{"id":34211,"date":"2025-11-05T12:13:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/34211\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T12:13:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:13:43","slug":"how-usf-athletics-broke-the-internet-with-a-3ds-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/34211\/","title":{"rendered":"How USF Athletics broke the internet with a 3DS \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo courtesy of Clark Stanton<\/p>\n

By Dominic Feo<\/p>\n

The University of South Florida\u2019s football team is going through a historic season, already winning as many games (6) before November as the team finished with its last two seasons.\u00a0While that success has made its own headlines, the team\u2019s social media presence is also getting its own spotlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When senior digital communication and multimedia journalism major Clark Stanton isn\u2019t driving over an hour from Parrish to take his classes at USF St. Petersburg, he is at Raymond James Stadium, recording USF football games from the sidelines as a social media intern for USF Athletics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before USF\u2019s game against the University of Florida on Sept. 6, Stanton learned he would be recording with a device he knew very well.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy boss [Director of Digital and Social Content Carlee Calfee] texts in the group chat, \u2018Does anyone still have a DS? Just out of curiosity,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Yeah, of course,\u2019\u201d Stanton told The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cI\u2019m a gamer, I still have my DS from when I was like, 12.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While other interns recorded the game on cameras and phones, Stanton brought his Nintendo 3DS XL Mario and Luigi Dreamland edition console to Gainesville. When the Bulls kicked the game-winning field goal to upset Florida 18-16<\/a>, the nation\u2019s eyes were on USF\u2019s social media, which peered into the Bulls\u2019 success through Stanton\u2019s 3DS<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe filmed the game-winning field goal on it, got all the theatrics post-game, threw it together and it did well on social media,\u201d Stanton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stanton\u2019s definition of \u201cwell\u201d was millions of combined views from ESPN, Overtime, Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Barstool Sports and Bleacher Report\u2018s reposts of USF Athletics\u2019 video on Instagram. USF Athletics had struck an engagement gold mine, and they intended to keep digging.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two weeks later, Stanton filmed USF\u2019s following home game against S.C. State with a Ring Doorbell<\/a>. Stanton, who suggested the idea, still refers to it as his \u201cpersonal favorite.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was interactive, it was so fun having players and [Head coach] Alex Golesh come up and ring the doorbell and have the sound play, I think that was really, really fun,\u201d Stanton said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The video was once again reposted by Yahoo Sports and USF Athletics got its first repost from the Instagram account FieldRush and \u201cX\u201d account \u201cnocontextcollegefootball\u201d with over 200 thousand followers on their respective platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first device that Stanton needed to purchase was a trail cam, which he used to record USF\u2019s 54-26 home win against Charlotte<\/a> on Oct. 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like 65-70 bucks, which I don\u2019t mind at all,\u201d Stanton said. \u201cOne day, when I own a house, I\u2019m going to set it up somewhere in my backyard.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stanton recorded the Bulls\u2019 next game at the University of North Texas on Oct. 10 with a Nokia cellphone<\/a>. After Bleacher Report reposted the video, ESPN and CBS made posts on Instagram showcasing all the devices he had used to that point. ESPN\u2019s post generated over four million views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy of Clark Stanton<\/p>\n

Since Sept. 6, Stanton\u2019s USF Athletics posts and reposts from other accounts have amassed over 17 million views across all social media platforms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For USF\u2019s latest home bout against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 18, Stanton recorded with a device not even intended to export footage. Trying to compile footage from a car backup camera <\/a>was Stanton\u2019s hardest task to date.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After attempts to attach a DVR to several backup cameras fell through, Stanton found a model with a DVR built in. Needing to capture the audio with a separate microphone, he ran into a unique problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time when you\u2019re [syncing audio] in any sort of film industry, you do a clap test before you start rolling,\u201d Stanton said. \u201c[You] can\u2019t really do that when it\u2019s a Byrum Brown<\/a> touchdown clip, it\u2019s a kind of a \u2018Quickly press recording and film it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy of Clark Stanton<\/p>\n

The stars on the various recording devices have been Brown and the other USF players who get a kick out of seeing what Stanton and USF Athletics have in store for them next.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis series wouldn\u2019t be the series without the players, there\u2019s some guys who love the camera and love to figure out what it is for this week and come up to me immediately, pregame like, \u2018Alright, what do we got?\u2019\u201d Stanton said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is hard to find someone who loves the camera more than sophomore offensive lineman Tyreek Major<\/a>, who has dropped numerous pop culture references throughout the series. Mentioning everything from Drake to Bigfoot, Major told The Crow\u2019s Nest that showing off his meme knowledge in the series reminds him of his childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was one of those kids back in middle school, elementary school, even high school, just saying memes and just having fun, I think they\u2019re all funny,\u201d Major said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Stanton credited the absurd nature of the series for capturing the attention of college-aged students and USF football student-athletes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone scrolls on their feed and they\u2019re like, \u2018All right, what are we doing? We\u2019re recording on backup cameras now? This is ridiculous,\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To watch what Stanton uses to record the Bulls\u2019 Nov. 6 matchup versus the University of Texas at San Antonio, students can claim tickets on the USF Athletics website<\/a> or tune into ESPN at 7:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 230 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Dominic Feo<\/a> on November 4, 2025.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier<\/a>