Harris and Rucker earn First Team honors as the Bulls claim the most all-conference honorees in program history

TAMPA, FLA., DEC. 2, 2025 – South Florida (9-3; 6-2 American) earned its most wins in a season since 2017 on Saturday, improving to 9-3 on the year, and on Tuesday saw a program record 11 players earn all-conference recognition when the American Conference announced postseason honors.

The Bulls await the destination for their third straight bowl game after posting a 6-2 mark in American Conference play, just the fourth six-win conference season in program history, and closing out the program's fourth undefeated home campaign, and first since 2002, with a 52-3 rout of Rice.

The Bulls had two players earn First Team honors as linebacker Mac Harris, who posted the 17^th 100-tackle season in program history, and cornerback De'Shawn Rucker, who finished fourth on the team in tackles, were both honored. The 11 all-conference honorees surpassed the Bulls previous high of 10 selections in 2016 and 2017.

Record setting quarterback Byrum Brown, just the 12^th player in FBS history to post a 3,000-yard passing and 1,000-yard rushing season, earned Second Team honors. Linebacker Jhalyn Shuler earned Second Team selection and offensive guard Zane Herring earned Third Team as both collected the second all-conference honors of their careers after both having previously been recognized in 2023. They become the 11^th and 12^th two-time all-conference honorees in program history.

North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who led the nation with 3,835 passing yards, was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Navy defensive tackle Landon Robinson earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Mean Green head coach Eric Morris, who led the UNT to the conference championship game this Friday vs. Tulane, was named the Conference Coach of the Year.

The full list of American Conference Honorees can be found HERE.

SOUTH FLORIDA FOOTBALL AMERICAN ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
Mac Harris – LB - First Team
De'Shawn Rucker – CB – First Team
 
Byrum Brown – QB – Second Team
Connor McLaughlin – OT – Second Team
Jhalyn Shuler* – LB – Second Team
Fred Gaskin – S – Second Team
Nico Gramatica – K – Second Team
 
Zane Herring* – OG – Third Team
Cole Best – C – Third Team
Josh Celiscar – DT – Third Team
 
Nykahi Davenport – RB – Honorable Mention
 
* two-time all-conference honoree

South Florida enters the postseason with an offense ranked No. 2 nationally posting 501.7 yards per game and No. 4 scoring 43.0 points per game. The Bulls posted a program record five games scoring 50 points or more in the regular season and seven scoring 48 or more.

Brown continues his remarkable campaign as the only player in the nation with at least 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. He leads the country in total offense (347.2 ypg) and points responsible for (21.3 ppg). In 29 seasons of football, the Bulls have had had four players finish a season as an NCAA statistical champion. Brian Battie was the last, leading the nation in all-purpose yards (1,936) in 2022 and in kick return touchdowns (3) in 2021.

Up Next
The Bulls will learn their bowl destination in the coming week. Coca-Cola Bowl Season selections will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 7.
 
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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.