USF Athletics

Strong-Kingsbury Rivalry Renews at Birmingham Bowl

December 08, 2017

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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., DEC. 8, 2017 – Two very familiar foes will face off once again when USF battles Big 12 opponent Texas Tech at the Birmingham Bowl.

Head coaches Charlie Strong and Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury will renew their rivalry on Saturday, Dec. 23 at historic Legion Field. The first USF-Texas Tech meeting will mark the fourth game in as many years that the two have stood on opposite sidelines facing each other.

Both coaches shared memories of past matchups and excitement for what's ahead during Thursday's Birmingham Bowl press conference at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

"I've always had a lot of respect for Coach Kingsbury," Strong said. "When I was in the Big 12, Texas Tech was always a team that gave you a lot of issues, a lot of problems because they can spread the ball out. They can score at any time on the field."

Scoring hasn't been a problem in the Strong-Kingsbury series that dates back to Strong's first season with Texas in 2014.

Strong took the first matchup, 34-13, at Texas Tech before both offenses hit the accelerator in the next two. Kingsbury got even in 2015 with a 48-45 win at Texas, and Strong gained a 2-1 edge in the series with a 45-37 victory at Texas Tech last fall.

In those three games, the teams combined to generate eye-catching stats that included 3,122 total yards (1,040 ypg) and 222 points (74 ppg).

"I have a ton of respect and admiration for him, from coaching against him when he was in the Big 12," Kingsbury said.

Kingsbury said he's closely followed Strong's first run with the Bulls that has No. 23/24-ranked USF (9-2) on the verge of posting consecutive double-digit win seasons for the first time in program history.

"I'm a huge fan of Coach Strong," Kingsbury said. "... They were a couple plays away from being undefeated. He has a tremendous team."

New, Grand Prize for the Winner
The Birmingham Bowl champion will be bringing home something special for the trophy case.

At Thursday's press conference, each coach got an up-close look at the new Birmingham Bowl Trophy that's modeled after a symbol of the proud city.
 
Weighing 55 pounds, the bowl game's fresh hardware is a replica of Birmingham's towering Vulcan statue. Named after the Roman god, the 56-foot structure is the largest cast iron statue in the world and was Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904.

Q a Hot Topic for Kingsbury, Strong
Kingsbury and Strong both took time to talk about the 2016 Birmingham Bowl MVP who has made much more history since last postseason.

Dynamic dual-threat quarterback Quinton Flowers has wowed fans across the nation while racking up 11,385 career yards. The senior from Miami needs only 47 more yards to break the American Athletic Conference record for total offense.

"I think their quarterback is one of the best in the country," Kingsbury said.

Flowers also is one of only six players in FBS history to pass for more than 60 touchdowns and rush for 40 touchdowns in a career. This season, Flowers became the seventh player in FBS history to pass for more than 7,000 career yards and rush for 3,000-plus yards.

The state of Florida's rushing QB king at 3,566 yards, Flowers needs 44 more yards to take USF's career rushing title from former teammate and Indianapolis Colts running back Marlon Mack. Learn about more USF records that could fall in the Birmingham Bowl HERE.

"The reason why we're sitting at 9-2 right now is because of the job that he's done," Strong said.

Generating those kind of numbers can sometimes turn stars into selfish people, but it's been the exact opposite with Flowers in Strong's first season with the program.

"You come into a situation where you have 20 seniors, sometimes it could be really tough because they're going to always feel like, 'Hey, this is the way we did it last year. You're all trying to change,'" Strong said. "But the thing that he did when he bought in, everybody else on the team bought in. When he made that commitment, the whole team made that commitment."
 
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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