USF Athletics

Bulls On Verge of More Records Heading Into Birmingham Bowl

December 05, 2017

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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, DEC. 5, 2017 – Playing in the 13^th-best bowl game among 39 this postseason according to CBS Sports, USF could wow another national audience in the Birmingham Bowl by shattering several more school records.

ESPN viewers could be watching history in the making on Saturday, Dec. 23, when USF takes on Big 12 foe Texas Tech at Legion Field. Numerous individual records are on the table, but the feat the Bulls want to accomplish the most is posting consecutive double-digit win seasons for the first time in program history.

"It's big. It allows us to get to 10 wins. It allows our seniors to go out on a winning note. Then it prepares us now to step into next season, where you go from 11 wins to 10 wins," head coach Charlie Strong said. "Now you're sitting with new expectations, a new team and a new season, you can carry over from that. You can build off of what you've done those last two years."

Here is a list of other possible records and notable milestones on the radar for the Bulls heading into their clash with the Red Raiders. Take your own page out of the USF history books by printing this out and following along during the program's third straight bowl appearance (ninth overall).

Individual Offense

• CONFERENCE TOTAL OFFENSE: With a USF record 11,385 career yards, Quinton Flowers needs only 47 more yards to break the American Athletic Conference record for total offense.
• CAREER RUSHING: Flowers (3,566 yards) needs 44 more yards to break former teammate Marlon Mack's USF career rushing record of 3,609 yards.
• CAREER CARRIES: With 584 carries, Flowers (Miami) is two away from Mack's USF career record of 586.
• CAREER TD PASSES: Flowers needs one more scoring toss to grab sole possession of USF's career touchdown pass lead. Flowers is currently tied with Marquel Blackwell (67 TDs, 1999-2002).
• SEASON PASSING: With 2,600 passing yards, Flowers needs 312 more yards to become USF's all-time season leader. Matt Grothe owns the record with 2,911 passing yards in 2008. Flowers has thrown for 325-plus in three of his last four games. 
• SEASON TD PASSES: Coming off a four-touchdown passing game, Flowers needs four more to break his own season record of 24 set last season.
• CAREER ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: Versatile senior back D'Ernest Johnson (Immokalee, Fla.) needs 65 yards to break Marlon Mack's career program record of 4,107 all-purpose yards.
• SEASON RECEIVING YARDS: With 746 yards, senior Marquez Valdes-Scantling (St. Petersburg) needs 77 more yards to break former teammate Rodney Adams' USF season receiving record of 822 yards (2015-16). He has two 100-yard games in his last four outings and is averaging just under 70 yards per game on the year. Scantling also needs just 65 receiving yards to move into USF's top 10 career receivers, despite playing just two seasons in green and gold. 

 
Individual Defense

• CAREER STARTS: USF career tackles leader Auggie Sanchez (St. Petersburg) is one start away from tying George Selvie for the program record of 50 career starts. Sanchez has started every game in his USF career.
• CAREER SACKS: Senior tackle Bruce Hector (Tampa) needs two more sacks to move into a tie for second place on USF's career sacks list with current Bulls quality control analyst Stephen Nicholas (20, 2002-06). Hector is currently tied for fourth place with Shurron Pierson (18 sacks, 2001-02).
• CAREER PICKS: With one more pick, senior Devin Abraham (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) would move into a tie for fifth on USF's career interceptions list with Nate Allen (9) and join teammate Deatrick Nichols (3rd with 11) among the top five all-time at USF.

Special Teams

• SEASON FG PERCENTAGE: Kicker Emilio Nadelman (Miami) needs another on-target outing to stay on pace to set the school season field goal percentage record. Currently at 83% (20-for-24) he is ahead of the mark of 81% (17-of-21) set by Maikon Bonani in 2010.
• CAREER FG PERCENTAGE: Nadelman also currently sits atop USF's career field goal percentage list (77.7%, 42-for-54). Marvin Kloss ranks second at 77.5 percent (31-for-40).
• SEASON POINTS: With 107 points scored on the year, Nadelman needs just three more to eclipse the season record of 109 scored by Delbert Alvarado in 2007.

Team

• FEWEST TURNOVERS COMMITTED: The 2017 Bulls could finish with the fewest turnovers committed in school season history. USF has turned the ball over just 12 times in 11 games this year. The 2015 and 2002 Bulls own the season record with 15 turnovers.
• SEASON OFFENSE: With 5,559 total yards, USF is closing in on second place on the school's season offense list. The 2015 Bulls produced 5,741 yards while the 2016 team set the program record with 6,650 yards.

 
About USF Football
USF has won nine or more games for the second straight season and will make its third straight bowl appearance and ninth in program history. The Bulls spent the entire 2017 season ranked in the top 25 and climbed as high as No. 13 in the polls. USF finished the 2016 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press poll with a school-record 11 wins (11-2) following a Birmingham Bowl victory over South Carolina. The Bulls have posted 13 winning seasons in 21 years of playing football and have five bowl victories. The Bulls have seen 28 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 28 earn first-team all-conference selection.
 
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