The South Florida Bulls were the story of college football for two weeks.
USF faced perhaps one of the country’s most challenging gauntlets to open the season, and through the first two legs of the gauntlet, the Bulls proved they were built for it. Pegged with the underdog label, South Florida defended its home turf and pulverized the reigning College Football Playoff 3-seed Boise State 34-7. That wasn’t enough to receive a ranking and Alex Golesh’s team demanded national respect. So the next week,
their defense doubled down against Florida, winning a low-scoring rock fight 18-16 on a walk-off field goal.
South Florida vaulted to No. 18 — its highest ranking since 2017 — after securing back-to-back ranked wins for the first time in program history. Except there was no time to rest, because the most daunting challenge to date awaited the Bulls. USF traveled south for a ranked matchup at No. 5 Miami (FL), and the Hurricanes proved the merit of their ranking. Miami left no doubt and handed the Bulls a 49-12 defeat that was awfully reminiscent of the 50-15 result between the programs the year prior.
True freshman Joshua Moore was the early star of the show for The U. The wide receiver caught two first quarter touchdown balls, making a spectacular contested catch on a 39-yard heave from quarterback Carson Beck. Miami led 14-0, but the Bulls’ offense moved the ball fluidly in the early going. South Florida pierced well into Hurricane territory on two of its first three drives. However, it was trading touchdowns for field goals as Nico Gramatica — the hero in the win over Florida — sunk his only two attempts to make the score 14-6.
That’s when Miami cranked up the intensity on both sides. The Hurricanes secured a 21-0 run spanning from the early second quarter to the start of the fourth, spearheaded by a suffocating defense that showed tremendous improvement from 2024. South Florida faltered on six consecutive series that featured fewer than five plays, going three-and-out four times and turning it over twice during a nightmare stretch. Miami capitalized on USF’s offensive futility with a stellar performance by Beck, who attained 340 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Running back Mark Fletcher also kept USF’s defense on its toes, posting 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a decisive Hurricane win.
South Florida’s offense finally got back to Earth when Byrum Brown connected with Christian Neptune in the early fourth quarter for the Bulls’ lone touchdown. But it was too late. Miami added two late touchdowns to deliver the finishing blows on a game that knocked USF out of the AP Poll.
Miami (3-0, 0-0 ACC) moved up one spot from No. 5 to No. 4 after knocking off South Florida for the fifth-straight meeting dating back to 2011. The Hurricanes conclude their non-conference slate next Saturday when they host CollegeGameday, welcoming another in-state opponent in Florida to town.
South Florida (2-1, 0-0 American) dropped two the second highest-team in the ‘others receiving votes’ column in the AP Poll after a short-lived stay in the rankings. For the first time in 2025, USF can finally prepare for an opponent without a number beside its name. The Bulls return to Raymond James Stadium to host South Carolina State of the FCS, hoping to hop back into the poll in the near future.
