The 2023 Boca Raton Bowl was a one-sided affair. The South Florida Bulls beat Syracuse 45-0 to improve to 7-6 on the season. Before the game, it was noted that Syracuse would have to clamp shut the high-powered Bulls offense to have a chance in this one. Unfortunately, the Orange was unable to stop Byrum Brown and his offense. However, the turnovers Syracuse allowed didn’t help its cause. Both programs have things to look forward to heading into 2024. South Florida was able to kick start that with a win in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl.
South Florida is Victorious
Heading into this contest the Bulls offense received all the focus, and the defense has been an afterthought all season. The defense was ranked 70th against the run in 2023. However, the unit held Syracuse starter, LeQuint Allen to just two rushing yards. Syracuse couldn’t get anything going against this South Florida defense. Granted, that was partially because of the quarterback situation for the Orange.
Interim head coach Nunzio Campanile went with a quarterback-by-committee approach against South Florida in the Boca Raton Bowl. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out well for Syracuse. The Orange started tight end Dan Villari behind center in this contest. Villari was a former quarterback at Michigan. He finished the day with 55 yards passing and two interceptions. Next, Campanile went with backup quarterback, Braden Davis. Davis couldn’t do much either, while he didn’t throw an interception, he did have a fumble. Finally, Allen lined up in the wildcat. As we already stated, Allen was held to just two yards rushing in this contest. So that wasn’t successful. The South Florida defense forced one more fumble in this one. Totaling four turnovers for Syracuse. Overall, not a good offensive showing. Lucky for the Orange, future starting quarterback Kyle McCord was in attendance. The Ohio State transfer will look to turn it around in 2024.
Record-Setting Offensive Showing
Brown threw three touchdown passes against Syracuse. He finished the game going 19-for-26 with 214 passing yards. In addition, Brown added 64 yards on the ground on 14 attempts. The quarterback was able to protect the ball against a statistically strong Syracuse secondary. That was a key to the game for Brown. Limit the turnovers. He was able to do so through the air, however, he did lose a fumble in this one. Even bigger than a clean game for Brown is that he became the second quarterback at South Florida to amass 4,000 yards in a season. Coming into the Boca Raton Bowl, Brown was sitting at 3,838 total yards on the year. After this outing against Syracuse, he hit 4,101 total yards of offense this season. Just the second player to do so and just behind former quarterback Quinton Flowers.
Brown wasn’t the only Bull to have a record-setting day. Fifth-year receiver and former walk-on, Sean Atkins was 39 yards away from a 1,000-yard receiving season. In the Boca Raton Bowl, Atkins had six receptions for 93 yards and caught two touchdown passes. Atkins blew past the 39 yards needed and finished 2023 with 1,054 receiving yards. Atkins is the first Bull to achieve this.
Where South Florida Goes From Here
Heading into this contest it was noted that South Florida only had one starter enter the transfer portal. This shows that this team wants to play for head coach Alex Golesh. Golesh just completed his first season with the Bulls and while he didn’t win a conference championship or hit a 10-win season, two things fans usually measure success on, he brought this team back. This South Florida team was 1-11 at the end of 2022 and now they are 7-6 and Boca Raton Bowl victors. Brown will be back next season and he has come a long way in 2023. If Golesh can get consistency out of his defense and find a replacement for Atkins, this South Florida team should be solid in 2024.
