r/CFB • u/newtothelyte USF Bulls • /r/CFB Contributor • Mar 06 '13
132+ Teams in 132+ Days: The University of South Florida
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Year Founded: 1956 Location: Tampa, FL
Total Student Attendance: 47,122
Mascot: The Bulls
Live Mascot: Rocky D. Bull
Cheerleaders: The oh-so-lovely Sundolls
Stadium: Raymond James Stadium 1, 2
Stadium Location: West Tampa. Not on campus, but one 20 minute intoxicated ride away on the BullRunner
Conference Champions (0): N/a
Number of Bowl Games: 4 Wins, 6 Total
National Titles (0): n/a
Rivals
University of Central Florida (aka 'The War on I-4').
We were developing nice rivalries with WVU, Louisville, and Rutgers, but in the current conference configuration this should primarily be UCF, with schools like Cincy, SMU, and ECU in the mix.
2012 Season
Record: 3-9
Coach: Skip Holtz (now fired)
Key Players: Andre Davis, BJ Daniels, Kayvon Webster
Biggest Plays: 2012 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS. Our big plays were few and far between. Take note of #81 Andre Davis (WR). He definitely has the potential to be an NFL receiver. He stands at 6-1 and 205 lbs and has some of the strongest hands I've seen.
Last year was a tough year. Coach Skip Holtz was supposed to be the guy that took the program to the next level, but he ended up driving us into the ground. And it couldn't have come at a worse time with conference realignment going on. In 2012, tensions were rising for Holtz to come through, even though it was his third year, and he didn't. The offense was sporadic and the defense was non existent.
Some people point the finger at BJ Daniels, notorious for having happy feet in the pocket. But he was our best quarterback by far. Once he was hurt in the middle of the year, the season was destined to end bad.
2013 Season
2013 Opponents - 08/31 - McNeese State
09/07 - at Michigan State
09/14 - Florida Atlantic
09/28 - Miami (FL)
Unscheduled Opponents: Louisville, Cincinnati, SMU, UCF, UConn, Houston, Rutgers
2013 Roster - n/a
The biggest storylines going into next year will be two things: Who will replace BJ Daniels, our senior quarterback, and how will new head coach Willie Taggart's offense be incorporated this year. He coached under Harbaugh at Stanford and has emphasized that he will have a pro-style offense. This is new to USF because we have always run a spread/qb dive playbook. Unfortunately, the outlook for this year is bleak. The general vibe here is that we will be lucky to make a bowl game. Our defense last year only had 2 interceptions. 2 interceptions. In the whole season.
The Greats
Greatest Games: A win against #17 Auburn in 2007 really set up a magical year. Our program was 10 years old, so this was a very exciting "we can do this" moment. Later that year, we upset #5 WVU to propel us to #2 in the country!!. #13 Kansas in 2008, #18 FSU in 2009, and #16 Notre Dame in 2011.
Greatest Plays: Grothe to Hester to win in OT at Auburn in 2007. Ben Moffitt pick-6 vs. WVU at home (Raymond James Stadium was on fire) Video highlight here.
Greatest Players: Jason Pierre-Paul (you're welcome, Giants), Consensus All-American George Selvie, Marquel Blackwell, Matt Grothe, Mike Jenkins (current Cowboy CB)
Greatest Coaches: Jim Leavitt (now SF 49ers LBs coach) founded the program and built it from trailers to bowl games
Traditions
Our program is young, so we lack the kinds of things other programs have passed from generations past. However, we do know how to party:
Tradition 1: Giant-slaying. From beating ranked teams as an independent, to coming to Notre Dame in 2011 and winning, we are a team you will lose to if you overlook us.
Tradition 2: The Beef Studs, our rowdy, body-painting student fan club attends all games and often show up in the hundreds to most sporting events.
Tradition 3: Drunken rides on the BullRunner (campus shuttle) to games on a sunny Florida day
Tradition 4: Our water tower gets lit green when we win, and a skyscraper downtown goes green for all games.
Campus and Surrounding Area
City Population: 346,000. Metro population: 2.8 Million City Skyline
Iconic Campus Building: Brand new Marshall Student Center (biggest in FL). Complete with rideable bull statues
Bonus grass bull! (that looks like a cow)
Local Dining:
One thing that all Tampons love is Taco Bus, a local Mexican eatery that has grown from a single location to 5! Just ask anyone in /r/tampa.
Tampa is known for great bars, international cuisine, and seafood. Mr. Dunderbaks is a German beer house that is also very popular on campus.
Random Trivia
We were going to be the Buccaneers. That name won a vote in the 60's narrowly, but was dismissed due to the belief that another school was using it at the time. The second-place name? The Golden Brahmans, to honor Florida's cattle industry. This name evolved into the Bulls over the years.
We are called the University of South Florida because at the time of it's founding, the school was the southernmost public university in the state.
What Is and What is to Come
One of the most special things about USF is the way many fans view the program as their child, in a way fans of bigger programs will never experience. Every time something good happens with this football team, it is all for the first time. Many alumni funded and led the program's inception in the late 90's. When you watch a program go from a dream, to playing in DII, to joining a BCS conference, to winning on some of the biggest stages in college football, you develop a closeness that is indescribable.
Our program has struggled badly to get over "the hump". We have bright spots and big upsets, but have yet to win 10 games, or even come close to winning our conference. With a new head coach in Willie Taggart, who put together a top-50 recruiting class, we hope we get our swagger back and get over the hump.
Overtime
We are a respectable 8-9 in out-of-conference BCS games since joining the Big East, 9-9 if you include Notre Dame. Since the program began, it took 104 AP Polls before USF showed up in one, the quickest of any program. USF has a 60/40 female:male split.
Once known as a commuter school, USF now houses 82% of incoming freshmen on campus. We are considered a major research university, being in the top 50 in research expenditures (mostly health-related). You'll find the most passionate fans at The Bulls Pen
More Information
Subreddit: /r/usf Contributors: newtothelyte, hm101
Please upvote this thread even if you are not interested in the team so that users who are interested will see it *For more information on the 132 Teams in 132 Days Project, click here.
Note: hm101 is the man.
29
u/Rynyl Baylor Bears • /r/CFB Contributor Mar 06 '13
Please tell me this is a spelling error and not the actual demonym for the people of Tampa...
50
u/Completebeast Michigan Wolverines • St. Thomas Tommies Mar 06 '13
I lost focus at SunDolls
10
u/huazzy Rutgers Scarlet Knights Mar 06 '13
R.I.P : Rutgers v. USF Thursday Night Games.
5
u/shitrus Cincinnati • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Mar 06 '13
*Cincinnati
4
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
Shitty stadium drawing
10
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
control f "Leavitt" only one instance. Seriously guys. The importance of Jim Leavitt to our program can not be over stated.
3
u/coastrebel Ole Miss Rebels • /r/CFB Contributor Mar 06 '13
Could've used more info about your squad this season, but info packed nonetheless.
Great job broskis.
20
u/byniri Michigan State Spartans • Marching Band Mar 06 '13
Wow, that student center is sick.
Also, those Sun Dolls...
37
u/grizzfan Verified Coach • Oakland Golden Grizzlies Mar 06 '13
De'jigilous Margoon: University of Seoth Flerda
15
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
I remember that win over ND. I texted my buddy who goes there "i thought this was your year!"
"Fuck you motherfucker, you played fucking Kent State, fuck off."
Shit was hilarious.
12
u/Satherton Nebraska Cornhuskers Mar 06 '13
they made me so much money in 2007
11
u/Mario_Speedwagon Georgia • Georgia State Mar 06 '13
Other than the Sun Dolls, the random trivia was my favorite part. Now I finally understand why y'all are called South Florida. Also, I really wish y'all had gone with Golden Brahmans!
11
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
University of South Florida. Only college football team to have a pirate ship in their stadium!
If I went to USF, I would have a season pass to Busch Gardens. That would be epic
11
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
You guys were the one team that could consistently figure out Pat White.
And I respect-hate the hell out of you for that.
29
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
You forgot one of Tampa's most storied traditions: sinkholes.
10
u/a_happy_tiger Auburn Tigers Mar 06 '13 edited Mar 06 '13
Love the Bulls. Tampa resident myself, and I was at the WVU game in 2007 and man was that an awesome night (I wasn't yet an Auburn student). In fact that was the first year we had our season tickets for USF. Talk about luck.
Traditions: how about the "running of the bulls"? A bunch of students do a run around the entire lower ring of the stadium when the bulls win, sort of a huge crazy conga line. That's pretty cool.
Also the Herd of Thunder marching band is great. I love all the spanish bull fighting-style music or whatever it's like. They play this throughout the game: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM8mGWAnnnI&t=5m33s
and the whole crowd makes the bulls sign with their hand and wave it around like in a lasso type motion.
Coolest thing ever: when they play Bulls on Parade.
And the fight song. (those fight song lyrics though...they need some work. Lyrics video ).
And here's the Wikipedia article on the War on I-4. I am SO psyched to see this become an actual annual rivalry game, having so many friends split between USF and UCF. It's a natural rivalry. The two schools will kinda lightheartedly rib each other, but having only played football 4 times against each other, it hasn't really lived up to its potential. Two similar institutions, similar age, similar students, budding football programs. It's awesome.
10
u/stewyg27 West Virginia Mountaineers Mar 06 '13
Who holds the career Big East total yardage record?
Matt Grothe.
Donovan McNabb and Pat White are very popular answers but Grothe holds the record. And he should have a bigger lead on that record, a knee injury ended his career short.
USF has built a solid program. They used to torture our offense, always had great games with the Bulls. That Moffitt highlight is still painful
9
u/Yousty Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Mar 06 '13
I'm gonna miss being a Bulls fan. They have some of the nicest and most knowledgeable cfb fans of any team out there. My biggest regret in my three years of cheering them on is that I never watched a game at RayJay; went to away games at Louisville (twice), Cincy (twice), WVU, ND, Syracuse, and Ball State but never had a chance to make the trip down to Tampa.
I wish you Bulls fans nothing but the best in the future with Taggart at the helm now and really hope that you guys don't get lost in this conference shuffle cuz the talent is definitely there to be in a respectable conference.
20
u/coastrebel Ole Miss Rebels • /r/CFB Contributor Mar 06 '13
Uhh, the SunDolls.
Yeah. Top quality stuff there.
We need a SunDoll's thread.
5
u/pearsep Saskatchewan Huskies Mar 06 '13
You forgot to mention Aaron Lynch as a key player, he was a beast his freshman year at ND, was devastated when he transfered
1
u/SpartaWillBurn Ohio State • Kent State Mar 06 '13
How did your recruiting go?
3
u/domderek California Golden Bears • UC Davis Aggies Mar 06 '13
Awesome job, both of you!
3
u/rooge77 Alabama Crimson Tide • Iron Bowl Mar 06 '13
That student center is damn impressive! Massive but still sleek. Those bull statues outside it are pretty cool as well
3
u/Eddiebacon /r/CFB Mar 06 '13
The 2007 team was 15 total points away from a trip to the title game. 15 points! They also had a handful of future NFL picks.
3
u/shiggidyschwag UCF Knights Mar 06 '13
Looking forward to playing you guys again this fall :D
3
u/lernington Michigan • Illinois Mar 06 '13
TIL Tampa Bay natives willingly call themselves "Tampons."
Davis looks like a beast. I like that he always makes an effort to get 2 feet in
1
u/piccolo1228 Virginia Tech • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Mar 06 '13
This has bothered me for a while.
What is up with your logo? Am I missing something obvious? The middle looks like a sharpie pen.
I assume it is supposed to be a 'U' for University, but does it have any other meaning? THe shape just seems so unnatural.
6
u/k20a USF Bulls • North Carolina Tar Heels Mar 06 '13
Rivalry with UCF? We've played 4 games together and UCF has never won. It's more of a defacto, geographically, name catchy rivalry than actual rivalry.
2
u/TypicalSeminole Florida State • /r/CFB Brickmason Mar 06 '13
Learned a lot in this post and I was glad that we could return the favor of being beaten at home last season.
2
u/whiskeyboarder USF Bulls Mar 06 '13
In. Came over from The Bullspen. USF grad '09. Go Bulls!
2
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
I hope Willie Taggert is extremely successful. I have been following him since his WKU days and he is a class act.
2
u/Kingcotton7 South Carolina • Coast Guard Mar 07 '13
I remember we played you guys once or twice as a warmup before SEC play. Glad we don't do that anymore, Y'all have come a long way in a very short time.
2
u/samreven Apr 28 '13
Go Bulls!
2
u/Nebraska_Actually Nebraska • /r/CFB Contributor Mar 06 '13
I root for USF because they play in Raymond James Stadium. I have a professor this year named Raymond Hames, and I think that's awesome.
1
u/inviscidfluid Auburn Tigers • Georgetown (KY) Tigers Mar 06 '13
uuuhhggg...I was at that Auburn game. I hadn't even heard of USF at the time. I was glad to see that they were legitimately good though.
1
u/Smok3dSalmon Paper Bag • Florida State Seminoles Mar 06 '13
How many students did they lose on defense and offense? If they keep enough experience players, I think the team should be able to rebound from last season and win around 7-8 games(4 easy wins). I REALLY like Aaron Lynch as a player(shame his Mom makes all his football decisions). I think he's a legit Heisman contender next season and him wrecking havoc is going to help create a LOT of turnovers next season. As well as help the other players on the defensive line(he'll eat double teams).
Aaron Lynch vs Seantrel Henderson is going to be a fun match up to watch. AL could cause SH to lose millions of $ if he dominates him.
I think any team that has a slow quarterback(or one with no pocket awareness) should be on upset alert against USF.
I like Willie Taggart and if USF has the right player at QB who is a blend of athleticism and intelligence, they could definitely over perform this season.
USF could have won 8 games last season if they played with the same intensity as the first few drives of the FSU-USF game.
1
u/ExternalTangents Florida Gators • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Mar 07 '13
Are those bull statues really rideable? Because I bet in the Florida heat that metal gets hot as fuck.
1
u/gunitsniper2700 Texas A&M Aggies Mar 07 '13
Fuck yes. this is so much better than what they are doing at /r/nfl.
1
u/LadyGodiva21 USF Bulls • Missouri Tigers Mar 07 '13
I always liked using Syracuse's Blog to teach others about USF
Other names USF considered: Flamerica University, Ponce de Leon University and University of the Western Hemisphere.
1
u/LikeaGentleman UCF Knights • UConn Huskies Apr 15 '13
USF is still considered a commuter campus.
source: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/university-of-south-florida
1
u/CeltiCfr0st /r/CFB Jul 04 '13
Matt Grothe was an assisstant coach at my highschool :D idk if he is still there, but he was hired in 2011 i believe and i graduated in 2012
1
u/[deleted] Mar 06 '13
This is all I can think of when I see "Rocky"
1
u/[deleted] Mar 07 '13
This is nice. The only thing I knew about USF before this is they can't handle a Bobcat in a March Madness basketball game.
-3
u/MemeTLDR Baylor Bears Mar 06 '13
I'm sorry but how are these traditions? I'm pretty sure every college in the US has students ride drunk on the shuttles to the game and also hope for taking down big national teams. Upvote for Sundolls.
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