The clock struck midnight on the East Coast, and it was officially Christmas.
A few time zones over, the USF Bulls were battling it out with San Jose State in the Hawaii Bowl, as they were unable to conclude the game in regulation due to a last-second game-tying field goal from senior kicker John Cannon.
USF managed to pull it out in the 5th overtime with the two teams going back and forth with 2-point conversion attempts, neither team scoring in the 4th OT, but USF squeaking out the win in the 5th after senior linebacker Mac Harris batted down a pass attempt by San Jose State quarterback Walker Eget, securing a 41-39 victory for the Bulls.
It wasn’t exactly 12 nights of Christmas, as 12 overtimes might have gotten to be a bit much, but it made for exciting TV, especially with the game being the only live sports happening on Christmas Eve.
The Bulls finished their season 7-6 for a second straight year, marking the 1st time in a decade the team has won 2 straight bowl games.
There was the usual Byrum Brown drama, as no one seems to know what the deal is with his injury status or if he truly lost the starting quarterback job to Bryce Archie, who started the Hawaii Bowl and played the entire game save a few snaps when Brown came on the field to give Archie a few plays off due to an injury.
Regardless, Archie played well enough to push the Bulls to victory despite his 2nd half pick, as while he didn’t throw a touchdown he managed 235 yards passing on 24-35 for the night.
The usually dynamic USF rushing attack was held in check, as they only posted a very weak 56 yards on the ground as a team, with senior Kelley Joiner, Jr. leading the way with a pedestrian 33 yards on 11 carries.
In fact, just looking at the box score would tell the story of a team that had no business being involved in this game, as the Bulls were outgained 441 to 291 in total yardage for the game, with San Jose State racking up 280 passing yards and 161 yards on the ground.
Luckily, the Bulls had a fun kickoff return for a touchdown from senior running back Ta’Ronon Keith in the first half on a trick play where Keith fielded the kickoff, faked a handoff to track star receiver JeyQuan Smith then took it to the house, breaking plenty of tackles along the way.
USF also held a slight advantage in the turnover department, hauling in a pick on a tipped pass in the 1st half and forcing a fumble at the goal line that went out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback in that same period.
So San Jose State may have deserved to win this game, but USF snuck away with a victory in a gritty win that capped off an odd yet moderately successful season, a solid step forward for a program that was floundering for quite a few years.
Alex Golesh will have a lot of questions to answer this offseason, especially with the quarterback position, as Israel Carter entered the transfer portal and Byrum Brown’s status being very much in the air.
But for now, the team can celebrate and bask in the joy of pulling out a victory in front of a national TV audience who had nothing better to watch for whatever reason. Go Bulls.
