Hello South Florida

[TigerJay]

I look forward to playing you guys this year and hope to see us both go bowling. Don't forget to eat some Barbecue while in Memphis. Taggart is doing a great job down there just be patient. It's a cleansing phase.

[ForestBull]

Welcome to the board. I am staying in Memphis a few nights and going to the game. Then driving to Gatlinburg for a week. Any suggestions?

[raptorcj]

"Cleansing" yields a lot of poop, good analogy. We'll get there.

 

Welcome to the board.

[Apis Bull]

I look forward to playing you guys this year and hope to see us both go bowling. Don't forget to eat some Barbecue while in Memphis. Taggart is doing a great job down there just be patient. It's a cleansing phase.

 

I was at NAS Millington several years ago (too many to mention).  Is Overton Square still a hot spot?  I remember the pub crawls and Silky O'Sullivans.

[TigerJay]

Welcome to the board. I am staying in Memphis a few nights and going to the game. Then driving to Gatlinburg for a week. Any suggestions?

Central BBQ is a good one to go to

[Skingraft]

Rendezvous.... Central is good and the original corkys is good...

[Mama_Bull]

I look forward to playing you guys this year and hope to see us both go bowling. Don't forget to eat some Barbecue while in Memphis. Taggart is doing a great job down there just be patient. It's a cleansing phase.

 

Thanks.

 

I think it was the last time we faced Memphis that your team played much better than our guys, but we had ONE guy who beat them all by himself. Of course, he ended up in the NFL. This year, perhaps, Marlon Mack could be that guy. Looking forward to resuming our series.

[ForestBull]

 

I look forward to playing you guys this year and hope to see us both go bowling. Don't forget to eat some Barbecue while in Memphis. Taggart is doing a great job down there just be patient. It's a cleansing phase.

 

Thanks.

 

I think it was the last time we faced Memphis that your team played much better than our guys, but we had ONE guy who beat them all by himself. Of course, he ended up in the NFL. This year, perhaps, Marlon Mack could be that guy. Looking forward to resuming our series.

 

I am confused. Last year we lost to Memphis...  And who is in the NFL?

[Mama_Bull]

I look forward to playing you guys this year and hope to see us both go bowling. Don't forget to eat some Barbecue while in Memphis. Taggart is doing a great job down there just be patient. It's a cleansing phase.

 

Thanks.

 

I think it was the last time we faced Memphis that your team played much better than our guys, but we had ONE guy who beat them all by himself. Of course, he ended up in the NFL. This year, perhaps, Marlon Mack could be that guy. Looking forward to resuming our series.

I am confused. Last year we lost to Memphis...  And who is in the NFL?

 

Sorry for the confusion.

 

Nov 29th 2003

 

J. R. Reed

It was Thanksgiving weekend; USF spent the holiday in Memphis in preparation for the game. The Tigers, at 8-3 on the season, were assured of postseason play. It was a beautiful day; clear and 46 degrees at kickoff. Nearly 48,000 Memphis fans came to see their team get their sixth C-USA win of the year.

Instead, they got a full dose of J.R. Reed.

Reed was a senior that year. He was a local kid, from Hillsborough High, and by that day in Memphis he had long been established as a key member of the Bulls' defensive secondary. But, he’d never had a game like he’d have on Nov. 29, 2003.

No Bull has, for that matter.

For Reed, finishing his Bulls career on the road had an unusual twist. He had family, a lot of family, in the stands and that included some family members he had never met before. By the time he got to say hello to them for the first time after the game, his best day as a Bull was in the record books.

Things didn’t start very well for USF that day. Memphis quarterback Danny Wimprine threw a 36-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter, and the Bulls went to the half down, 7-0. USF was outgained 237 yards to 135 in the first two quarters.

Reed shows up just once in the first half stat sheet. In the second quarter, he picked off a Wimprine pass, ending a drive on the USF 21-yard line.

But the second half! That’s another story.

“We were frustrated with how we were playing. I remember Huey Whittaker in particular standing up and speaking at halftime,†Reed says. “He told the offense they would start with the ball in the second half and they had to be ready. I thought to myself, the offense isn’t going to get the ball.â€

And, they wouldn’t, at least not right away.

Memphis’s halftime lead lasted exactly 15 seconds in to the third quarter. That’s how long it took Reed to run 96 yards with the second half opening kickoff.

“I told myself plenty of times ‘I’m running this all the way back’", Reed says. "This time it worked out.â€

There was no great secret to the Reed kickoff return for touchdown. “I had great blocking and I ran as fast as I could.â€

“We knew special teams play was a key in this game,†said Selmon. “We could win with special teams. That play set the tone for the rest of the game.â€

So that’s one interception and one touchdown.

And Reed was only getting started.

A Memphis field goal gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead and after a USF punt, Memphis had the ball again. Starting at its 40, Memphis opened with a run by Darron Parquet. But USF’s Stephen Nicholas stripped the ball, and Reed picked it up at the 45 and ran it in with 8:13 left in the third quarter.

That’s two touchdowns, a fumble recovery, and an interception. And we’re not done yet.

With the Bulls up 14-10, the teams traded punts until late in the third quarter. Then, with 2:52 to go, Wimprine was intercepted at the Memphis 40. You can imagine by who.

Two touchdowns, a fumble recovery, and two interceptions.

To the fourth quarter we go, with the Bulls up 14-10.

Thanks to the good field position from Reed’s second interception, the Bulls were able to score on a short DeJuan Green run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

21-10 Bulls.

Later in the quarter, following a USF fumble, Memphis started with the ball on the USF 17-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Wimprine went back to pass, and threw it in the end zone.

To J.R. Reed.

Two touchdowns, a fumble recovery, and three interceptions.

“That’s the interception that stands out to me,†says Reed. “They were in the red zone. I knew I could go up over the receiver and get it, but I was concerned about coming down in bounds.â€

Memphis did score a late touchdown, but the Bulls left with a 21-16 win. In addition to all the big plays, Reed also had seven tackles and three passes defensed.

As anticipated, the game turned out to be the last of the 2003 season for USF, and the last for J.R. Reed in a Bulls uniform. A year later, he was returning kicks for the Philadelphia Eagles, and he played parts of four NFL seasons until the effects from a serious off-the-field injury curtailed his career.

“He was a guy a lot of the team gravitated to,†said Selmon of Reed. “Even as a freshman he had an edge that said, ‘We are here to win.’ A remarkable guy on and off the field.â€

There was something about last games of the season for Reed. A year earlier, he concluded the 2002 season with a three interception game at Houston. But, he outdid even that on a cool afternoon in Memphis a year later.

“I focused on one play at a time that day," recalls Reed. “Had to, it was a close game. I didn’t even know my stats until after I was back in Tampa.â€

201 games. There are certainly enough great performances in that time for arguments and debate. Looking back, it would have been an even better story if Reed’s big game had led the Bulls to a bowl game. It would have been better if it came at home, so more USF fans could have seen it as it unfolded. But over a decade later, for many longtime Bulls fans, it remains the greatest individual game ever played by a man wearing the Green and Gold.

 

 

 

http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=209493185

[KyleC]

I will always respect the hospitality of Memphis fans. Remember our bowl game, y'all were great people.