BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Byrum Brown passed for 214 yards and three touchdowns and the South Florida defense registered its first shutout since the 2009 season with a 45-0 win against Syracuse in the RoofClaim Boca Raton Bowl Thursday night at FAU Stadium.
The Bulls, who had won a combined four games in the previous three seasons, completed one of college football's best turnarounds in Alex Golesh's first year as head coach as South Florida finished 7-6 overall. That six-win improvement from last year ties Northwestern for the best among FBS programs.
South Florida was never challened against the Orange. The Bulls finished with a 407-159 advantage in total yards and a 21-9 margin in first downs. They forced four turnovers and scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams.
Brown, who joined Heisman Trophy-winner Jayden Daniels of LSU as one of only two FBS players with at least, 3,000 passing yards and 700 rushing yards in 2023, had 278 yards of total offense as he added a game-high 64 rushing yards to his 214 passing yards against Syraucse.
Brown had two touchdown passes to Sean Atkins, who finished with six catches for 93 yards and became the first South Florida player in program history with a 1,000-receiving-yard season (1,054). Brown, meanwhile, finished the year with a school-record 3,292 passing yards.
Brown and Atkins connected for a 13-yard touchdown on the Bulls' second drive of the game, giving South Florida the only points it would need. But the Bulls made it 14-0 on a Syracuse special teams miscue when Aamaris Brown-Bunkley picked up a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown.
South Florida added another non-offensive touchdown with nine seconds left in the second quarter when defensive end Logan Tramel's 61-yard scoop-and-score allowed the Bulls to take a 31-0 lead into intermission.
Any hopes of a Syracuse comeback were dashed early in the third when Brown hit Atkins for a 35-yard score on the Bulls' first possession of the second half.
The win for South Florida was the Bulls' first bowl victory since a 38-34 win against Texas Tech in the 2017 Birmingham Bowl.