemed pretty certain if they could just find two wins the final four games, the elusive first postseason game would be theirs. And, thanks to the new league, for the first time the Bulls could legitimately dream about the BCS Bowl game that would come with a conference championship.

 

Syracuse was an opportunity to get a step closer.  The Orange had limped to a 1-7 record and was winless in the conference. The Bulls, who would be playing their fourth consecutive road game, had beaten Rutgers in New Jersey the prior week.

 

More than 40,000 fans were in the Carrier Dome that day, as the Orange formally retired jersey No. 44. (Just recently Syracuse reversed that and announced they will issue that number again, but on this day Jim Brown and others who had worn the number previously were in attendance for the ceremony).

 

 

Rest of story

 

 

Previous 7

 

First Edition: USF 44, Cumberland 0 (1997)

 

Second Edition:  USF 24, Liberty 21 (1998)

 

Third Edition: USF 42, New Hampshire 41 (2 OT, 1999) 

 

Fourth Edition: USF 20, Troy State 10 (2000)

 

Fifth Edition: USF 29, Bowling Green 7 (2002)

 

Sixth Edition: USF 38, East Carolina 37 (2 OT, 2003)

 

Seventh Edition: USF 45, TCU 44 (2 OT, 2004)

[Triple B]

He's been doing 1 a year, with no big names but my guess is that his last 2 are the final 2 games of the 2006 season, which set the stage for 2007 ... The first away win over a ranked opponent in WVU and our first ever bowl win, over ECU.

[NewEnglandBull]

I was at that Cuse game. There was about 100 USF fans and after the game Andre Hall gave my son a glove. We still have it!

[Triple B]

10 Football Foundation Wins: Ninth Edition

 

 

 

By JIM LOUK

Voice of the Bulls

 

USF 24, West Virginia 19

Morgantown, W. Va.

 

Nov. 25, 2006

When we talk about a USF Football win over West Virginia, most people will immediately think of the landmark victory at Raymond James Stadium in 2007.  But there is another win over the Mountaineers that, while it doesn’t have quite the same spot in Bulls football lore, might have been just as impressive.

 

It took place 10 months earlier, on Nov. 25, 2006.  It is notable in part because it happened in Morgantown, a notoriously difficult place to steal a win.  The Bulls would pull it off on this day, and it remains their only win in Morgantown to date.

 

It was tough to win there for a variety of reasons.  First of all, West Virginia simply didn’t lose often in this era, especially at home.  When the Bulls made their first appearance in Morgantown on this day, the No. 7 Mountaineers were in search of a third consecutive conference championship. They had won eight straight at home, and were 9-1 on the season.

 

 

Rest of story

[Boomer]

I agree totally with this win versus the win in Tampa the following year.  This win gave a ton of confidence to the team that carried them well into the next season.

[JoeB]

Agreed.  This was a great win and very unexpected.  This might be our best win ever when you take everything into consideration.

[John Lewis]

Definitely unexpected, but that game set the tone. Ean Randolph had a pretty good game from what I remember.

[Triple B]

10 Football Foundation Wins: 10th Edition

 

 

 

By JIM LOUK

Voice of the Bulls

 

USF 41, North Carolina State 10

Raleigh, N.C.

 

Sept. 27, 2008

The 2008 season may be one of the most overlooked in Bulls football history.  It had bad timing, coming right after 2007 as it did.  But it was a great year, especially at the start.  The week 5 demolition of a good North Carolina State team accented how talented that USF squad was, and it vaulted the Bulls into a top-10 ranking for the second consecutive year.

 

How many people remember that the Bulls were in the top 10 in 2008 as well as 2007?

 

On this day, USF rolled into warm and cloudy Raleigh, N.C., with a 4-0 record and a top-15 national ranking in both major polls.  North Carolina State was 2-2, and was coming off a win over a nationally ranked East Carolina team the prior week.

 

By the time the Bulls left for the flight home to Tampa, they were 5-0 for the third time in program history and had thoroughly dominated the team that had beaten them in their first-ever bowl game three years earlier.

 

Rest of story

 

[JoeB]

The NC State game might be my favorite game of all time.  USF played better on this day than just about any other, especially when you consider this was a road game.  It seemed we could do no wrong versus the Wolfpack and we were able to exact a little revenge from the bowl game.  And any time we beat a team from the ACC, its just a sweet feeling.  Grothe was at his best in this one plus we had 252 yards on the ground....if only we could do this every week!