Coach Jim Leavitt and USF President Judy Genshaft graded out with an A-plus Saturday night.

It was a justification night, and it can’t get much better than this night.

And, if I may, it was a see-there night for those who long, long ago said football at the University of South Florida was the move to make, a circumstance proven over and over again along the way and affirmed with a flourish with that 37-34 USF win over the University of Kansas before nearly 60,000 at an electric Raymond James Stadium.

The jumping jacks livened to a crescendo when a wiry, young USF freshman from Brazil, by way of Lake Wales, named Maikon Bonani kicked a 43 yard field goal to break the 34-34 tie for the third USF win in a game of back-and-forth and 700 yards passing. The big, loud crowd of 58,755 likely set a record for high fives after the good field goal.

Surely the political architect of USF, former congressman Sam Gibbons, was high-fiving somebody at the Canterbury Tower residences. Gibbons fathered USF, made it happen. Oh, sure, plenty of others were involved, but, well, he was ours, and he was a ranking man in the U. S. House of Representatives.

I have looked at the old USF plat many times. The original plans had a football stadium written in at the northwest corner of Fowler and 30th in North Tampa. Writer Bill Beck, suggested the stadium be named Schlitz Stadium, for a fee, since Schlitz was planning to build (and did) a brewery there. In time, in a break for USF, old Tampa Stadium was built and so the Bulls played there and later in the comfort and on the good grass of Raymond James Stadium.

Worked out. But, for years the late USF President John Allen held football, then basketball away from his college campus. He felt it promoted gambling. He beat those of us who favored more sports—football and basketball—me, other writers and sportscasters, George and Leonard Levy, Ed Rood, Art Pepin, the students, the world.

In time, Cecil Mackey came in as president, gave basketball and the Dome the go sign. Then as the college grew and grew and as the Tampa area grew and grew, football worked with forward-thinking President Betty Castor, the late athletic director Dick Bowers, and the pressuring alumni wanting USF to challenge Florida, Florida State, Florida A&M.

The intercollegiate sport may well have seen its roots lock into place with the performances in the last two years offered by Genshaft and her head coach, Jim Leavitt. Leavitt, a Tampa Bay guy, wants to do what he does, coach and win here.  He’s home. He does not want to go anywhere, not even Alabama. That feeler came and was returned.

“I love it,” he said. “I do. I love Florida, the Tampa/St. Pete area. I love the beaches, like the Bucs, like the other state teams when we don’t play them. Love USF. Love my guys. Love to recruit for USF and Tampa/St. Pete. I’m a lucky guy,” Leavitt said. 

Ah, but, most of this season still lies ahead, including Florida International, just ahead, then at North Carolina State, and so and so on.

“I know.  I know,” which Leavitt likes to say. “We’ll be all right. We’ll be all right,” which he also likes to say. Then to a question, “no, I never thought I’d ask a freshman from Brazil to kick a 43-yard winning field goal, but I did and he did.”

Ain’t America great?