2008 St. Petersburg Bowl

The 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl was the inaugural edition of the new college football bowl game, and was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game was played beginning at 4:30 p.m. US EST on Saturday, December 20, 2008, and was telecast on ESPN2, saw the South Florida Bulls (based in nearby Tampa) defeat their former conference rivals Memphis Tigers, 41–14. Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman and Rob Stone called the game. For sponsorship reasons, the game was officially known as the 2008 magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl.

2008 magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl
Inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, hosted the St. Petersburg Bowl.
Memphis Tigers South Florida Bulls (6–6) (7–5) C-USA Big East 14 41 Head coach:  Tommy West Head coach:  Jim Leavitt
1 2 3 4 Total Memphis 7 7 0 0 14 South Florida 14 10 10 7 41
Date	December 20, 2008
Season	2008
Stadium	Tropicana Field
Location	St. Petersburg, Florida
MVP	QB Matt Grothe, South Florida
Referee	Bill McCabe (WAC)
Attendance	25,205[1]
Payout	US$1,000,000 per team[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2
Announcers	Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Rob Stone
Nielsen ratings	1.1
St. Petersburg Bowl   2009 →

Scoring summary

Scoring Play	Score
1st Quarter
USF - Taurus Johnson 26 yard TD pass from Matt Grothe (Maikon Bonani kick), 13:58	USF 7-0
USF - Benjamin Williams 3 yard TD run (Bonani kick), 4:28	USF 14-0
Memphis - Arkelon Hall 3 yard TD run (Matt Reagan kick), 2:09	USF 14-7
2nd Quarter
USF - Bonani 22 yard FG, 11:18	USF 17-7
USF - Ben Busbee 13 yard TD pass from Grothe (Bonani kick), 4:15	USF 24-7
Memphis - Duke Calhoun 2 yard TD pass from Hall (Reagan kick), :08	USF 24-14
3rd Quarter
USF - Bonani 37 yard FG, 8:36	USF 27-14
USF - Dontavia Bogan 24 yard TD pass from Grothe (Bonani kick), 1:50	USF 34-14
4th Quarter
USF - Moise Plancher 2 yard TD run (Bonani kick), 12:40	USF 41-14