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3 things to know for the Birmingham Bowl
Need a brief primer before you attempt to watch all 40 bowl games this season? We’ve got you covered. Here are three things you need to know about the Birmingham Bowl.
BIRMINGHAM BOWL
South Florida (10-2) vs. South Carolina (6-6)
Dec. 29, 2 p.m. ET
ESPN
— South Florida has two of the best players in the country you may not know too much about in quarterback Quinton Flowers and running back Marlon Mack. Flowers is the headliner here. The junior put up insane numbers on the ground and through the air. As a passer, Flowers had 2,551 yards and 22 touchdowns with only six interceptions. On the ground, Flowers racked up 1,425 yards and 15 scores. The only quarterback with more rushing yards is some guy named Lamar Jackson. You may have heard of him.
Mack has topped the 1,000-yard mark rushing in all three of his seasons with the program. This year he went for 1,137 yards on 7.1 yards per carry and tied Flowers with 15 touchdowns. He had seven 100-yard performances this season and 20 overall for his career. With those two leading the way, the Bulls boast an offense that is ninth in the country in total offense (515.1 ypg) and seventh in scoring offense (43.6 ppg).
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— South Carolina seemingly overachieved in its first season under Will Muschamp. The Gamecocks won four of their final six games, including an upset of Tennessee, to reach six wins. South Carolina had appeared in a bowl game in seven straight seasons, winning the last four, under Steve Spurrier before winning just three games in 2015. Spurrier retired midway through that season, and Muschamp was brought in during the offseason.
On the other side, USF reached double-digit wins for the first time in 2016, finishing the regular season with a 10-2 record. However, a loss at eventual AAC champion Temple on Oct. 21 kept USF from its first division title. The Bulls closed the season out with four straight wins heading into this bowl, but will play the game without head coach Willie Taggart, who left the program to accept the head-coaching gig at Oregon. Charlie Strong, after getting fired at Texas, will replace Taggart. One would think he’ll watch this game with a keen eye to get a better idea of the talent he has returning in 2017. A win over South Carolina would be the program’s first bowl win since 2010.
— South Carolina averages just 19.3 points per game offensively, but could have something special to build around in true freshman quarterback Jake Bentley. Bentley, who enrolled at South Carolina after skipping his senior year of high school, emerged as the team’s starter during its seventh game of the year and never relinquished the job. He threw for 1,030 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 63.3 percent of his passes. He has some solid weapons to spread the ball to, namely wideout Deebo Samuel and tight end Hayden Hurst, both sophomores.
Mascot prediction: The bull eats the gamecock as a nice daytime snack. No contest.
Real predictions:
Graham Watson: USF 45, South Carolina 20
Nick Bromberg: USF 40, South Carolina 27
Sam Cooper: USF 40, South Carolina 24
Chris Herbert: USF 34, South Carolina 17
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
