On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff committee unveiled its initial rankings. Their iteration of a top 25 was notably devoid of any American Conference representation, and the South Florida Bulls — which dabbled in the AP Poll throughout the year — clearly took exception to their snub. Twelve days fresh off their first conference defeat, the Bulls delivered quite a resounding Thursday night statement in front of an ESPN national television audience, stampeding UTSA, 55-23.
“I thought it
was as clean of a ballgame as you can have,” South Florida head coach Alex Golesh said. “I thought the response, which is truly what defines you, was huge.”
The game launched in absurdly unique fashion, featuring an opening sequence that perhaps has never occurred in any FBS or NFL game. UTSA completed four entire possessions before South Florida even took an offensive snap. The Roadrunners already ran 26 plays when Byrum Brown and the Bulls’ offense trotted onto the field for the first time with 2:07 remaining in the first quarter.
“That was as unique of a first quarter as I’ve been apart of in my coaching career, having the defense out there as long as we did,” Golesh said. “I’ve never warmed an offense back up during a TV timeout before, but we did it.”
How did such a bizarre circumstance unfold in Tampa?
On the opening play from scrimmage, UTSA quarterback Owen McCown’s deep shot to Patrick Overmyer was picked off by free safety Tavin Ward, who ran 40 yards for his first career touchdown — only bleeding eight seconds of clock in the process. UTSA’s second drive was far more productive, invading the South Florida end zone. However, South Florida nickel Jarvis Lee forced a strip sack on McCown, jarring the ball loose and into the hands of strong safety Fred Gaskin. Immediately upon recovering, Gaskin was granted a free 85-yard sprint the other direction, becoming the second USF safety to score in the first eight minutes of action.
“We wanted to make a statement,” Lee said. “We had a bad taste in our mouth last game from the loss to Memphis. Last game we didn’t finish. We wanted to play fast and physical and show the world what we can do.”
South Florida housing back-to-back defensive touchdowns forced McCown and the Roadrunner offense back on the field for a third-straight series. This time presented a twist as the Bulls forced a punt instead of a turnover. But as USF’s offense eagerly awaited its first snap, the unit was put on hold yet again. USF muffed the punt and UTSA recovered, initiating a fourth Roadrunner drive before South Florida saw its first. The fourth try was a charm as UTSA notched a field goal, setting South Florida’s lead at 14-3 when the offense crafted up its first play.
“The shock of us being out there the whole quarter — that’s weird,” UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor said. “We played a whole half of football in the first quarter. It was just weird. There was no disadvantage. If anything, you’d think it would be an advantage because their defense is out there a lot. They’re so deep. They got so many good players. They’ve done a really good job of that roster, and they’ve coached their tails off. Congrats to them and South Florida’s entire program.”
If the first quarter wasn’t bizarre enough, the second quarter only added to Thursday night’s unorthodox game. As the field flipped to start the period, both offenses became fully unstoppable, rattling off four rapid fire touchdowns in less than a 5-minute span. South Florida scored at the 14:55 mark, UTSA responded at the 13:46 mark, and the Bulls reached the end zone again at the 12:21 and the 10:15 mark, setting the score at 35-10 in favor of the home team.
“They answered the bell,” Golesh said. “I think when the defense plays the way it does, it’s contagious. As much as everybody knows I like offensive football, I’m a defensive guy at heart, and I’m self-aware enough that you win ballgames on defense.”
South Florida notched another first half touchdown on a 40-yard heave from Brown to Keshaun Singleton. Just about everything Brown launched landed into his receivers’ hands, as the quarterback finished the first half 9-of-9 with 175 passing yards, 87 rushing yards, and three total touchdowns. The game was virtually wrapped up by halftime with South Florida charging to a 45-10 lead, running just 23 first half plays and averaging 15.2 yards per snap.
“I was just playing the next play like Coach preaches,” Brown said. “We were all clicking, and I guess that’s what happens.”
There was no shortage of stellar individual outings for the Bulls. Brown finished with 239 passing yards on a 14-of-15 performance, rattling off 109 rushing yards in the dual-threat domination — the first . Keshaun Singleton added a career-high 122 yards and two touchdowns as USF’s top receiver. Then defensively, Jarvis Lee logged six tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble from the secondary, while USF as a whole raided UTSA’s backfield with six sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
“His process, his attention to detail, his intent every day when we comes in this building — he has chip on his shoulder and incredible story,” Golesh said of Lee. “That’s a highly, highly motivated young man that plays with a chip on his shoulder and plays with violent intent.”
UTSA (4-5, 2-3 American) falls below .500, and the Roadrunners must generate three more victories for a sixth-straight winning season under Traylor. Falling to 1-11 in their last 12 road games, the Roadrunners aim to fix these struggles after the bye week when they travel to Charlotte on Nov. 15.
“We’ll be fine,” Traylor said. “They’re gonna bounce back and play well.”
South Florida (7-2, 4-1 American) produced seven regular season wins for the first time since 2018, remaining in prime position for its first-ever American Conference Championship Game appearance. Firmly in control of their own destiny, the Bulls must handle a remaining schedule of Navy, UAB, and Rice to qualify for that coveted stage.
“As long as you’re playing meaningful football, that’s really, really what you’re shooting for,” Golesh said. “I told these guys going into the fourth quarter, ‘Enjoy this moment. You worked hard. You worked really hard to look around any be up whatever we were up.’ This is hard. A lot of hard has gone into this. Then tomorrow morning, we’ll clean up. Saturday, we’ll clean up, and then we’ll get ahead on Navy. At this point in our lives, the only thing that matters is the United States Naval Academy.”
