It's a Victory Rewind of the sights, sound bites, stats, highlights and learning experiences of USF's 42-29 triumph against the Rice Owls, while beginning the lookahead to Saturday afternoon's road game against the Navy Midshipmen.
The Big Play
There are so many possibilities, but we'll go with the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Trailing 14-13, the Bulls opened with a 51-yard bomb down the right sideline from quarterback Byrum Brown to receiver Naiem Simmons. Talk about a powerful tone-setter for USF's 29-point second half. And as Coach Alex Golesh revealed, it was Brown's halftime idea to come out guns a-blazing with a deep-passing, attack mentality.
At Brown's suggestion, the Bulls utilized some two-tight end sets to maximize protection and allow him to work the perimeter. Golesh said he thought the play-calling was "too greedy'' with trying for chunk plays through the first three games, often forcing things instead of just letting them happen.
"Isolate those guys on the outside and let them work,'' Golesh said. "I thought Byrum was settled and super poised. He was really into it. It was actually his idea. I don't know whether I should say that. Maybe I should take credit for it. But it was that 18-year-old kid (Brown) in the locker room. It really was.''
The Bulls ended the game with a season-best 12 explosive plays, including five connections between Brown and Simmons of 42 yards or better.
Game Balls
• Not only did Simmons set a USF program record for receiving yards (272 on eight receptions for a 34-yard average, including catches of 53, 51, 42, 49 and 52 yards), but it was also a state of Florida record for single-game receiving yards by an FBS player.
• Brown accounted for 517 total yards (second in program history) and three touchdowns. He was 22-for-29 passing (75%) with 435 yards (second in program history) and two scores, while rushing for 82 yards and another TD. Brown continues to lead all FBS quarterbacks and the American Athletic Conference in rushing with 351 yards and his 517 total yards were the most for any FBS player on the year.
Note: Brown's 19th birthday is Friday.
• Place-kicker John Cannon hit field-goal attempts of 31 and 40 yards in the first half. He's now 5-for-5 this season, with a pair of makes of 40-plus yards.
• Linebacker DJ Gordon tied for the team lead in tackles (6), while registering two tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks. With Rice leading 21-20 in the third quarter, Gordon and Tramel Logan dumped Rice quarterback JT Daniels for a 7-yard loss on fourth-and-8 from the USF 38-yard line.
• Defensive lineman Jonathan Ross, a former NCAA Division II All-American at Bowie State, had his most productive game with five tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and one sack. Ross sacked Daniels for an 11-yard loss on second-and-goal from the USF 6-yard line. It led to a failed 30-yard field-goal attempt by Rice's Tim Horn.
Notable Numbers
1 — Rushing yards by Rice, which was the sixth-lowest by a USF opponent and the fewest since Temple was held to minus-4 yards rushing on Sept. 21, 2017.
8 — Number of FBS teams from the state of Texas that have been defeated by USF (Houston, North Texas, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech and UTEP).
11 — Tackles for a loss by USF's defense, marking the second time this season for double-digit TFL's and 31 in the last three games.
24 — Number of receptions for Sean Atkins, USF's team leader. He had a combined 29 in his previous four seasons.
46-14 — USF's all-time record in September home games.
247 — Yards gained in the third quarter by USF on 20 plays from scrimmage. That's 12.35 yards per play!
597 — USF's total offense yardage, which ranked 11th in program history and was the Bulls' highest total since they rolled up 646 yards against UCF on Nov. 27, 2020.
Off And Running In The American
USF (2-2, 1-0 AAC) ended a 13-game losing streak in the American Athletic Conference and won its conference opener for the first time since 2018, providing happiness and hope for Bulls fans everywhere.
Pardon Alex Golesh for not throwing a parade.
"It doesn't mean anything more or less than our process was right enough to go win a football game,'' Golesh said. "I don't know the other significance of it. I wasn't here. I don't really care. I care about our process being right last week to be able to go 1-0. And that's it. And then tomorrow … nobody cares.
"We're going to celebrate (Saturday night) and then move on. It's the next building block for us as a program. I'm not minimizing any of that (success). But I think when you start compartmentalizing that, like it's the first one in this (much time) … no, we were just wanting to win the game and we beat a good team. It's the next step for our group.''
Golesh's attitude was reflected in his players' reaction to the win.
"Well, there's a lot (of satisfaction),'' Brown said. "But this is one of many (victories).''
Naiem Simmons
Record-Setting Receiver
Consider the quality of wide receivers who have played at a college in the state of Florida. Four are in the College Football Hall of Fame (Florida's Carlos Alvarez, Florida State's Fred Biletnikoff, Florida's Wes Chandler and Florida State's Ron Sellers). Twenty were NFL first-round draft picks.
But in one category, USF's Naiem Simmons stands alone.
Simmons, a transfer from Football Championship Subdivision program Wagner, set a single-game receiving yardage record for state of Florida FBS players with his 272 yards (on eight catches) against Rice. And he also shattered the USF single-game record (227 yards on nine catches by Tyre McCants against UCF in 2017).
"I don't think it has hit me yet,'' Simmons said after the game. "When I got back (on the sideline), all my teammates were cheering me on. Obviously, I'm happy, but they're even more happy than I am. They showed me a whole bunch of love.''
It's difficult to predict a 272-yard receiving game for any player, but Golesh said he sensed something big was about to happen for Simmons, who was recruited as a slot receiver but now mostly plays on the outside.
"I told Naiem on Friday that he was going to break out because his process all week had been really awesome,'' Golesh said. "You come in, you work, you get extra reps, you sit there on the JUGS machine every day after practice. It will pay you back. I promise you it will.
"I told him it wasn't just because we were going to throw it to him a bunch of times. I just knew it was going to pay him back. When you pour into your process, whether it's football or life, it will pay you back. It has for me and it has for the elite teams I've been on. It was a state of Florida record or something like that … but it has nothing to do with anything else other than he was prepared for the moment when those balls were in the air.''
FLORIDA FBS PROGRAM SINGLE-GAME RECEIVING YARDS
Player, School Yds. Rec. Opponent Date
1. Naiem Simmons, USF 272 8 Rice 9/23/23
2. Siaha Burley, UCF 266 10 Louisiana 10/24/98
3. Ron Sellers, FSU 260 14 Wake Forest 11/23/68
4. Ron Sellers, FSU 259 16 South Carolina 10/26/68
5. Peter Warrick, FSU 249 8 Clemson 9/20/97
6. Taylor Jacobs, UF 246 8 UAB 8/31/02
7. Travis Rudolph, FSU 238 13 Wake Forest 10/16/16
8. Carlos Alvarez, UF 237 15 Miami 11/29/69
9. Siaha Burley, UCF 231 8 South Carolina 9/6/97
10. Ron Sellers, FSU 229 8 Virginia Tech 11/11/67
Note: The FBS single-game receiving yards record is 405 (21 receptions) by Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards against Nebraska on Aug. 29, 1998. Jacquay Nunnally of Florida A&M, an FCS program, had 289 receiving yards against North Carolina A&T in 1997.
Next-Play Mentality
Leading 20-14 in the third quarter, the Bulls were poised to take a comfortable lead. But on first-and-goal from the Rice 2-yard line, USF running back Nay'Quan Wright lurched toward the end zone, then lost a fumble to Rice's Marcus Williams for a touchback. On the next play, Daniels hit Dean Connors for an 80-yard touchdown and the Bulls, stunningly, went from the verge of taking a two touchdown lead to the Owls owning a 21-20 advantage.
How did USF recover so effectively?
"Really disappointed in the fumble … because that's the biggest point swing you can ever have, going from being on the 1-yard line to giving up seven (points),'' Golesh said. "Literally, all we talk about is 'next play.' I was so disappointed, but there were probably 15 players saying to me, 'Next play, coach.'
"Last week, the defense had the answer when the offense turned it over. This week, the offense responded. That's complementary football. That's called playing the next play. I'm really proud of it. I wasn't proud of what the heck was going on (fumble and allowing a quick Rice touchdown), but then I was proud of the response for sure.''
DJ Gordon
Behind The Curtain
A few observations on game elements that didn't get the primary headlines:
• Simmons' performance got the attention — justifiably so — but Khafre Brown's 59-yard one-handed catch in stride was among the most acrobatic receptions in USF history.
• Rice's Daniels (27-for-40, 432 yards) was among the most formidable quarterbacks ever seen by the Bulls. He was on the way to setting a passing-yardage record for a USF opposing quarterback (463 by Cincinnati's Zach Collaros in 2010) and had an outside shot at Rice's record (541 by Chase Clement in 2007) as well.
But after being sacked by Gordon late in the third quarter, Daniels suffered the dreaded "lower body injury'' and didn't return, giving way to A.J. Padgett, who struggled.
"I think the quarterback (Daniels) is a really good player and it probably helped us that he didn't play in the latter part of the game,'' Golesh said.
• Sixth-year left tackle Donovan Jennings, who has 38 career starts, didn't play after coming up with an injury last week in practice. R.J. Perry shifted from the right to left side and generally held up pretty well. Golesh said he believes Jennings will be ready to play this week.
• Golesh lamented the USF penalties (nine flags for 89 yards), particularly because a handful were foolish and unnecessary, such as illegal celebration and a personal foul on the sideline. "My message to the team is if we're going to do this, then act like you've done it before,'' Golesh said. "Act like you've been there before, man. You look in our locker room … and we haven't (been there). So now we have. So just give the ball back to the official and go celebrate with your teammates. Act like you've been there. It's part of us growing as a football program.''
USF is ranked 125th nationally in penalty yards (39 penalties for 343 yards). Its next opponent, the Navy Midshipmen, is ranked first (nine penalties for 71 yards).
Marlon Mack was one of three Bulls to run for 100-plus yards vs. Navy in 2016
USF's Third Trip To Navy
The Bulls face the Navy Midshipmen (1-2, 0-1 AAC) for the first time since 2019 (the scheduled 2020 meeting in Tampa was cancelled by COVID).
USF is 1-2 against Navy, including a 52-45 home win in 2016 (when Navy was ranked No. 22 nationally) and two defeats in Annapolis, Maryland (29-17 in 2015 and 35-3 in 2019).
Navy was beaten 42-3 against Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland in the Week Zero opener. The Midshipmen downed FCS opponent Wagner, 24-0, then were defeated by Memphis, 28-24, in their AAC opener.
Navy's bright spot was running back Alex Tecza, who rushed 15 times for 169 yards against Memphis.
Navy, known for its brutally effective option offense during the 15-season tenure of Ken Niumatalolo, is now coached by former defensive coordinator Brian Newberry, who has incorporated a more multiple offensive approach.
– #GoBulls–
