Which one-score loss would you like to have back?

[Bullrush33]

There were a couple of important UCONN losses as well.  Rutgers 2007 to me was probably most important followed by UCF loss 2017.

[bowman1]

13 hours ago, John Lewis said:

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the 2007 game at UConn. I believe we lost 22-15.

Win that game and we would have gone to a BCS Bowl.

13 hours ago, Triple B said:

****, just checked and you're correct ....... That should be #1 then, to me.

The 2005 UConn Game would also be a factor as that was a 15-10 loss, with a win keeping us on-track to the BCS (chances are we would have lost to WVU even if we beat UConn)

Both the ‘05 and ‘07 games had head scratcher plays - Voodoo 5 and the 3rd down naked bootleg

For me, the emotional choice is Rutgers in ‘07.  The big picture choice is UCF in ‘17

We probably end up in the AAC regardless of what happens in ‘05 or ‘07, but if we win in 2017, there is a good chance that we are in the Big12 now as opposed to UCF

[Mike Stuben]

On 8/18/2023 at 5:01 PM, TheUpperHand said:

If you could swap the results of any one-score loss in USF history which would you pick? Here's my Top 5.

1.      USF (42) at No. 13 UCF (49), November 24, 2017

This was a back-and-forth game that ended up being named one of the best of the college football season. There was nothing on the line for the Bulls as we were eliminated from conference championship contention by virtue of our loss to Houston a month before. However, a victory over the Knights would be a defining chapter in the war on I-4, likely denying UCF a Peach Bowl berth and most certainly their claimed National Championship.

2.       USF (28) at Florida (31), September 17, 2022

We were in the midst of a 4 – 23 slide with another 9 losses forthcoming so a win here wouldn’t have done much. However, had this been our “third times a charm” moment against the Gators, The Swamp would be silent as one of the worst teams in the country managed to pull out a seemingly impossible victory.

3.       No. 2 USF (27) at Rutgers (30), October 18, 2007

While the Bulls would go on to drop two more games after Rutgers, they were one score losses. Would a win here and a possible Number 1 ranking in the polls have given us enough fire to overcome the VooDoo Five curse and a close homecoming loss? An improbable National Championship appearance probably would end as bad as the bowl loss against Oregon, but might have been enough to forever alter the trajectory and perception of the program.

4.       USF (3) vs Miami (6), November 19, 2011

Since Skip Holtz was getting extended anyways and we were doomed to go 3-9 the next season, why not make it two in a row against Miami as well as secure a bowl game by moving to six wins on the year? This is assuming this win doesn’t give Doug Woolard enough reason to keep Holtz for a year 4 and forego the Willie Taggart hire.

5.       USF (10) vs No. 18 TCU (13), October 10, 2003

In USF’s inaugural CUSA season, a win here would have been our first victory against a nationally ranked team and likely would have been enough for us to secure our first ever bowl invite. This might have provided some solace following the prior years snubbing as a nine-win independent.

Honorable Mentions:

·         USF (27) vs No. 20 West Virginia (30): I could probably swap this for #4 on the list above. We had a nice semi-rivalry with West Virginia, they were ranked, and a win here would have denied them the Big East Championship. I respect WVU more than Miami, though so this ends up in the honorable mentioned column. Would have been a nice talking point, but not as meaningful as beating a major instate opponent.

·         USF (20) vs No. 23 Rutgers (22), September 29, 2006: A good win vs a ranked conference opponent that would have allowed us to break the 10-win barrier for the first time in program history.

·         USF (33) vs No. 20 Cincinnati (38), November 3, 2007: Another opportunity at a 10-win season. A win here and we might end up in a more manageable bowl game, enabling us to finish the season ranked.

·         USF (13) at UCF (17), November 26, 2021: This would have been the lone highlight of a two-win season. Why not put another iconic U on the War on I-4 trophy in the bounce house with one of our worst teams ever?

Which one-score loss in USF’s history would you like to see swing in the other direction?

Bonus: If you could swap the results of one game, period, whether it was one score or not, what would you pick? I think I’d go with the 2016 Temple game. It would have guaranteed us our first AAC championship game berth. We would have played Navy, which we already beat that year and likely would have secured our first championship. Sure, there were a lot of ranked teams that we've lost against and would have been cool to win, but this was our best opportunity to win a conference championship, I think

I just came to talk about the TCU loss. It snapped a long home win streak. (we might have had the nations longest current home winning streak, if not, it was close). We did something wild that game, we had been getting poor QB play, so we played most of that game in wildcat with Brian Fisher at QB, he was a special talent and a big part of our win at Pitt in 2001. 

[TheUpperHand]

1 hour ago, Mike Stuben said:

I just came to talk about the TCU loss. It snapped a long home win streak. (we might have had the nations longest current home winning streak, if not, it was close). We did something wild that game, we had been getting poor QB play, so we played most of that game in wildcat with Brian Fisher at QB, he was a special talent and a big part of our win at Pitt in 2001. 

I forgot about that home win streak. That was my first season watching USF football. My girlfriend's (now wife) parents had season tickets and invited me to come to the games. You're right though, Mike -- second longest in the nation at the time, behind Miami. We had some cool things going: home win streak (21 games until TCU 2003), undefeated in overtime (9 games until Rutgers 2011), never shutout (100 games until NC State, 2005), longest streak of 30+ points score (24 games until Houston, 2017). It'd be nice to start some of these up again...
 

Horned Frogs Look To Snap USF's 21-Game Home Winning Streak - TCU Athletics

GOFROGS.COM

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Horned Frogs Look To Snap USF's 21-Game Home Winning Streak

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[gibbsak]

Since we wouldnt have played for the Conference CHampionship with the UCF one, definitely would rather the win IN the swamp.

Great game, full of shoulda, coulda, woulda.

[Triple B]

45 minutes ago, gibbsak said:

Since we wouldnt have played for the Conference CHampionship with the UCF one, definitely would rather the win IN the swamp.

Great game, full of shoulda, coulda, woulda.

We would have played in the ccg with the UCF one ..... and we would have played in a BCS bowl with the 2007 UConn one (not on list). Those would be my top two.

[John Lewis]

2 hours ago, Triple B said:

We would have played in the ccg with the UCF one ..... and we would have played in a BCS bowl with the 2007 UConn one (not on list). Those would be my top two.

[CousinRicky]

4 hours ago, TheUpperHand said:

We had some cool things going: home win streak (21 games until TCU 2003), undefeated in overtime (9 games until Rutgers 2011), never shutout (100 games until NC State, 2005), longest streak of 30+ points score (24 games until Houston, 2017).

Didn't we miss a chip shot FG to lose that one?

[TheUpperHand]

18 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

Didn't we miss a chip shot FG to lose that one?

Yeah it was an absolutely frustrating 4th quarter. We were winning 17-3 halfway through the fourth quarter. Held them to negative yards rushing. They returned a kick 98 yards to score and then completed a 34 yard TD pass with just over a minute to go. We intercepted the ball and set up for a 27-yard FG. Missed it wide as time expired. We threw an INT in our OT possession and allowed them the FG to win.

[Rizman]

I would have to rank them like this.

1.  Florida - beating them would have been the best.  Could have lost the rest of the games that season and that would have been just fine with me.

2.  UCF - to stop them from going to the peach bowl.  Their fans are the worst.

3. Rutgers - That one game the refs let them get away with murder.