The Bulls celebrate a winning touchdown during the game that earned them their first bowl game eligibility since 2018
Photo by Vanessa Wenzl | The Crow’s Nest
By Vanessa Wenzl
After a rollercoaster of a season, the University of South Florida football team is on its way to its first bowl game since 2018 after a win against the Charlotte 49ners.
Following an already planned game for Senior Night and fan appreciation, the Bulls brought in its win with a 48-14 score to secure its spot in the bowl game. The fight to keep playing was contagious with the seats filled with support from The Herd.
“I don’t know what the attendance was, but it certainly was a cool environment and I appreciate the heck out of our fans and I’m really, grateful for that,” Coach Golesh said in the post-game press conference. “My job is to fill this thing and we’re going to continue to build to do so.”
The story of the game wasn’t complimentary football, it was the heart of the players to keep playing for the seniors.
One veteran player specifically, senior offensive lineman Donavon Jennings, provided the culture of brotherhood being built in the locker-room.
“We expect to win every game on our schedule, no matter who it is, no matter what because we feel like we know we can go out there and get the win,” Jennings told The Crow’s Nest in the post-game press conference. “That’s just a testament of all the guys putting the work day in and day out and just continue to stack days and on top of days and you know building this foundation.”
Jennings has been at USF through the win drought since his last bowl game in 2018.
As for younger players on the team like redshirt freshman quarterback Byrum Brown, it marked his first starting season at USF and his first ever bowl game.
During the game, Brown broke the program record for the most passing yards in USF’s history with 3,078 yards.
“We have that confidence to go into each and every game and we expect to win,” Brown told The Crow’s Nest in the post-game press conference, “We believe in our preparations, we believe in the culture, the guys next to us, the guys on defense, offense and special teams so I feel like our confidence is very high and we expect to win every single game.”
The Bulls now rank fifth in the American Athletic Conference after its season’s performance.
USF will play in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 21 at the FAU Stadium with an 8 p.m. kickoff. Student tickets can be purchased for $11.
