USF-Florida Atlantic is no War On I-4, but with a few more onside kicks it could be

When UCF left the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12, it ended a rivalry with USF that was exactly what a college football feud should be. It was based on mutual loathing and a lot of mouthing off from both sides.

Whatever could replace that? Despite the AAC’s attempt to declare that the Bulls’ newest rival would be fellow conference member Florida Atlantic, most USF fans didn’t seem interested. It was hard to work up a healthy hatred for a program that the Bulls considered inferior, especially since the game came at the expense of The War on I-4.

But that changed in the fourth quarter of their 2023 game at Raymond James Stadium. It was USF’s homecoming, but the Bulls spent the second half of that game wishing they could go home and forget about the beating they were taking that day.

Even with the 105th-ranked offense in the country coming into the game, the Owls flat-out embarrassed the Bulls 56-14 that day. USF was outscored 35-0 in the second half.

That was bad enough, but the bad vibes didn’t end there.

After the Owls scored late in the fourth quarter, they rubbed the Bulls’ noses in their misery by executing a successful onside kick.

On that day, USF coach Alex Golesh was more concerned about his defense than that play.

“It is what it is. I’m cool. We’ll get ours at some point,” he said.

But now, a year later, he hasn’t forgotten what happened.

At Tuesday's regular media briefing, Golesh praised the Owls in multiple ways before casually dropping into the conversation, “They executed a surprise onsides against us a year ago in the fourth quarter.”

He didn’t elaborate, but in those few words, the message came through. That kick wasn’t cool.

Maybe this is on the way to being a real rivalry, and even if it’s not, the Bulls need to win.

It is the first in five remaining games this season for USF and a victory would even its record at 4-4 and 2-2 in the conference, keeping them in the hunt for a second consecutive bowl bid. The Owls are 2-5 and 0-3 in the AAC, including a 38-24 loss at UTSA on October 19. Like USF, they are coming off an open date.

“You know, defensively, they got ten senior starters. It's a veteran group, in the top 20 in the country in turnovers. You can see that on the film. Really good pass defense. The turnovers happen because guys play really hard. Guys are around the ball. Guys make things happen because they play really hard offensively,” Golesh said.

“You guys saw it a year ago here. They do a really good job using tempo. Got a veteran O line, two really, really good backs, and an athletic quarterback that does a lot with his feet and can create.”

But is this a real rivalry?

“Yeah. I mean, they're only a couple of hours away from us, and you know what they did to us last year. I feel like that just motivates you, whether it's rivalry or not,” Bulls receiver Sean Atkins said.

“When you lose to somebody like last year, you want to go back and beat them this year. So I feel like, in a sense, it is a rivalry just because of that.”

These things take time.

The “War on State Road 60 Merging To The Florida Turnpike” doesn’t sound as catchy compared to what the Bulls had with UCF. However, with a few more onside kicks after the game is decided, these teams might develop a mutual loathing for each other, and wouldn’t that be fun?