One game after the USF Bulls needed a Michael Van Buren 38-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds to beat Army at West Point, USF completely avoided similar theatrics. The Bulls beat Delaware State 59-17 on a rainy Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium.
Following a half-hour rain delay, a rainbow appeared as the Bulls opened their first matchup against a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) team in nearly two years.
Calling plays opposite of USF head coach Brain Hartline was Delaware State head coach DeSean Jackson. Like Hartline, Jackson carved out a multi-year career as an NFL wide receiver.
The Raymond James sideline was a familiar spot for Jackson, who caught passes for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two of his 15 seasons as a pro (2017-2018). Jackson led Delaware State to an 8-4 record last year as a first-time head coach.
“[Delaware State] is not nearly as blessed with probably the resources that we have here at South Florida, just calling a spade a spade, and he’s doing a great job with who he has and the belief in it,” Hartline said postgame. “Those players are really prideful of having a head coach like that.”
Recap
USF only needed four plays to jump out in front. Running back D.J. Crowther found the endzone first on a 10-yard run that put USF up 7-0.
Delaware State crossed the 50-yard line on the ensuing drive, but a 49-yard field goal attempt from Hornets kicker Patrick Butler-Fisher sailed wide right. The Hornets held strong, however, forcing a USF punt which would lead to a 90-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ui Ale to receiver Nathan Stewart.
Crowther put the Bulls back in front nearly two minutes later, breaking off for a 38-yard touchdown run down the right sideline to end the first quarter with USF ahead 14-7. Out-running FCS defenders is nothing new for Crowther, who rushed for 1302 yards and 13 touchdowns over four years at Dartmouth at the Ivy League level (2022-25).
“D.J. did a great job of not letting the first guy make the play, and probably at times for sure we didn’t head it up correctly, and from a front perspective, o-line tight ends, and D.J. kind of was the eraser,” Hartline said.
Bulls quarterback Luke Kromenhoek did not win the starting battle against Van Buren, but Hartline has found ways to keep him involved. Kromenhoek took a designed keeper up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
With just over four minutes until halftime, Delaware State fought back with a 23-yard field goal. A 20-yard touchdown catch by Jaylin Terzado three minutes later cut the Bulls lead to just four points.
On Delaware State’s goal line with two seconds remaining, Hartline again called on Kromenhoek, who called his own number once more for a one-yard touchdown run that put USF up 28-17 at the half. A USF quarterback has not rushed for two touchdowns off the bench since B.J. Daniels in 2009, when he replaced Matt Grothe during a 59-0 win against Charleston Southern.
Almost four and a half minutes into the second half, Crowther punched in his third score from 39 yards out to increase the Bulls’ point total to 35. Crowther’s third rushing touchdown makes him the first Bull to do so since Jaren Mangham against Florida A&M University in 2021.
USF running back Jason Collins Jr. recorded the team’s sixth rushing touchdown from Delaware State’s five with 3:18 left in the third.
After tallying six rushing touchdowns for the first time since 2024 against Charlotte University, USF got one through the air two minutes into the fourth. On the Hornets five-yard-line, receiver Joshua Porter caught a dump off from Van Buren, and spun two defenders for a five-yard touchdown.
A 45-yard touchdown run from running back Chase Garnett four minutes later brought the Bulls rushing touchdown total to seven. USF had not scored seven times on the ground since the program ran in eight during its inaugural game against Kentucky Wesleyan in 1997. The Bulls would go on to win that game 80-3.
“Credit to our O-line for just being big and nasty today, and just imposing their will against our opponents,” Van Buren said.
Kicker Nico Gramatica capped off the Bulls’ 59-point outing in the final two minutes with a 20-yard field goal.
Now 3-0 for the first time since 2018, USF seeks to remain undefeated when they travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to face the Falcons at Doyt Perry Stadium on Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. EST.