No. 25 South Florida meets South Carolina in Birmingham Bowl

By AP
Published

No. 25 South Florida (10-2, AAC) vs. South Carolina (6-6, SEC), 2 p.m. (ESPN).

Line: South Florida by 10.

Series Record: South Carolina leads 1-0.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

South Florida is trying to end its season with a school-record 11th victory. The Bulls lost coach Willie Taggart to Oregon earlier this month, but hired former Texas coach Charlie Strong to replace him. The Bulls' interim coach is T.J. Weist. South Carolina is trying to win a bowl game in coach Will Muschamp's first season. The Gamecocks are back in the postseason after a 3-9 record in 2015.

KEY MATCHUP

South Florida QB Quinton Flowers vs. South Carolina's defense: The Bulls' offense set all kinds of school records this season thanks for Flowers, who threw for 2,546 yards and 22 touchdowns and also ran for 1,425 yards and 15 touchdowns. South Carolina's defense has been very good at times this season and is giving up just 204 yards per game through the air.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

South Florida: LB Auggie Sanchez. The 6-foot-2, 242-pound junior has made 228 tackles over the past two seasons, including 111 so far in 2016. He has 8+ tackles for a loss this season, including six sacks.

South Carolina: QB Jake Bentley. The Gamecocks have a 4-2 record since the freshman took over mid-season. He's thrown for 1,030 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions while completing more than 63 percent of his passes.

FACTS & FIGURES

South Carolina has won four straight bowl games, including victories over Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin and Miami. ... The Gamecocks will be playing a bowl game in Birmingham for the third time in school history. The other two were losses to Missouri in 1979 and UConn in 2010. ... South Florida has scored at least 30 points in 16 straight games, which is the longest such streak in the nation. ... South Florida has already program records for wins (10), conference wins (7) and road wins (4) this season.

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