Peruse our exclusive Marshall vs. South Florida 2018 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl photo albumthat is literally laced with drippy images due to the inclement weather that hit Tampa Thursday evening. The Bulls fell for the sixth consecutive time, finishing the 2018 season a disappointing 7-6 (3-5) after starting off the year 7-0. Once again, the Bulls simply could not muster enough offensive firepower to knock off Marshall, falling to the Thundering Herd 38-20 in front of a measly 14.135 crowd at Raymond James Stadium.
USF finished the season with a program record 3,173 passing yards with quarterback Blake Barnett under center. Freshman wide receiver Randall St. Felix set the USF bowl game and Gasparilla Bowl records with a career watermark 165 receiving yards on six catches (27.5 yds/rec) and set a new career high with two touchdown catches. St. Felix finished his first season at USF with a team-best 679 receiving yards, moving into eighth all-time on USF’s program season receiving yards rankings.
Tight end Mitchell Wilcox has amassed 72 career receptions and needs just three more catches to match the USF record of 75 set by Sean Price (2012-15). Wilcox already owns the USF program’s tight end records for career receiving yards (976), season receiving yards (540 in 2018) and receptions in a season (43 in 2018).
Wide receiver Tyre McCants finished his storied career as USF’s all-time career leader in bowl games for receptions (14), yards (211) and touchdowns (3). McCants also flicked a 38 yard dime to Randall St. Felix in the first quarter, the Niceville High alum’s his first career touchdown pass.
Linebacker Greg Reaves matched a Gasparilla Bowl record and set a new USF postseason game mark with 14 tackles (13 solo). Reaves notched 89 stops in 2018, finishing as the Bulls’ second leading tackler.
Linebacker Khalid McGee made seven tackles in the contest, pushing his 2018 total up to 111, which ranks eighth on the USF all-time season chart. First is owned by famed linebacker Tyrone McKenzie with 121 stops (2007).
Defensive back Mike Hampton put on an absolute clinic for the Bulls in 2018, finishing second on USF’s season charts for pass breakups (16). The bay made Bull posted 18 passes defended on the year, just one shy of the USF season record of 19 set by Bernard Brown (1999).
“We know this, there’s work that needs to be done in the program, and we’ve got to go get it done.”
~ South Florida Head Coach Charlie Strong
The bowl game marked the final game for 18 seniors that were a part of the most successful era in USF program history, including a 36-15 (70.5 %) record over the past four seasons, marking the program’s most wins and best winning percentage.
Salute to the 18 seniors: WR Ryeshene Bronson, WR LaDarion McBride, OL Eric Mayes, WR Tyre McCants, TE Riley Sheehan, RB Davion Sutton, K Jake Vivonetto, DB Chris Barr, DT Kevin Bronson, DE Josh Black, DE Juwuan Brown, LB Jeffery Farrar, DE Derek Hintze, DB Ronnie Hoggins, DE Vincent Jackson, LB Khalid McGee, S Jaymon Thomas, and DB Mazzi Wilkins.
Dennis spends an inordinate amount of time drenched in sweat sprinting the sidelines to capture the best images in the USF photo game, so do us a solid and tag us on Instagram (@soflobulls), Facebook (@SoFloBulls), and Twitter (@SoFloBulls). Be sure to follow Dennis on Twitter @USFDennis as well.
Click the image above or 📸 HERE 📸 to see all of the full size images.
All media requests must be made directly to Matthew Manuri (soflobulls@gmail.com).
by Matthew Manuri
Publisher & Editor, SoFloBulls.com | @Mcknurkle
⫻ Preview: Marshall vs. USF 2018 Gasparilla Bowl Photo Album ⫻
