ROOFCLAIM.COM BOCA RATON BOWL
SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS
vs.
SYRACUSE ORANGE
Thursday, Dec. 21 | 8 p.m. ET
FAU Stadium | (29,495/Natural Grass)
Boca Raton, Florida
Television
ESPN
Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen and Harry Lyles Jr
National Radio
ESPN Radio
Chris Carlin and Harry Douglas
SiriusXM 80
South Florida Radio
WHPT-FM 102.5 (flagship)
THE GAME
The RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl will be played for the 10th time in the 2023 season … The game originated in 2014 and has seen four American Athletic Conference teams participate through the first nine years … The American’s representatives have gone 0-4 in the Boca Raton Bowl, though the league’s current members have scored three wins in the bowl before joining the conference … South Florida and Syracuse will make their respective first appearances in the Boca Raton Bowl … The schools are former conference rivals as they competed concurrently in the Big East from 2005-12 … South Florida is 8-2 all-time against Syracuse and has won the last two matchups in 2015 and 2016.
BOCA RATON BOWL RESULTS (0-4)
12-23-14 Marshall 52, Northern Illinois 23
12-22-15 Toledo 32, Temple 17
12-20-16 Western Kentucky 51, Memphis 31
12-19-17 Florida Atlantic 50, Akron 3
12-18-18 UAB 37, Northern Illinois 13
12-21-19 Florida Atlantic 52, SMU 28
12-22-20 BYU 49, UCF 23
12-18-21 Western Kentucky 59, Appalachian State 38
12-20-22 Toledo 21, Liberty 19
SOUTH FLORIDA
6-6, 4-4 American
Head Coach
Alex Golesh (Ohio State ’06)
6-6, first season
South Florida is making its 11th appearance in Bowl Season and is in the postseason for the first time since 2018 … USF is 6-4 in its previous 10 bowl appearances … The Bulls will play in the Boca Raton Bowl for the first time … South Florida is one of the nation’s most improved teams under first-year head coach Alex Golesh, who has led the Bulls to more wins this season (six) than they had in the previous three years combined (four) … The five-win turnaround from last year’s 1-11 season marks the best improvement in program history and is tied with Liberty (13-0) for the second-best in FBS, behind only Northwestern’s six-win improvement from 2022 … The Bulls are looking for their first bowl win since a 38-34 decision against Texas Tech in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl, which capped a 10-2 season and a No. 21 finish in the national rankings … South Florida’s offense ranks as the fastest unit in the nation, with an average of 82 plays per game … The Bulls are the only team to average more than 80 plays in 2023 … QB Byrum Brown leads The American and ranks seventh nationally in total offense at 318.6 yards per game … Brown is one of two players nationally with at least 3,000 passing yards and 700 rushing yards, joining Heisman Trophy-winner Jadyen Daniels of LSU … Brown enters the bowl game with a single-season school record 3,078 passing yards … WR Sean Atkins, who earned second-team all-conference honors, has set program records with 86 receptions and 961 yards and has five touchdown catches, while WR Naiem Simmons has 35 catches for 581 yards and five TDs … RB Nay’Quan Wright is the leading rusher with 575 yards and seven touchdowns on 168 carries, while Brown leads the Bulls with 11 touchdown runs … The defense is led by S Daquan Evans, who has a team-high 12 tackles for loss … LB Jhalyn Shuler has registered 85 total tackles to lead the Bulls, while LB DJ Gordon IV has 3.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss … CB Logan Berryhill has three interceptions, while LB Mac Harris has three fumble recoveries … K John Cannon has made 10 of 15 field goal attempts, while P Andrew Stokes averages 41.3 yards per punt … S Matthew Hill handles most of the kickoff returns and has averaged 26.4 yards per attempt.
SYRACUSE
6-6, 2-6 ACC
Interim Head Coach
Nunzio Campanile (Montclair State ’99)
2-7
Syracuse will make its 28th bowl appearance when the Orange heads to the Boca Raton Bowl … The Orange has gone 16-10-1 in its previous bowl outings, with a .611 winning percentage that ranks eighth among FBS teams with at least 15 bowl games … Syracuse’s last bowl victory was a 34-18 decision against West Virginia in the 2018 Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Florida … Syracuse is playing in back-to-back bowl games for the first time as a member of the ACC … The Orange began the 2023 season with four consecutive wins before going 2-6 in its final eight games … Nunzio Campanile will serve as the head coach for the Boca Raton Bowl after Dino Babers was relieved of his duties Nov. 19 … Campanile led the Orange to a 35-31 win against Wake Forest to clinch bowl eligibility for the Orange … The Syracuse defensive coordinator is former San Diego State head coach Rocky Long … Syracuse named Fran Brown, the former defensive backs coach at Georgia, as the 31st head coach of the Orange … Syracuse averaged 358.7 yards on offense and allowed an average 378.3 yards on defense in the regular season … QB Garrett Shrader, who has completed 134 of 211 passes for 1,686 yards and 13 touchdowns with six interceptions, will not play against South Florida after undergoing shoulder surgery … The leading rusher is RB LeQuint Allen, who has 1,062 yards and nine touchdowns on 225 carries, while Shrader has scored eight rushing touchdowns … Allen also has a team-high 36 receptions … WR Umari Hatcher has 30 receptions for 451 yards and three touchdowns, while WR Damien Alford has 29 catches for 527 yards and three TDs … LB Marlowe Wax Jr. leads the defense with 101 tackles to go with four sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and an interception … Allen and Wax were both chosen to the All-ACC second team … LB Leon Lowery has 46 tackles with 3.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss … K Brady Denaburg has made 10 of 16 attempted field goals and is 10-for-13 from inside 50 yards … P Jack Stonehouse, a third-team All-ACC pick, has averaged a solid 46.5 yards per punt and has 18 punts of at least 50 yards … The Orange has attempted only 16 kickoff returns … WR D’Marcus Adams has handled 16 punt returns and averages 7.4 yards per return.