TAMPA, FLA. Dec. 17, 2025 – Making its 13^th bowl appearance in program history without four offensive starters, including quarterback Byrum Brown, South Florida (9-4, 6-2 American) saw its potent offense go silent in a 24-10 loss to Old Dominion (10-3; 6-2 Sun Belt) Wednesday at the Cure Bowl in Orlando's Camping World Stadium.
 
Led by interim head coach Kevin Patrick, the Bulls entered the game one of 11 FBS teams with a chance to win a postseason game in each of the last three seasons. But, after taking a 10-7 lead at halftime, South Florida was held scoreless in the second half as ODU scored 17 unanswered points and four interceptions and fumbled punt sunk the Bulls hopes of posting a third straight bowl victory.
 
The Bulls found themselves trailing 14-10 midway through the third quarter after ODU picked off Gaston Moore, making his first career start, in USF territory and then drove 25 yards for a go-ahead touchdown when Trequan Jones jetted 22 yards up the middle of the field to the endzone.
 
Moore finished 20-of-28 for 236 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while being sacked three times. His main target on the night was freshman Christian Neptune who logged career highs of 10 catches for 102 yards.
 
The Bulls tried to rally as Moore hit JeyQuan Smith on a pair of passes–12 and 18 yards– and moved the Bulls to the ODU21. But the drive stalled and Nico Gramatica came on for a 39-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide left. Gramatica had earlier missed a 48-yard attempt in the first half.  
 
ODU took over and drove 73 yards to the USF6 before settling for a field goal and a 17-10 lead. The Bulls appeared to have forced a fumble on the drive, but an official review penalized cornerback De'Shawn Rucker for targeting on the hit that jarred the ball loose from ODU quarterback Quinn Henicle, moving the ball to the USF9, where the Bulls defense held its ground.
 
Early in the fourth quarter the Bulls moved deep into ODU territory when Moore hit Smith with a 20-yard pass that Smith snagged with a great catch at the ODU14. Moore was hit on the play and had to leave the game. The Bulls were flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties following the play that moved the ball back 30 yards to the ODU44 where the threat ended and the Bulls had to punt.
 
The defense forced a three-and-out and ODU punted. But Neptune was hit by a teammate while trying to field the punt and fumbled. ODU recovered at the USF38. The defense again held and forced a 36-yard field goal attempt that went wide with 5:54 remaining.
 
Freshman Locklan Hewlett, who came on in the fourth quarter following Moore's departure, moved the Bulls from their own 20 to the 47, but his third down pass to Neptune was incomplete. On 4th-and-six, the Bulls faked the punt, but punter Chase Leon's pass attempt was intercepted at the ODU43.
 
The Monarchs sealed the win when Henicle cut off the right side and sprinted 51 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 lead.
 
The Bulls clung to a tenuous 10-7 lead at halftime after ODU drove to the USF 19 in the closing seconds of the half, but the defense responded with a sack and a tackle for loss from Jhalyn Shuler to negate the scoring opportunity. Shuler ended the game with a team-high 10 tackles and and two tackles for loss.
 
The Bulls opened the scoring with a 28-yard Gramatica field goal in the first quarter as the Bulls converted on a strip sack from Jarvis Lee that was returned 22 yards by Fred Gaskin.  The Bulls had been forced to punt on their first two drives but moved the ball 31 yards after the fumble recovery to get on the board.
 
ODU responded on the next drive, getting a 28-yard pass to get their drive moving and then scoring on a six-yard run up the middle by Henicle to take a 7-3 lead.
 
The Bulls moved to the ODU30 and attempted a 48-yard field goal that went wide right.
 
After forcing the Monarchs to punt from deep in their own territory, the Bulls took over on their own 45 and dialed up a trick play. Neptune lined up behind center and took the shotgun snap, handed off to safety Gaskin, lined up as a running back, who pitched back to quarterback Moore who found Jeremiah Koger 25 yards down field. The next play, Moore took a traditional snap and hit Koger with a beautiful 31-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone for a 10-7 lead.
 
KEY STATS
• ODU ran for 255 yards while South Florida managed 52 yards on the ground.
• USF was intercepted four times and fumbled a punt return, while ODU had one turnover on the day.
• The teams combined to punt 13 times and combined for 13 penalties.
 
NOTABLES
• WR Christian Neptune posted career-bests of 10 receptions for 102 yards.
• LB Jhalyn Shuler posted a team best 10 tackles and two tackles for loss to end the season with a team-leading 105 tackles, his second 100-tackle season of his career.
• BB Rico Watson posted seven tackles and a tackle for loss while forcing a fumble.  
 
Tickets:
Season tickets for the 2025 USF football season tickets are on sale and may be purchased by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting this LINK.
 
Single-game tickets for the 2025 USF football season can be purchased by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting this LINK.
 
Follow us:
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF Football news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
 
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. The Bulls earned a third straight bowl appearance in 2025 and the program's first College Football Playoff ranking. USF completed construction on a new $22-million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $349-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 18 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 35 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.