Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest
By Dominic Feo
The Bulls are spending its Christmas in the perfect place, Hawaii.
The University of South Florida (6-6) will play San Jose State University (7-5) in the Hawaii Bowl, 8 p.m. at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on Tuesday, Dec. 24
This will be the second bowl game in two seasons under head coach Alex Golesh, as USF beat Syracuse 45-0 in the Boca Raton Bowl last season.
USF and SJSU have only faced each other once before, in a 42-22 Bulls win on Aug. 26, 2017.
USF will be looking to redeem itself after losing 35-28 to Rice University on Nov. 30.
Quarterback Bryce Archie suffered an undisclosed injury on a late hit that could keep him sidelined. If Archie is not cleared to play in Hawaii, USF is expected to give sophomore Israel Carter his first career start.
Fans should keep eye on senior wide receiver Sean Atkins, who is just 56 yards away from becoming USF’s all-time leader in receiving yards.
SJSU is going back to the Hawaii Bowl after playing there last year, where the Spartans lost 24-14 to Coastal Carolina University.
Although SJSU made a mid-season switch from quarterback Emmett Brown to Walker Eget, the team still finished with the most passing yards in the Mountain West Conference. The team’s rushing offense, however, ended the season dead last for rushing yards in the conference and the third least in all of Division One (FBS) college football.
While SJSU was figuring out what to do at quarterback, senior wide receiver Nick Nash was busy putting together a triple crown season. He finished the regular season as college football’s FBS leader in receptions (106), receiving yards (1382) and touchdowns (16).
Not far behind Nash was wide receiver Justin Lockhart, who was third in the conference in receiving yards with 973. Lockhart also proved to be a deep threat, averaging 18.7 yards per catch.
Stopping the Spartans top-tier air attack will be a daunting challenge for a USF defense that let up the seventh most passing yards in the FBS.
Making a bowl game feels like a massive accomplishment for USF after the team’s whirlwind season. The season appeared to be in jeopardy when star quarterback Byrum Brown went down with an injury against Tulane University.
USF’s next game was an ugly loss to Memphis University that was played on Oct. 12 in Orlando due to hurricane Milton.
From that point on, the Bulls finished the season 4-2 and earned a Christmas trip to Hawaii.
Hopes are high that USF will return from Hawaii with a record of 2-0 in bowl games under coach Golesh.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.
