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The Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl is the only bowl game on Thursday night and features a matchup between the South Florida Bulls (6-6, 6-6 ATS) and the Syracuse Orange (6-6, 5-6-1 ATS). Both teams became bowl-eligible by winning their sixth and final gamer of the season. USF won easily in their season finale, defeating Charlotte 48-14 as 7.5-point home favorites. Syracuse closed the year with a home win over Wake Forest 35-31, and covered as 1.5-point favorites. Both teams will be without several key pieces due to injury and the transfer portal. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 EST from FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida, and can be found on ESPN.
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The USF Bulls get an opportunity to play a bowl game in their home state of Florida. Boca Raton is a three hour drive from Tampa, not exactly a home game, but their fans have a much shorter trip than Syracuse's. Alex Golesh is in his first season as head coach at USF, and led the team to a bowl game which is their first appearance since 2018. In their last game of the season, freshman quarterback Byrum Brown threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Charlotte.
Brown is expected to start in this game, and the freshmen quarterback has thrown for over 3,000 yards this season. He is averaging 256.5 passing yards per game with 23 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Brown is a dual-threat, as he is second on the team in rushing yards with 62.1 yards per game. Brown has thrown for over 250 yards in each of his last four games, including throwing for 357 yards in a win over Memphis. Nay'Qu an Wright is their top running back, he rushed for just 12 yards more than Brown on the season, averaging 63.1 yards per game on the ground. Their top skill position player is receiver Sean Atkins, he is a 5'10 wideout averaging 81.1 yards per game to go with five touchdowns. Naiem Simmons is another 5'10 receiver adding 48.4 yards per game.
South Florida finished the season averaging 30.8 yards per game, and their defense allowed 34.9 per game. Linebacker Jhalyn Shuler led the team in tackles with 85 on the year, and fellow linebacker DJ Gordon IV led the team with 3.5 sacks per game. Safety Logan Berryhill led the team with three interceptions. The Bulls forced 20 turnovers in their 12 games this season.
Missing the game:
Their top player missing the game is defensive end Lloyd Summerall, who had 21 tackles this season, and is hitting the transfer portal.