The American Athletic Conference announced kick times and TV designations for the first three weeks of the 2024 season and weekday prime time games
TAMPA, MAY 30, 2024 – The path for South Florida football in the 2024 USF Football season presented by Tampa General Hospital, its second under head coach Alex Golesh, became clearer Thursday when the American Athletic Conference announced kick times and television designations for the first three weeks of the season and weekday, prime time games.
Highlighting Thursday’s announcement for the Bulls was the designation of USF’s rematch with Alabama on Sept. 7 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. for a 7 p.m. kick on ESPN. The Bulls fell to the No. 10-ranked Crimson Tide, a 2023 College Football Playoff participant, 17-3 in a one-score game late in the fourth quarter in Tampa last year that drew 4.8 million viewers on ABC. It will mark USF’s second trip to Tuscaloosa, as the Bulls fell 40-17 in the first game of the 2003 season, USF’s third as a full FBS participant. Alabama leads the series, 2-0, and will be led by first-year Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer.
Coming off a program-best six-game turnaround and a 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl rout of Syracuse in its first season under Golesh, USF will open the 2024 campaign with a 7 p.m. kickoff vs. Bethune-Cookman on Aug. 31 at Raymond James Stadium. That game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and will mark the first-ever meeting between the programs. Bethune-Cookman is led by former USF assistant coach Raymond Woodie.
The Bulls will travel to Southern Mississippi on Sept. 14 for a 7 p.m. kick on ESPN+. It will mark the Bulls’ third trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., but first since a 27-6 loss in 2003. The programs shared membership in Conference USA for two years (2003 & 2004) and have not met since a 27-20 Southern Miss win in Tampa in 2004. The Golden Eagles lead the series 3-1.
The Bulls’ two confirmed weekday, prime-time games also received their kickoff and television designations. USF’s Friday, Oct. 11 date vs. Memphis in Raymond James Stadium has been set for a 7 p.m. kick on ESPN, while the Bulls’ Friday, Nov. 1 contest at FAU will kick at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Memphis leads the series 8-4 and claimed a 59-50 shootout last year in Memphis. The Bulls lead the FAU series 3-2, but the Owls took a 56-14 victory in Tampa last year.
The remaining kickoff times and television designations for the 2024 season are expected to be made on a weekly basis through the season as part of the conference’s 12-day selection process. The most up-to-date schedule, with television designations, is available at GoUSFBulls.com.
The 2024 season will be the second in which The American has 14 teams under its banner, and the first with Army West Point as a football-playing member. The top two teams in the final single-division regular-season standings will meet Friday, Dec. 6 in the 10th American Athletic Conference Football Championship. That game will be broadcast on ABC for the 10th consecutive season and will kick at 8 p.m., marking its first prime-time appearance. The American Athletic Conference champion has advanced to either the College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Six bowl seven times in the first 10 seasons of the College Football Playoff era.
2024 USF FOOTBALL
USF returns 19 starters in 2024 (nine on offense, eight on defense, and two specialists) from a team that set 12 team and 16 individual program records while going 7-6 and claiming a 45-0 Baco Raton Bowl victory over Syracuse in 2023.
Offensive starters include record-setting quarterback Byrum Brown (Raleigh, N.C.) and all-conference wide receiver Sean Atkins (Viera), as well as running back Nay’Quan Wright (Opa-Locka), four offensive line starters and tight ends Gunnar Greenwald (Satellite Beach) and Weston Wolff (Venice). Brown set numerous season passing records in 2023, including yards (3,292), touchdowns (26) and completion percentage (64.6%), while Atkins became the program’s first, 1,000-yard receiver, setting season marks for receptions (92) and receiving yards (1,054).
On defense, the Bulls return nine of their top 12 tacklers led by linebacker Jhalyn Shuler (Abbeville, S.C.) who logged a team-best 97 stops to go with 8.5 tackles for loss in 2023. Three defensive line starters return, including all-conference honoree Rashad Cheney (Atlanta, Ga.). The Bulls also return four starters in the secondary, including their top four leaders in interceptions led by safety Logan Berryhill (Kingsland, Ga.) –who had three interceptions and 56 tackles in 2023 – and all-conference honoree Aamaris Brown (Tampa).
2024 USF FOOTBALL SCHEDULE KICK/TV
Aug. 31 vs. Bethune-Cookman One USF 7 PM/ESPN+
Sept. 7 at Alabama 7 PM/ESPN
Sept. 14 at Southern Miss 7 PM/ESPN+
Sept. 21 vs. Miami Family Weekend TBA
Sept. 28 at Tulane* TBA
BYE WEEK 6
Fri., Oct. 11 vs. Memphis* Cancer Awareness 7 PM/ESPN
Oct. 19 vs. UAB* Homecoming TBA
BYE WEEK 9
Fri., Nov. 1 at FAU* 7:30 PM/ESPN2
Nov. 9 vs. Navy* Salute to Service TBA
Nov. 16 at Charlotte* TBA
Nov. 23 vs. Tulsa* Fan Appreciation TBA
Nov. 29/30 at Rice* TBA
Fri., Dec. 6 AAC Championship Game 8 PM/ABC
*AAC Games
2024 Season Tickets: www.USFBullsTix.com
Group tickets (10+): Call 1-800-GoBulls
Future schedules can be viewed HERE
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 27th season in 2023 with a program-best six-game turnaround and Boca Raton Bowl victory under first-year head coach Alex Golesh. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 16 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 32 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 11 bowl game appearances (going 7-4), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.
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