It was a hot/sultry late afternoon/early evening kickoff as the USF Bulls kicked off their 2025 season against the first of three consecutive top 25 opponents, the Boise State Broncos.
As Alex Golesh told the team in the locker room after the game, “This ain’t the same old South Florida,” a quote he heard from the late Amir Abdur-Rahim during the season of their AAC Championship.
It was a bit scary early on, as it took a while for the Bulls to get going, but from the second quarter on, the Bulls had it in high gear both offensively and defensively. The Bulls outscored Boise State 34-0 and rolled to a 34-7 win against the 25th-ranked team in the country.
Byrum Brown’s versatility was on display all night as he ran for two touchdowns and accumulated 253 yards of offense.
USF won the coin toss to start the game, deferred till the second half, and kicked the ball to Boise State. Boise State took the opening kick and returned it to the 20-yard line.
11 plays later, USF would force the game’s first turnover, as Boise State quarterback Malix Madsen passed to Malik Sherrod for no gain. Sherrod was hit by linebacker Mac Harris, who fumbled the ball, which Jhalyn Shuler recovered, and the Bulls had the ball on offense for the first time.
The Bulls went a quick three-and-out as Brown was sacked for a loss of 11 yards on third down, creating a punting situation for the Bulls.
Boise State would score on its third drive of the game. A nine-play, 38-yard drive culminating with a six-yard touchdown pass from Maddox Madsen to Chris Marshall for six yards put the Broncos up 7-0.
USF would finally get its offense going on the last play of the first quarter, when Byrum Brown hit Chas Nimrod for a 37-yard completion to give the Bulls a first and ten at the 45. Until then, USF had -1 yards of offense as the Boise State defense was strong in the first quarter. The Broncos led 7-0 after one quarter.
USF had the ball to start the second quarter at the Boise State 29-yard line, but two consecutive holding penalties pushed the ball back to the Boise 49-yard line to set up third and long.
The Bulls got 15 yards back on a Brown to Alvon Isaac pass for 15 yards, before Nico Gramatica split the uprights with a 52-yard field goal, to cut the Boise State lead to 7-3.
After a Broncos punt, the Bulls went back to work on offense at the Boise State 20. Eight plays and 80 yards later, the Bulls had the lead as Brown ran up the middle 23 yards for a USF touchdown, and the Bulls took the lead 10-7. This drive was also highlighted by a 38-yard pass from Brown to wide receiver KeShaun Singleton to set the Bulls up in Boise State territory.
On their next drive, Boise State took the ball to the USF 36-yard line before Jonas Duclona forced a fumble, which was recovered by Ira Singleton and returned 36 yards to the USF 36. The Bulls could not capitalize on the excellent field position and went three and out with under two minutes to go in the half, turning the ball over to Boise State.
USF went to the locker room leading 10-7 at halftime.
Alex Golesh addressed the slow start. “It wasn’t awesome early for us offensively, tried to establish the run. We felt to get going, we had to shoot the ball down the field and were able to connect on enough of them to kind of spring the offense.”
Despite being outgained 183-128 in total yards and losing the time of possession to Boise State in the first half, the two fumble recoveries contributed to the Bulls leading 10-7 at halftime.
USF got the ball to start the second half, but gained just six yards on 15 plays due to a false start penalty, and they punted to Boise State.
Rico Watson III had his first sack of the season. His sack of Madsen pinned Boise deep in their territory at the two-yard line, forcing them to another punt.
USF got the ball and faced a fourth and five at the Boise 48-yard line. The Bulls were in punt formation and brought in when true freshman Locklawn Hewett threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to KeShaun Singleton, catching Boise State off-guard and giving the Bulls a 17-7 lead. It was one heck of a trick play.
On the ensuing drive, Boise State drove to the Bulls 23-yard line before Madsen misfired to Sire Gains, giving the ball back to USF.
It took all 1:03 and three plays for the Bulls to add to their lead. The big play was a 55-yard pass play from Brown to Chris Nimrod for 55 yards. Then a 15-yard touchdown run by Brown put the Bulls up 24-7, a lead they would never give up.
The Bulls started the fourth quarter, adding to their lead as Cartevious Norton ran for an eight-yard touchdown to give them an insurmountable 31-7 lead to start the fourth quarter.
Boise went 50 yards on ten plays before Madsen fumbled for the second time, just the fourth Boise State fumble of the game. Singleton recovered his second fumble, and the Bulls were back in business at Boise’s 38-yard line.
The Bulls would add one more score before the night was over, highlighted by a 49-yard pass by Issac to set the Bulls up first and ten at the Bronco 21-yard line. A 33-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica would extend the Bulls’ lead to 34-7.
Brown talked about his return to the field for the first time in 11 months. “Just wanted to set the tone. Bring some juice to the sideline. It was a blessing to be out there and play football again”
An aggressive USF defense completely dominated the game on Thursday night. The Bulls forced three fumbles and made four fourth-down stops in the win.
The Bulls were led by Shuler, who had a career high of 14 tackles. He also recovered a fumble. De’Shawn Rucker had 11 tackles, and Mac Harris had eight tackles and a forced fumble.
Golesh addressed the defensive effort by his team. “Our guys were incredibly gritty. You have to create turnovers. Talk about creating extra possessions. The three turnovers were monumental. The three turnovers were absolutely huge.”
This is USF’s first win against a top-25 opponent since the 2016 season, snapping a 19-game winless streak.
The Bulls will head to Gainesville to play another Top 25 team next weekend, the Florida Gators.