Matt Grothe is undoubtedly one of the iconic figures in the history of the War on I-4.
The Lakeland native was South Florida's starting quarterback during their successful early years as a member of the Big East, including the 2007 season when they made it all the way to No. 2 for one week that October. He was also a perfect 4-0 against UCF, the latter three of which he was the starter.
For our War on I-4 preview, I was honored to have Grothe join me to reminisce on those early days of the series and his thoughts about the future of the rivalry.
Among UCF fans, Grothe, along with former head coach Jim Leavitt and former president Judy Genshaft, has always been regarded as a something of a villain as he never shied away from taking shots at the school up the street. After the 2007 game in which USF won 64-12, Grothe's postgame comments riled up UCF fans even more.
"It's nice to score 64 points," Grothe said at the time. "It's not like we were trying to run up the score. If we were, we could have scored more."
Prior to the 2008 game, the first-ever meeting in the Bounce House, Grothe told the story of how UCF students got ahold of his cell phone number and barraged him with calls and messages before the game. His father was even the subject of a threat.
While the 2007 game is a sore spot among UCF faithful, Grothe said the most satisfying War on I-4 win during his career was that 31-24 overtime victory in 2008.
At one point, South Florida appeared to be the school destined to become part of a "Big Four" in the state as they had the coveted BCS status. They fought hard to keep UCF out of the Big East and were successful in doing so for several years, but ultimately the league fell apart ironically which can be attributed to Genshaft turning down ESPN's TV deal.
In 2013, both schools became conference mates in the renamed American Athletic Conference, but no longer a BCS auto-bid or Power Five league. From there, the Knights began chipping away at the series lead.
The most memorable War on I-4 game is arguably 2017, when UCF and South Florida played one of the most thrilling games of the college football season. A back-and-forth affair, the Knights won the game on a late Mike Hughes "reservation for six in the cabanas" kickoff return touchdown.
Since then, the trajectories couldn't be any more different. UCF won a National Championship that season (it's in the NCAA Record Book, folks) and continued to win at a high level, while South Florida started to see a program downturn. Charlie Strong was fired after posting a 4-8 record in 2019. His replacement, Jeff Scott, was 4-26 during the last three seasons and mustered only one win against a FBS opponent (Temple). Scott was fired earlier this month.
UCF meanwhile is headed to the Big 12 next season, while South Florida will remain in the American. After this meeting, the War on I-4 is effectively over unless both schools agree to play each other in a non-conference game. South Florida has full schedules for the rest of the decade and UCF doesn't seem to have much enthusiasm in scheduling future matchups.
Even though South Florida is disappointing they're getting left behind, there is some optimism in Tampa. They must make the correct coaching hire and Grothe and the fanbase are excited over the prospect Deion Sanders could be in the mix. An indoor practice facility just opened and there are plans for an eventual on-campus stadium. If the Bulls can get their act together, perhaps the door will open in regards to future conference realignment.
Today, Grothe is now aligned with the Fowler Avenue Collective. On Saturday, his group and Mission Control will join forces to host a joint tailgate prior to the last-scheduled War on I-4.
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