Takeaways, highlights, notables, sights, sound bites and learning experiences from USF's 54-26 home victory against the Charlotte 49ers, and a look-ahead to Friday night's American Conference road game against the North Texas Mean Green.
The Quick Read
* The USF Bulls were fortunate that their "hiccup'' occurred on a night when the margin for error was pretty wide. That level of inconsistent play can't continue in the American Conference — and everyone knows it. Call it a valuable lesson learned.
* Who knew there would be so much love for USF's "RoboBull'' logo? Even as everyone scrambled for RoboBull gear, there won't be a movement to replace the Iconic horns-up "U'' logo, which is one of the nation's most distinctive brands. But clearly, the USF fans were digging the nostalgic angle to Friday night's game. It made for a fun atmosphere.
* Byrum Brown is one of the nation's most formidable running quarterbacks — period. What a weapon.
* USF's receiving corps already looked deep and talented, but it also appears like the freshmen — Christian Neptune and Jeremiah Koger, particularly — are ready to make meaningful contributions.
* The American Conference race will be wild. There are three remaining unbeaten teams in the league — North Texas (5-0), Memphis (6-0) and Navy (5-0) — and USF gets each one on the road. And don't forget a Tulane team (4-1 with a loss against Ole Miss) — not on USF's regular-season schedule — that was a preseason favorite to win the league.
* Head coach Alex Golesh said he hates to see him appear, but punter Chase Leon has become one of USF's most valuable players. He's averaging 46 yards per game with eight of his 19 boots inside-the-20, eight fair catches and seven for greater than 50 yards. Opponents have had just four punt returns. Against Charlotte, Leon had his first touchback this season — but that was due to a cover-man misjudgment that allowed the ball to trickle into the end zone.
Game Takeaway
The USF Bulls scored 54 points, rolled up 631 yards, rushed for a whopping 407 yards alone, registered a solid victory to begin American Conference play … and they weren't particularly happy about it?
Perhaps that speaks to USF's high standard of play.
On the stat sheet, it was hard to argue with USF's 54-26 victory against the Charlotte 49ers before a festive "Flashback Friday'' crowd at Raymond James Stadium. But the Bulls (4-1, 1-0) knew they could do much better. And they must do much better as the league's level of competition heightens, beginning with next Friday night's game at unbeaten North Texas.
"As we started off, we were up 26-0 (early in the second quarter) and you've got to go put a team away,'' head coach Alex Golesh said. "I told our guys that elite teams put teams away when they have an opportunity to put them away. I thought the start was intentional and an attempt go put it away early. But from a fundamental standpoint, I thought it was really, really poor in a lot of ways.
"Interceptions happen. It's not what you want, but interceptions happen. But I think fumbles are totally preventable and I was really disappointed in the ball being on the ground with some of our best players (fumbling). You can justify however you want. But I think if you justify it, you're making excuses, and that's the fastest way to get beat.''
In the first half alone, USF had six dropped passes and three turnovers (with a fourth negated by penalty). None of that was critical to the outcome because Charlotte (1-4, 0-2) couldn't get out of its own way. The first four 49er drives resulted in three-and-out's — and the fifth drive was an interception.
When the 49ers went to their backup quarterback, Zach Wilcke (14-for-18, 150 yards, two touchdowns), Charlotte finally began clicking and pulled within 33-18 in the fourth quarter. By then, though, it was too late.
The 49ers had no answer for USF quarterback Byrum Brown, who accounted for five touchdowns. Brown rushed for a career-high 162 yards and a 13-yard score, while passing for 211 yards (on 19-for-34) with touchdowns to four different receivers (Jeremiah Koger, Mudia Reuben, Chas Nimrod and Evan Dangler).
Meanwhile, there were also rushing touchdowns from ex-Charlotte 49er runner Cartevious Norton (37 yards on his first carry) and Nykahi Davenport.
"We won and that's good, but it was way too sloppy,'' defensive tackle Josh Celiscar said. "I think we all know that and we're not happy about it. We've got to perform much, much better than this to reach our goals. That's just the truth.''
"At the end of the day, even the best players are going to make mistakes,'' center Cole Best said. "Our job as players, our job as leaders, is to limit those plays as much as we can. I've got to look at the tape and really dig into it to see why it looked the way it did at times, but I'm really proud of our guys and specifically the offensive line. Even when it wasn't pretty, we just kept swinging and swinging. We've got to address it (mistakes) as leaders, get the guys to buy in and make sure that doesn't happen again going forward.''
Golesh said it's all about the proper attention to details.
"There's a point in your preparation where you get to a level of confidence … and I thought we were incredibly confident going into the game,'' Golesh said. "Through the bye week, through the week of preparation, we were incredibly confident. … But I think there's a threshold you cross where you get into a level of arrogance, and you start to miss details.
"That's the challenge to our guys, our coaches and to myself … that you never cross that threshold. Elite teams don't gauge the opponent. They prepare the same way every single week, no matter the opponent. When you're learning to win and how to handle success, it goes back to being process-driven. I felt the game was a level of whether you call it arrogance or a lack of detail … that elite teams don't have. I don't want to take away from us being 1-0 in the conference because that's all you can be, but there's a level of detail that we didn't play with (against Charlotte). You absolutely can't do that and beat really good football teams. So, this is a humbling moment.''
The Big Play
USF, which hadn't scored an opening-quarter offensive touchdown in the first four games, started the game ominously with a pair of dropped passes on deep attempts. On third-and-10, QB Byrum Brown scrambled for a 12-yard first down, then drew a late-hit penalty on Charlotte's Kadin Schmitz. And the Bulls were off-and-running toward the first of three touchdown drives in the opening quarter.
Game Balls
* QB Byrum Brown, who rushed for a career-high 162 yards while throwing four touchdown passes in back-to-back games for the first time. Overall, Brown was 19-for-34 passing with 211 yards.
* LB Jhalyn Shuler, who had a team-leading 10 tackles while forcing a fumble.
* RB Cartevious Norton, who had a 37-yard touchdown run against his former team on his first carry. He finished with 70 yards on 13 carries before departing with a fourth-quarter injury. Norton was on campus during the weekend and doing well.
* DB Jarvis Lee, who got his second interception to tie James Chenault for the team lead.
* RB Nykahi Davenport, who had 15 carries for 79 yards, including a 7-yard tack-on touchdown with 43 seconds remaining.
* WR Jeremiah Koger, a freshman, who had four catches for 75 yards. He leaped high to catch a frozen rope from Brown, then knifed through a pair of would-be tacklers and turned it into a 38-yard touchdown. It was a very impressive looking play.
* USF's offensive line, which didn't allow a sack and cleared the way for 407 rushing yards.
* CB Jair Murphy, who had a blocked punt that resulted in a safety. It was the second straight game for USF special teams to register a blocked punt (and the third time this season for USF to score on an opponent's punting miscue, including a high snap at Florida that produced a safety).
Notable Numbers
2 — Number of USF players (WR Jeremiah Koger, TE Evan Dangler) who scored their first career collegiate touchdown. Both did so on their first collegiate catch.
10 — Number of different USF players who caught a pass against Charlotte.
13-2 — USF's record under head coach Alex Golesh when the Bulls force two turnovers or more.
22 — Number of 160-yard rushing games in USF history with 12 players making that list — Andre Hall (5), Quinton Flowers (3), Marlon Mack (3), Byrum Brown (2), Dyral McMillan (2) and one each from Brian Battie, Jordan Cronkrite, Johnny Ford, Mike Ford, Ben Williams, Rafael Williams and Nay'Quan Wright.
45-23 — USF's record while wearing the "RoboBull'' logo on its helmets. That includes a 44-22 mark from 1997-2002, the first six seasons of the program. Friday night's victory over Charlotte was the second time the Bulls have won the logo on the helmet since moving to the iconic "U" logo as the athletic department brand in 2003.
46 — Team-leading number of tackles this season for LB Jhalyn Shuler, who pulled ahead in the back-and-forth statistical race with his buddy, LB Mac Harris (42), after posting a team-best 10 on Friday.
161 — Amount of USF points in three meetings against Charlotte. The Bulls won 48-14 in 2023, 59-24 in 2024 and 54-26 on Friday night. Average margin of victory – 32.3 ppg.
407 — USF rushing yards against Charlotte, marking the fifth time a Bulls team had a 400-yard rushing game. Also, the second straight 400-plus yard game against the 49ers as the Bulls ran for a program record 425 last year – that's 832 yards on the ground in two games.
7,265 — Yards of total offense produced by QB Byrum Brown (5,726 passing, 1,539 rushing) in 28 career games. Brown ranks fifth on USF's career chart (Marquel Blackwell is fourth at 10,343). Brown's 259.5 yards per game currently stands second to Quinton Flowers (274.5).
The List
For the eighth time in program history, USF scored 50 or more points against a conference opponent. Four of them have occurred with head coach Alex Golesh.
USF 55, Louisville 17 (Nov. 17, 2007)
USF 65, Cincinnati 27 (Nov. 20, 2015)
USF 52, Navy 45 (Oct. 28, 2016)
USF 61, East Carolina 31 (Sept. 30, 2017)
Memphis 59, USF 50 (Nov. 4, 2023)
USF 59, Charlotte 24 (Nov. 16, 2024)
USF 63, Tulsa 30 (Nov. 23, 2024)
USF 54, Charlotte 26 (Oct. 3, 2025)
Next Up: At North Texas
USF will attempt to go 2-0 in conference play for only the seventh time in program history, and second under Alex Golesh, but it won't be easy. The Bulls are headed for Denton, Texas — just north of Dallas — for Friday night's ESPN2 American Conference meeting at North Texas. The Mean Green (5-0, 1-0), coming off a bye week, have defeated Lamar (51-0), Western Michigan (33-30 in overtime), Washington State (59-10), Army (45-38 in overtime) and South Alabama (36-22).
Redshirt freshman QB Drew Mestemaker (1,247 passing yards, 67.9 completion percentage, 11 touchdowns, no interceptions) has put North Texas in position for its first 6-0 start since 1959.
This game is a huge deal for North Texas, which features defensive back Will Jones II (who played at USF from 2021-23). School president Harrison Keller announced that Friday's afternoon classes would be canceled, so students, faculty and staff can attend pregame festivities and help to pack 30,850-seat DATCU Stadium. It's a "Darkness in the Desert'' theme and fans are encouraged to wear black. There will be a flood of giveaways, a BOGO ticket offer and a halftime fireworks show.
Buckle up, Bulls fans.
–#GoBulls–
