The future is bright for Byrum Brown at the University of South Florida.
Brown threw three touchdown passes and became the second USF quarterback with 4,000 total yards in a season, leading the Bulls to a 45-0 landslide of shorthanded Syracuse Orange in the Boca Raton Bowl.
“Tough, smart, gritty, dog,” South Florida coach Alex Golesh said about Brown. “South Florida football, I just had to go to Raleigh to get him.”
Brown, a redshirt freshman, closed out his exceptional season with 4,101 yards. Quinton Flowers had 4,339 for the Bulls in 2016.
“They put me in the best position to play football,” Brown said.
Brown finished 19 for 26 for 214 passing yards. He added 64 rushing.
USF’s defense forced four turnovers, limiting the Orange to 1 of 17 on third downs.
USF (7-6) finished above .500 for the first time since 2018. The shutout was the Bulls’ first since 2009 against Charleston Southern.
“I have been preaching all season that I want a Krispy Kreme,” South Florida defensive end Tramel Logan said. “To do it in a bowl game is amazing.”
The Bulls put together one of the best turnarounds in the nation this season after winning four of their last 37 games coming into 2023. USF has Alabama and Miami on next year’s schedule as part of its non-conference slate.
Syracuse (6-7) struggled at quarterback. With starter Garrett Shrader missing the game following shoulder surgery, interim coach Nunzio Campanile employed a hodgepodge approach at quarterback. The plan went about as well as it sounds.
“We needed it to be a one-score game the whole way and run the football,” Syracuse Interim Head Coach Nunzio Campanile said. “We could not run the football, and we did not have a better option than that.”
Now the dust can settle a bit after coach Fran Brown – who didn’t lead the Orange in the bowl game – landed the best recruiting class in Syracuse’s modern history. Expect the Orange to have quite a bit of buzz going into 2024.
But help is on the way for Syracuse. After leading Ohio State to an 11-1 regular season, quarterback Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal and signed with Orange. Both McCord and incoming coach Fran Brown attended the Boca Bowl.
Photo/BocaRatonBowl/X
The AP contributed to this recap