Syracuse, USF finishing 2023 in the Boca Bowl, and both sides have futures to be excited about

Updated Dec. 20, 2023 9:08 a.m. ET

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BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Syracuse and South Florida are playing in the Boca Raton Bowl with a winning season at stake. That said, both programs are already looking past the 2023 season finale and with good reason.

The futures are bright, regardless of what happens Thursday.

Syracuse — with new coach Fran Brown making an immediate and massive impact on recruiting — has a group of newcomers arriving in Central New York headlined by Ohio State transfer quarterback Kyle McCord. And South Florida recently unveiled the first renderings of what will be its long-sought on-campus stadium with groundbreaking scheduled next year and a first game target of 2027.

So, yes, winning the Boca Bowl and finishing 7-6 will make one of these teams happy. There are much bigger things on the collective minds of both programs.

“We feel like our program is definitely trending in a great direction,” said Syracuse interim coach Nunzio Campanile, who took over for the fired Dino Babers and will continue to lead the Orange in the bowl game. “Hopefully this is a great opportunity for our guys to continue to get better, to compete in a great game against a great opponent.”

Just getting here represents a huge win for USF in its first year under coach Alex Golesh. He inherited a program that had gone 4-33 since late in the 2019 season and will either go 6-7 or 7-6 in his opening season with the Bulls — a turnaround that some might not have expected to come so quickly.

“It’s been five years since we played a bowl game, which is crazy in a lot of ways,” Golesh said. “To get here in Year 1 and continue to lay a foundation for what we’re building in Tampa is absolutely huge for us.”

BOWL TRENDS

At the Boca Bowl, expect lots of points — most of them from one side.

The first nine editions of the game have seen only one decided by less than 15 points; that was last year when Toledo beat Liberty 21-19 in the lowest-scoring edition of the Boca Bowl. In the first eight Boca Bowls, the winning team scored an average of 47.8 points.

THE SERIES

South Florida has gone 8-2 against Syracuse all-time, and this game is a reunion of past Big East rivals.

Syracuse’s two wins were close ones, 13-9 in 2010 and 37-36 in 2012. Take those away, and the average score of a Syracuse-South Florida game was USF 38, Orange 14.

The teams haven’t met since 2016.

SCHEDULE HINTS

The Orange and the Bulls did not have any common opponents this season.

Syracuse beat Army, which beat UTSA, which beat South Florida. The Bulls beat Rice, which beat Tulsa, which beat Northern Illinois, which beat Boston College, which beat Syracuse.

STAT TRENDS

When USF plays any defense, the Bulls have been tough to beat. They were 6-1 this season when holding opponents to 30 points or less; the one loss there was a 17-3 defeat to Southeastern Conference champion and College Football Playoff qualifier Alabama.

When the Bulls allowed more than 30 points, they were 0-5.

Syracuse had a magic number as well this season, geared toward the offensive side. When the Orange scored 22 or fewer points, they were 0-6. Score more than 22, they were 6-0.

NO SHRADER

Syracuse announced earlier this week that quarterback Garrett Shrader had shoulder surgery after the regular season and won’t play in the bowl game. Shrader had been playing with the tear since October and wound up leading Syracuse to a bowl-clinching 35-31 win over Wake Forest to close the regular season.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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