A group of students show their spirit with body painting and other zaniness at USF games.
By JAY CRIDLIN, Times Staff Writer
Published September 9, 2005
TAMPA - The biggest, baddest Beef Stud of all has a deep, dark, blue and orange secret.
"Everybody in my family was a Gator," said Brandon Faza, with more than a touch of shame. "So I was raised a Gator. I had to be a Gators fan."
That changed the day he set foot on the University of South Florida campus. That's when he became a Bull for life.
"I was the family tradition-breaker, I suppose," he said.
For USF students, though, it's the other way around. Faza became the one who started traditions.
If you've ever attended a USF football game, you've probably seen a line of rabid, painted student fans on the scoreboard monitor, or running around the stadium in the fourth quarter.
Those would be the Beef Studs. Or the Beef Babes, depending on the gender.
Faza and some friends founded the group in 2002, and since then the Beef Studs - who are mostly honor students - have become the face of fandom for USF football. Grass skirts, viking horns, the unmistakable green and gold chest paint - they're "the craziest part of the football game," said junior Beef Babe Brittany Link, 20.
So great is the group's influence that it has become role models for the Student Bulls Club, USF's official school spirit group. The SBC has renamed its members the Bullies, an edgier nod to the Beef Studs. Link, an SBC board member, wants to surround the Studs with student seats, hoping the Studs' rabid enthusiasm will spread up the stands.
"Anybody that runs up and says, "Hey, gimme some paint,' we'll paint 'em," Link said. "The guys get out there and strip, and the girls paint."
The Beef Studs weren't the first Bulls fans to play dress-up. Back in 2000, students Brian Hope and Walter Price started painting their bodies at games, nicknaming themselves the Green and Gold Guys. But it wasn't until 2002, when honor students Faza and Ryan Capahi purchased two tubes of acrylic paint at Wal-Mart, that the tradition took hold.
"We'd see people on TV up at UF that would be painted in blue and orange, and we'd say, "Why doesn't anybody do that here?' " Faza said.
For the first home game of the 2002 season, he, Capahi and friend Alex Velazquez painted the letters U, S and F on their chests, donned bath towels - the forebears of the grass skirt - and went to the stadium.
The next year, the Studs applied to become an official student organization and asked for funds from the USF Honors College. They received $50 for body paint, and started recruiting members at student orientation and Raymond James Stadium.
"We'd set up camp right in front of the student entrance," Faza said. "We'd try to pull people over and say, "Hey, would you mind if we painted your face? Would you show a little Bulls spirit?' Every once in a while, there would be someone who'd just rip their shirt off and say, "Paint me up!' "
The group had about 30 members last year, and will almost certainly top that for the Bulls' Sept. 17 matchup with Central Florida, where many USF students have friends.
Faza graduated in May and is now a med student at Miami, but he'll be back for Saturday's home opener against Florida A&M. In fact, the Beef Studs appear to have grown in his absence. How has this happened?
Part of it is the football program's increased visibility on a national level. Joining Conference-USA - and this year, the Big East - gave the program real credibility, something students who grew up cheering for the Gators or Seminoles could actually support.
"At USF, you see a lot of students walking around with other schools' shirts on," said senior Alec Smith, 21, the group's president. "We're all about USF only. We see people wearing shirts like that, and it just makes our skin crawl."
The university is also becoming, well, more like a university. USF housed 2,614 students on campus in fall 1998, the Bulls' second year with a football team. Last fall, it was about 4,300 students.
"Having lived on campus, having immersed themselves in campus life . . . those are generally the people that have a lot of school spirit," Faza said.
That, he added, helps create a buzz in the community. "I see a lot of area businesses that are putting up "This is Bulls Country' posters, and giving USF student discounts," he said. "There's a lot of potential in the city of Tampa."
But with a new slate of students every four years, it's tough to keep traditions alive. Smith said that while he's confident the Studs have enough young members to stay strong for years, the group is debating whether to renew its position as an official student organization, opting to skip the paperwork and just have fun. "It's actually a lot easier," he said.
One gimmick that looks like it'll survive: Win or lose, with about a minute left in every home game, the Beef Studs leave their seats and run around the stadium, screaming their horned heads off in an attempt to rile up the crowd.
"Most of the students know who we are, but most of the families don't," Link said. "We have little kids coming up to us - "Can we get your autograph?' "
The official SBC Club drew about 90 members to football games last year. This year, club officials want to sign up 300, outfit them with identical T-shirts, and pack them into one section surrounding the Beef Studs. Then, as school spirit grows, the group will recruit members at St. Petersburg and other campuses.
"Next I want to see President Genshaft with some paint on her face, and then it'll be complete," Link said, laughing. "We're still working on that."
