The South Florida–UCF football rivalry, better known as the War on I-4, is an American college football rivalry between the South Florida Bulls football team of the University of South Florida and UCF Knights football team of the University of Central Florida. As of the 2022 meeting, the Knights hold a 8–6 lead in the series.

History

Early plans Discussions about scheduling a game between the Knights and Bulls began shortly after South Florida fielded its first NCAA Division I-AA team in 1997. Supporters suggested such a rivalry could help generate interest and revenue for both burgeoning teams. The prospect became more serious when the Bulls entered Division I-A in 2001 and was very popular among fans, but as it would be a non-conference series, difficulties arose. UCF had overbooked its future schedules and would have to break commitments. Meanwhile, South Florida officials worried that their young program stood to take in less revenue from a home-and-away series against UCF than it would with an additional home game on the schedule. Serious planning for a series did not commence until 2003.

First games (2005–2008) By 2003, serious discussions resumed as both schools had joined conferences – South Florida joined Conference USA (C-USA) in 2001, while UCF joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in 2002. That year, the schools' athletics directors met and agreed to schedule games for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Subsequently, South Florida joined the Big East, an Automatic Qualifying conference, in 2005, while UCF joined C-USA the same year. The Bulls won both games, which both drew crowds over 45,000. The series was extended for 2007 and 2008 as part of an agreement with C-USA that the Bulls play a member of the conference annually for five years. South Florida won these games as well, with a 64–12 blowout in 2007 and 31–24 overtime thriller in 2008. South Florida declined to schedule further games in the series, indicating it wished to pursue more competitive and high-profile opponents. During the series hiatus South Florida would go on to play opponents such as Florida, Florida State, Miami, Clemson, and Notre Dame; beating all except for Florida at least once.

The two schools discussed scheduling more games over the next several years, including a failed proposal by South Florida to play at the Citrus Bowl in 2011. In addition, a possible head-to-head matchup at the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl failed to materialize. Bowl and city officials decided against pitting the two nearby schools, as they preferred at least one distant team so that more out of town fans would book hotel rooms in the area. UCF instead faced Rutgers in the game.

Renewed series (2013–2022) UCF was admitted to join USF in the Big East Conference in 2011 and was set to begin playing there in the 2013–2014 school year. Conference realignment turned the Big East into the American Athletic Conference prior to the fall 2013 season. For the first time, both schools were part of the same conference, and the rivalry resumed as a regular conference match beginning with the 2013 season.

Since 2013, the games have been scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend. From 2015 to 2019, the AAC was split into divisions, with both schools placed in the East Division. In 2015, the game was played on Thanksgiving night, and in 2016, the game was played on the Saturday of that week. However, in most years it has been scheduled for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Trophy and all-sports series

Beginning with the 2016 edition, the athletic departments of both universities announced the official recognition of the "War on I-4" rivalry trophy and all-sports series. The winner of the game each year takes possession of a large trophy shaped like the iconic I-4 road sign, which will be displayed on their campus for the following year. Including the base, the trophy measures 4 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. The "road sign" part of the trophy detaches from the base, which has a plaque listing all the previous winners and scores. One side of the road sign part of the trophy reads "Tampa" and features USF's logo while the other reads "Orlando" and features UCF's logo.

For the all-sports series, which also began in 2016, each of the 14 sports in which the Bulls and Knights compete against each other is worth six "points" and the number of points each game is worth depends on the number of regular season meetings between the teams (for example, the football game is worth six points because the teams only meet once in the regular season, but each men's basketball game is worth three points because the teams meet twice in the regular season). For sports like golf and cross country which do not directly compete against each other, the six points are awarded to the higher finisher at the American Athletic Conference championship. The team with more points at the end of the year is declared the winner and receives a trophy similar to the football one.

Future With UCF set to leave the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12 Conference beginning in the 2023–24 school year, the rivalry series has been unable to continue in the prior format. The next year when both teams have multiple openings in their non-conference schedules is 2031, making that the next possible meeting, unless the two teams are selected to face each other in a bowl game or in the College Football Playoff.

During 2026, the ADs of both schools attempted to revive the rivalry, but reached an impasse with negotiations, with UCF only willing to play only a home game at their stadium with no return trip, as is consistent with their football scheduling practices against school in Group of Six conferences, and South Florida only willing to schedule a set if it included games at both schools. As a last resort, South Florida proposed a four-game set with one game played at each school's respective on-campus stadiums and one game played at a neutral site in proximity to each respective school, which was declined by UCF. Terry Mohajir, the UCF athletic director, did state that if South Florida was to join any of the Power conferences besides the Big 12 Conference, he would gladly agree to scheduling them in an annual home and home set to meet the conference's power opponent scheduling requirement, citing that they would be able to stay in the state of Florida to meet the requirement.

Game results

Since 2005, the Bulls and Knights have played fourteen times. The Knights lead the series, 8–6. The game has been played in two cities and three stadiums: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and Camping World Stadium and FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Florida. UCF holds a 8–2 series lead in conference games against USF.

Bold dates indicate conference gamesItalic dates indicate games that count toward the trophy series

Game notes

2005

A crowd of 45,139, second largest at the time in South Florida's eight year football history, watched the Bulls build a 21–0 halftime lead on the strength of a relentless running attack that finished with 326 yards. Andre Hall ran for 155 yards and scored two touchdowns to help South Florida beat UCF 31–14.

UCF was held to 45 yards rushing and was shut out until Joe Burnett returned a third quarter punt 60 yards to the South Florida 4, setting up Steven Moffett's touchdown run on the next play. Moffett also threw a 9-yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall late in the fourth quarter.

One play after Hall nearly scored on a 17-yard run, Pat Julmiste added South Florida's last TD on 1 yard quarterback sneak late in the third quarter. Kyle Bronson added a fourth quarter field goal to make it 31–7.

2006

South Florida freshman quarterback Matt Grothe threw for 302 yards, eclipsing Marquel Blackwell's 239 yard game against New Haven in 1999 for the program single game passing record. Grothe also ran for 73 yards, second most by a freshman quarterback in South Florida history behind only his own record of 82 from earlier that season.

2007

The Bulls defeated the cross state Knights 64–12 in front of a home crowd announced at 65,948. The Bulls held the Knights to just 145 total yards and Kevin Smith, who came in as the nation's leading rusher at 172 yards per game, to just 55 yards. It would be the only time during the season that a defense held Smith to under 100 yards. South Florida gained 543 total yards—over three times as many as UCF—while holding the ball three fewer minutes than the Knights. UCF scored their only offensive points—a Kyle Israel rush for a touchdown, and a field goal—in the first half. UCF and South Florida would also exchange safeties.

2008

In what was the final meeting of the War on I-4 for many years, the visiting Bulls downed the Knights 31–24 in a closely contested overtime battle. With UCF trailing 24–10 late in the 4th quarter, quarterback Michael Greco threw two touchdown passes in less than a minute, including passes of 13 yards to Corey Rabazinski and 31 yards to Rocky Ross, to tie the game at 24 with 1:40 remaining in regulation. South Florida won the game when they stopped UCF on a 4th and short in overtime. USF players were criticized for bringing shovels onto the field after the game as a final gesture to "bury the Knights".

2013

Despite turning the ball over five times, the Knights found a way to earn their first victory in the rivalry against South Florida. Running back Storm Johnson fumbled the ball on UCF's first two drives, including a drop at the Bulls 10 yard line. Trailing with under five minutes left in regulation, UCF quarterback Blake Bortles found wide receiver Breshad Perriman for a 52-yard go ahead touchdown reception. With 1:20 left in the fourth quarter and charging down the field, South Florida quarterback Mike White was intercepted by CB Jordan Ozerities, and he returned the ball 52 yards to the Bulls 37 yard line. The Knights ran out the clock for the victory.

2014

After a scoreless first quarter, Justin Holman led the Knights on a 17 play, 80 yard scoring drive to open the second quarter. The Knights held the Bulls offense to a three and out on the next series, which was followed by an 8 play, 73 yard scoring drive by UCF capped off by a 21-yard run from Rannell Hall. UCF held South Florida to 200 yards of total offense, 5 yards rushing, and forced three turnovers on downs. The Bulls missed a field goal and were not able to convert on three UCF turnovers. This was the first time that South Florida had been shut out at home.

2015

After scoring a field goal on their first drive, the Knights were shut out by the Bulls defense. The Bulls held UCF to 203 yards of total offense and caught two interceptions. Scoring 44 unanswered points and gaining 455 offensive yards, South Florida handed UCF their twelfth loss of the season, guaranteeing their second winless campaign since 2004. For the first time since 1995, UCF wore black jerseys and black pants. USF, on the other hand, completed one of the biggest single season turnarounds in college football history to finish 8–4 after a 1–3 start. This was the first, and to date, only time the game has been held on Thanksgiving night.

2016

The 2016 game was the first official War on I-4 football game and both teams entered the game having already secured bowl eligibility (UCF was 6–5 and USF was 9–2), for the first time since the 2007 meeting. This game is notable for escalating tensions between the two sides. Rather than taking a knee and ending the game with the Bulls leading by 10 in the closing seconds at the UCF one-yard line, USF coach Willie Taggart ran one final play for a touchdown, leading to a shoving match between the teams. Following the game, USF was ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls.

2017