Lee Jr. earns Bulls fourth American Defensive Player of the Week Award;
Brown continues to receive national recognition – only FBS player with 2,000 passing, 700 rushing yards on the 2025 season

TAMPA, FLA., NOV. 10, 2025 – Following No. 25 South Florida's dispatching of UTSA, 55-23, before a national television audience on ESPN, Bulls safety Jarvis Lee Jr. and quarterback Byrum Brown received numerous recognitions.

Lee Jr. earned the Bulls' fourth American Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor on the season and the first of his career. The 5-11, 185-pound safety was a wrecking ball in Thursday's contest posting team highs with six tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. Linebackers Mac Harris (Week 9) and Jhalyn Shuler (Week 1 and 8) have also received the weekly honor on the year.

Lee Jr. was instrumental in the USF scoring defensive touchdowns on UTSA's first two possessions. His blitz on the opening play of the game forced an errant throw from UTSA quarterback Owen McCown that was intercepted by safety Tavin Ward and returned 40 yards for a touchdown. On UTSA's next possession, the Roadrunners drove to the USF2 before Lee again blitzed McCown. This time he sacked the quarterback and stripped the ball, which was recovered and returned 85 yards for a touchdown by safety Fred Gaskin.

On the year, Lee Jr. leads the Bulls with 10.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions, ranks second with 3.0 sacks and two forced fumbles, is tied for third with four quarterback hurries, and is tied for fourth with 41 tackles.

Meanwhile, dynamic quarterback Byrum Brown, who became the first NFL or NCAA player in the last 30 years to post 200 passing yards, 100 rushing yards and a 90 percent completion percentage while accounting for 348 yards and three touchdowns vs. UTSA, was named to the Davey O'Brien "Great 8", Manning Award Stars of the Week, PFF Team of the Week, East-West Shrine Bowl "Monday Morning Quarterback" and American Conference Honorable Mention Offensive Player of the Week.

Brown went 14-of-15 (93.3) for 239 yards and two touchdowns passing – an efficiency of 271.2 that ranks second all-time at USF – while posting his ninth career 100-yard rushing game, gaining 109 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries (12.1 ypc). He led the Bulls on a 31-0 run to take a 52-10 lead and led touchdown drives of 65, 75, 65, 77 and 75 yards.

Brown is the only player in the nation to have posted 2,000 passing yards and 700 rushing yards on the year and is on pace to become just the 12^th player ever to post a 3,000-yard passing and 1,000-yard rushing season in FBS history.

Brown ranks in the top 25 nationally in six categories. He stands No. 3 in points responsible for (18.7 ppg) and No. 4 in total offense (323.1 ypg) while ranking in the top 25 of both passing (No. 17 with 19) and rushing (No. 25 with 9) touchdowns on the year. He also ranks No. 21 in yards per completion (13.11) and yards per attempt (8.47) and stands just outside the top 25 in pass efficiency, coming in at No. 27 (155.3).

The Bulls (7-2; 4-1 American) checked in at No. 25 in the latest AP Poll and just missed re-entering the Coaches Poll, acquiring enough votes to rank No. 26 in that poll. South Florida, which is averaging 46.5 ppg in its last six American Conference games, has posted its best nine game start to a season since 2018. The Bulls rank in the top 25 of 20 national statistical categories, including six offensive, eight defensive and six special teams statistics. The USF offense ranks No. 5 nationally posting 42.0 ppg and No. 7 with 485.2 total yards per game. The Bulls run game, which has produced six straight games of 235 yards or more and three touchdowns on the ground, now stands 10^th in the nation averaging 226.9 ypg.

Up Next:
USF heads to Annapolis, Md. for the first of back-to-back road matchups that begin the final three-game stretch of American Conference regular season play. The Bulls will take on Navy (7-2; 5-1 American) on Saturday in a noon kickoff on ESPN2, the Bulls' sixth-straight nationally televised game and ninth on the season.
 
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Single-game tickets for the 2025 USF football season can be purchased by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting this LINK.
 
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ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 28th season in 2024 with its second-straight bowl victory in the Hawai'i Bowl. Head coach Alex Golesh posted a program-best six-game turnaround and a Boca Raton Bowl victory in his first season in 2023. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center broke ground in the fall of 2024 and is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 17 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 33 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 12 bowl game appearances (going 8-4), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.