The largest crowd of the season at Raymond James Stadium and the largest homecoming crowd in USF history welcomed the Bulls back home for their annual homecoming game against FAU after dismantling North Texas 63-36 last weekend on the road.
FAU, winners of two of their last three, were looking to derail USF’s postseason plans with their air raid passing attack.
FAU won the toss but deferred so the USF Bulls started the game on offense.
Byrum Brown took the ball and led the Bulls on a 12-play, 75-yard drive, which was highlighted by a 22-yard touchdown run by Brown, giving USF a 7-0 lead.
FAU took the ensuing kickoff and drove 51 yards into USF territory where Garrison Smith kicked a 45-yard field goal to make it 7-3. Mac Harris had a sack of Caden Veltkamp to help stall the FAU drive.
Nico Gramatica also missed on a 43-yard field goal attempt, and the first quarter ended with USF holding a 7-3 lead and the ball to start the second quarter.
Seven plays and 75 yards later, the Bulls were in the end zone again. Brown hit Jonathan Echols with a 19-yard touchdown pass, and the Bulls had a 14-3 lead.
The Bulls then executed a perfect onside kick, which JayQuan Smith recovered to set the Bulls’ offense up at the FAU 33-yard line. That drive ended with a one-yard touchdown run by offensive linemen Cole Skinner, his second touchdown of the season, to put the Bulls up 21-3.
Smith would kick a 28-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, with USF holding a 21-6 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
USF held the Owls to just 119 yards of total offense in the first half, including -4 yards rushing. The Bulls put up 243 yards of offense, led by Brown and his 173 yards of total offense. The Bulls ran for 164 yards and had 79 passing yards in the first half.
FAU took the second-half kickoff and went 75 yards in eight plays, capped off by a Veltkamp three-yard touchdown pass to Michael Kirch, making it a one-score game as USF led 21-13.
USF would go back on offense and need just four plays to get into field goal range, and this time, Gramatica put it right through the uprights from 41 yards, and the Bulls led 24-13.
After FAU had the ball and could not do anything offensively, the Bulls got the ball back, took it 71 yards down the field, and took a 31-13 lead. It was a 24-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Wyatt Sullivan, his first touchdown of the year.
USF had the ball to start the fourth quarter and took just 1:19 to get into the end zone. Brown hit Jeremiah Koger for a 50-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulls up 38-13. This was the third straight game in which Koger caught a touchdown pass.
With FAU on the move and USF needing a turnover, Rico Watson picked off Veltkamp for the first turnover of the night for the Bulls. This is the 15th straight game that the Bulls have forced a turnover. USF has seven fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions on the season.
The Bulls’ offense took over at the FAU 45-yard line and took just five plays to reach the end zone. Nykhai Davenport sealed the deal with a two-yard touchdown to give the Bulls an insurmountable 45-13 lead with 9:05 left in the game.
A 28-yard field goal by Gramatica would end the scoring for the night and put the Bulls up 48-13 with 2:50 to play in the game.
FAU would get one more chance on offense, but the USF defense stopped the Owls’ offense and earned the 48-13 win.
The Bulls continued their dominance in the AAC with a win against their arch-rival FAU, but a big game lurks next weekend at Memphis. The Bulls are now 3-0 in conference play and 6-1 overall.
With the win, the Bulls became bowl eligible, but head coach Alex Golesh was none too excited. “I guess we became bowl eligible tonight,” Golesh said. “And I don’t know if a single young guy in that locker room gives one heck about being bowl eligible, but I said it 2 years ago, I said it last year, that’s not the standard, it’ll never be the standard. We got to continue to press forward.”
Golesh also discussed the big game at Memphis next week and told the team they just had to shut out the noise.
“I told these guys, shut out any outside noise you get. We’re gonna continue to get pats on our back for doing really well in these games every week as we go. But, a pat on the back and a slap on the face are 18 inches apart, and it’s really, really fresh.”
USF will continue to focus on the process and mindset that they have not won anything yet. At 6-1, every game is a little bit bigger because of what is at stake.
And the next big one is Saturday at Memphis in a noon kickoff on ESPN.
-Byrum Brown had his seventh career 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 111 yards on the ground and one touchdown. This was his second 100-yard rushing game of the season.
-Attendance was 45,169, the largest homecoming attendance in USF history. This was also the largest attendance at a USF home football game since they played Louisville in 2009.