South Florida (9-3; 6-2 American) vs Old Dominion (9-3; 6-2 Sun Belt)
Wednesday, Dec. 17 • 5:00 PM • Camping World Stadium • Orlando, Fla.
SURFACE: Turf
TV: ESPN:Dave Neal (P-by-P), Fozzy Whittaker (Analyst) & Morgan Uber (sideline)
RADIO: Q105 FM & Bulls Unlimited (digital)
SERIES: First Meeting
IN TAMPA: THAT
IN NORFOLK: THAT
LAST TIME: THAT
BOWL GAMES: 8-4
LAST: W, 41-39 in 5 overtimes vs. San Jose State in 2025 Hawaii Bowl
LAST TIME IN ORLANDO: L, 21-3 to Memphis, in 2024, at Camping World Stadium in game relocated due to Hurricane Milton
SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES
BULLSEYE COACHES SHOW
HERD HERE FIRST
ORLANDO — Who wants it more?
For bowl games that don’t decide championships, that’s usually the bottom line.
That motivation is bound to determine the outcome of Wednesday’s Cure Bowl between the USF Bulls (9-3, 6-2 American Conference) and the Old Dominion University Monarchs (9-3, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference) at Camping World Stadium.
On paper, the Bulls should have plenty of incentive. USF can reach 10 victories for just the third time in program history. And it can win a third straight bowl game for only the second time.
Meanwhile, ODU can win a 10th game for the third time in its brief history (its modern program began in 2009 at the Football Championship Subdivision level, then moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2014). Once upon a time, USF and ODU had a Sun Belt basketball rivalry in the 1980s, long before either school moved to add football.
Both programs have high-powered dual-threat quarterbacks who have opted out of playing the bowl game — Burum Brown for USF and Colton Joseph for ODU.
USF has some familiar faces in new places. After head coach Alex Golesh jumped to Auburn University, taking with him four assistant coaches and various support staffers, defensive line coach Kevin Patrick was elevated to interim head coach. Tight ends coach Jack Taylor will serve as offensive coordinator with an assist from running backs coach Micah Jameswho now works with the offensive linemen.
ODU has stability. Coach Ricky Rahne, the former Penn State offensive coordinator who was mentioned for other jobs, remains in place with his staff intact.
“We’re going to be ready to play and we’re going to be excited to play,” Patrick said.
Here are the keys to USF defeating ODU and finishing with a flourish:
1. Cooking With Gas — With Brown inactive and helping on the coaching side, USF will start sixth-year quarterback Gaston Moore. The beloved kid known as “Gas Pipe” — a career backup with one season at UCF, four at Tennessee and a bonus year at USF — will start for the first time in his college finale.
What to expect?
Is a USF legend ready to be launched?
Patrick said Moore is more of a known quantity that people realize. After his arrival just before USF training camp — he had begun his career with a logistics company, then answered Golesh’s last-minute call for an experienced player after Bryce Archie signed a professional baseball contract — Moore has looked the part.
He did mop-up duty in seven games, completing 14 of 20 passes, but continually distinguished himself in practice with his poise, knowledge and lively arm. Moore said he’s excited by this unexpected starting opportunity and wants to make a big impression.
With a fleet of productive USF receivers at his disposal, Moore could have the ability to make things happen. And wouldn’t that be a fun story?
2. Auditioning For The New Boss — On Dec. 3, the Bulls hired Ohio State University offensive coordinator Brian Hartline as the program’s new head coach. In this era of the transfer portal (which opens Jan. 2) and NIL, everyone must stay nimble anyway. But there could be added incentive (for players and coaches) to catch Hartline’s eye in this bowl game.
There could be a surprise hero.
Or maybe big production from a young player who hadn’t seen much time.
It will also be instructive how Patrick and his patchwork coaching staff responds to all of the rapid adjustments.
“For the staff that’s still here, it’s still a lot of the meat of the program,” Patrick said. “A lot of times their names are not in the press and not a lot of people know them. But they are (some) of the biggest reasons why his program has continued to rise in the last three years. I’m excited for a lot of these young coaches who get one heck of an opportunity.”
Players and coaches alike could set the stage for their football future. That’s motivation enough.
3. Bringing The Heat — With ODU’s Joseph sitting out and planning to enter the transfer portal (after rushing for 1,007 yards and passing for 2,624 with 34 total touchdowns), the Monarchs will likely turn to Quinn Henicle, a 6-foot-2, 211-pound freshman who threw 15 passes all season (completing six) and rushed 20 times for 102 yards (5.1-yard average).
The Bulls only had four sacks in the final three regular-season games (after getting 14 in the previous three). Look for USF’s defense to turn up the heat on Henicle and force the action. Entering bowl season, the Bulls had 24 turnovers, which ranked No. 7 nationally.
4. Playing With Pride — Remember that? It’s a big part of football. And it should be a big part of USF’s effort against ODU.
For USF’s 30 seniors, many of whom were part of a 1-11 season in 2022, there’s a burning desire to punctuate their careers with a resounding triumph. Let’s face it, 10-3 sounds a lot better than 9-4. Three straight bowl victories is a nice addition to the resume.
It has been an especially memorable season.
Wins against Boise State, Florida and North Texas set USF up for a national ranking and the program’s first-ever spot in the College Football Playoff standings.
Bitter three-point defeats at Memphis and Navy erased the possibility of competing for an American Conference championship and earning a playoff spot.
But finishing 10-3 with a bowl victory — along with defeating the Florida Gators in Gainesville — would be distinctions to set this team apart in the program’s 29-season history.
“Especially the guys who have been here a long time and been through some really rough seasons, we take a lot of pride in that (going for a 10th victory),” senior center Cole Best said. “I know one of the biggest reasons I came here was to flip this around. It’s definitely something big that we have our eyes on. The collective buy-in from these coaches who are left and from these players, we all understand what needs to get done. We’re more than capable of going to get that 10th win.”
–#GoBulls–
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