2008 Football Team

USF (14-0) won the school’s third NAIA national championship in 2008 with a 23-27 win over No. 1 win over Carroll College. The No. 2 ranked Cougars, which had also won titles in 1996 and 2006, ended a 28- game winning streak by Carroll College, a team that had won five of the previous six national crowns. In the win, USF built a 10-0 lead when the defensive player of the game Kyle Cummings blocked a punt which was recovered in the end zone by Joe Moen. Offensive player of the game Lorenzo Brown had a 54-yard touchdown pass to Jon Ryan and rushed for 129 yards. In 2008, USF had one of the nation’s top defenses and accumulated seven shutouts, and except for a safety in a 34-2 win over Dordt, it would have been eight. In total, they held 11-of-14 opponents to seven points or less.

In the playoffs, the Cougars defeated No. 15 St. Ambrose, 28-0; No. 9 Langston University, 50-13; No. 3 St. Francis, 24-6 and No. 1 Carroll College, 23-7 for a differential of 125-to-26. USF, which averaged 404.6 yards per game, had a 36.5-to-5.9 points per game differential. In rushing defense, they held opponents to 14.7 yards per game and 0.6 yards per rush attempt. One of the more intriguing stats is that the USF defense gave up just 206 net yards on 349 carries for the entire 14-game season. In fact, the defense recorded 538 yards in losses, and held opponents to a measly 2.2 yards per play and 109.4 total yards per game. USF’s dominating defense recorded 35 sacks, intercepted 20 passes and recovered 11 fumbles.