USF beats Texas Tech in a wild Birmingham Bowl, and earns the BUTT TROPHY

Good lookin’ prize for an interesting game.

Congratulations to USF. With quite the performance in a 38-34 win, they’ve earned one of the thiccest prizes in college sports after the Birmingham bowl triumph.

As USF has done so often during his career, they rode their electric QB, Quinton Flowers, to a win. He finished with 311 yards through the air and 106 on the ground. He dazzled one last time for the Bulls, and it was fun to watch.

The final throw of his career? This game-winning touchdown.

And to the victor went the spoils.

This is the Birmingham Bowl’s trophy:

It’s an upgrade from the bland blank canvas that was the old trophy. It’s supposed to be the Roman God of fire (and metalworking), Vulcan. Birmingham has its roots in the iron industry, and there’s a much bigger statue of Vulcan near downtown. But, there’s another thing about the Vulcan trophy you should know.

It is quite thicc.

In the line of beefy trophies, the Birmingham Bowl is close to the Heisman in lower body dimensions.

The game became the wild affair that we expected, but it took a bit to get there.

It wasn’t a shootout that ended with both teams scoring in the 50s because Texas Tech’s defense came to play. The Red Raiders grabbed two turnovers, and by their own standards was playing pretty well. The Red Raiders’ defense is surprisingly improved this season. It’s a big reason why Kliff Kingsbury still has a job. The first half was sluggish, and the game went to halftime tied at 10.

Since Kingsbury took over in Lubbock, offense has reigned supreme. Kingsbury’s a former quarterback, and the Big 12 isn’t exactly a conference known for smashmouth football. But with a defense that’s 91st in S&P+, it actually counts as a pretty good improvement on a dismal unit last season.

They even had this big goal line stand in the third quarter.

It was the USF defense that did its best impression of a sieve with this late touchdown allowed to the Red Raiders.

Then USF got going.

The fourth quarter was the Quinton Flowers show. USF scored 21 points and racked up 241 yards in the game’s final 15. Flowers threw for 139 yards including the winning touchdown in the final stanza.

With a minute left, Flowers took over in what would be his last drive as a Bull. As he’s done so often, he led USF to the victory. He’s one of the best Bulls to ever wear the green and gold, and he went out on a perfect high note.