USF Provides Excitement and Bowl
(December 7, 2005)

Last year the University of South Florida football program posted its worst record at 4-7. Predictions for this year were not much better, as most thought the Bulls would finish near the bottom of the Big East Conference standings. The reality was that the Bulls made an exciting, if unsuccessful, run at the conference title and a BCS bid. Even with some inconsistent play and a struggling offense, the team ended up earning the school's first bowl bid.

The out of conference schedule went pretty much as expected. Losses at Penn State and Miami, home wins over Florida A&M and Central Florida. A dominating win over ninth ranked and conference favorite Louisville kick started the season. The Bulls were 3-1 and received votes in the national polls. After the loss to the Hurricanes, USF had an extra week to prepare for the conference stretch run.

A loss at a struggling Pittsburgh put a damper on things. USF lead 10-0, lost 31-17 and fell to 3-3. West Virginia was up next and it was easy to drift into the thinking that the Louisville game was a fluke and the preseason predictions were right. Hurricane Wilma was a potential threat, and the Big East probably jumped the gun, and the West Virginia game was postponed until the end of the season. This meant that USF would have three weeks between games. The Bulls still had five games left and it was already November when they traveled to Rutgers. There was some talk that if USF could win out the team would win the Big East and a berth in a major BCS bowl game. At this point, this talk seemed extremely premature.

After the long layoff, USF jumped to 21-0 lead and held on to defeat already bowl eligible Rutgers 45-31. Syracuse may have retired Jim Brown's jersey, but it was Andre Hall who rushed for 222 yards at the Carrier Dome. A 27-0 victory put USF at 5-3 and even the national media was talking about the possibility of South Florida running the table and going to the Sugar Bowl. One article took the view that the Bulls could become "The Skunk in the BCS Garden." Not only did this serve as motivation, the team had some fun with its new nickname. Wide receiver Amarri Jackson wore a skunk hat around campus and Jim Leavitt commented, "The old skunks, huh?. They're beautiful. Skunks are a very clever animal and they can destroy a room in a heartbeat." Andre Hall said, "We're the skunk in the garden and we all want to stink as one."

After eight weeks without a home game, USF hosted Cincinnati. The Bearcats were having a tough year, and the Bulls started slow, but posted a 31-16 victory. There was building hype about the now bowl eligible Bulls and the possibility that the West Virginia game would end up being for the Big East championship.

Next was a game at Connecticut, a team the Bulls had defeated in two previous meetings. With a kickoff temperature of 33 degrees, which dropped into the 20's as evening fell, it was also the coldest weather USF had seen. The Bulls made numerous mistakes and the offense played terrible in a 15-10 loss. Jim Leavitt said afterwards, "There's no doubt it's the toughest loss in the ten years I've been here."

Even though the season finale against West Virginia ended up being anticlimactic, with 45,274 in attendance, it was the largest crowd to watch USF play at Raymond James Stadium. The Bulls drew very well for their five home games averaging 38,865, which was way above the previous season's 27,060 and broke the record of 33,039 set in the program's first season. The game saw USF have trouble putting the ball in the end zone and the Mountaineers post a relatively easy 28-13 victory.

About a half hour after the West Virginia game, when Louisville defeated Connecticut, the 6-5 Bulls knew for certain they were going to a bowl game. An invitation from the Meineke Car Care Bowl was accepted and USF would play North Carolina State on December 31st. The first bowl game would be the football program's 100th game. A proud Jim Leavitt's commented, "How many teams go to a bowl in their fifth year of Division I-A? It will never happen again."

During the stretch run, Jim Leavitt signed seven year $7 million dollar contract extension through the 2012 season. On inking the deal, the only head coach in team history said, "I came here for $75,000 my first year and I was happy to get that. I've said from the very beginning that USF is one of the best coaching jobs in America and it's something I never take for granted."

In a season when not much was expected, much was delivered. A 6-5 record might not sound great, and there were ups and downs along the way, but we were teased as to what the future could be. As for now, the future is the Meineke Car Care Bowl. You can bet that Jim Leavitt is not looking past this game. We should enjoy this accomplishment too. Look for a full preview of the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl on this site soon.