There isn’t a lot of history between Florida and South Florida, the two teams who will play at Raymond James Stadium Saturday, because there isn’t a lot of history at all when it comes to the South Florida program.
The school didn’t start playing football until the season after Florida won its first national title (1996).
The rise for the program was meteoric under Jim Leavitt, reaching FBS level after three years and then jumping all the way to No. 2 in the BCS (remember that system?) during the 2007 season.
Along the way, the Bulls knocked off teams such as West Virginia, Louisville, FSU and Auburn and won seven games against top 25 teams under Leavitt.
But by the time Florida played its first game against USF (and so far, the only one), Leavitt had been fired. He was accused of slapping a player in the locker room (he eventually won a wrongful termination lawsuit) and USF brought in Skip Holtz, son of Lou, to run the ship.
At his first press conference, someone yelled from the back “Beat Florida!” Holtz responded, “That’s why I am here.”
Of course, the USF coaching job had endured far less drama than the one in the middle of the state over the previous year.
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Urban Meyer quit, then came back, then went on a long vacation to reconnect with his family while Steve Addazio was in charge. Meyer had lobbied Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley to make Addazio the permanent coach, but Foley insisted that it was either Urban’s team or he would start a national search for a successor.
Meyer probably should have stayed away from the game in 2010. He had lost offensive coordinator Dan Mullen the previous year and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong had also left and wasn’t around to corral the players.
Eventually, we would find out what a mess the team was, right to the end when some players boycotted an Outback Bowl practice.
But when the Gators got ready to face an in-state rival for the first time, there was a little intrigue. Most of it centered around John Brantley taking over at quarterback for the legendary Tim Tebow.
There were some players still around from the greatest four seasons in Florida football history (48-7 from 2006-09), but the guts of the team had moved on to the NFL.
Still, with Meyer back and a quarterback Meyer had thought enough of to put him ahead of Cam Newton on the depth chart earlier in his career, there was plenty of optimism on campus and an AP ranking of No. 4 entering the season.
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The Gators started with a mundane 34-12 win over Miami of Ohio and then it was time for a showdown of sorts. The first meeting ever between the flagship university and the newbie.
“It was so hot that day (Sept. 11, 2010),” said Florida safety Ahmad Black. “They were going around with shirts that said, ‘Florida, you’re next.’ Because they had beaten some good teams. They thought we were next.
“We didn’t think so.”
Black picked off two passes in the first half and Jeff Demps had 255 all-purpose yards in the 38-14 win.
“Jeff Demps is the guy you want to have with the ball,” said Meyer after the game.
Florida also got a big play from Justin Trattou, the defensive end who had a knack for interceptions. He had three in his career and this one he returned 35 yards for a score.
South Florida hung in there for a half before Florida started flexing its muscles and capitalized on five turnovers.
Of course, we had no idea what was to come for the Gators.
“We lost the whole month of October,” Black said.
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Well, not quite. UF went 1-3 in the month, but did beat Georgia to still have a chance to win the East. Then, Steve Spurrier came to town with his South Carolina team and beat the socks off Florida 36-14.
A month later, Meyer announced he was finished at Florida again. Eight months after his last game as a Gator, he took the Ohio State job.
Which brings us to the present, where South Florida will play host to Florida for the first time. The games were agreed to by Scott Stricklin, the Florida AD, and two men who served as athletic directors since Stricklin had been at UF – Mark Harlan and current AD Michael Kelly.
“Both of those guys were incredibly easy to work with,” Stricklin said.
One reason South Florida got a look when Stricklin was looking to upgrade Florida’s future schedules was because its rival Central Florida was being so stubborn in wanting a home-and-home.
USF agreed to play two games in Gainesville and one in Tampa. The school asked Florida last year if the game in Tampa could be moved up to this year to accommodate another future schedule.
“It was something they needed and it turned out it worked out well for us, too,” Stricklin said.
The two teams will play in Gainesville in 2022 and 2025.
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