Takeaways, highlights, notables, sights, sound bites and learning experiences from USF's 34-7 home triumph against the No. 25-ranked Boise State Broncos, and a look-ahead to a Saturday, Sept. 6, road game at Florida.
The Quick Read
• It was the finest USF hour for defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, who devised a scheme that had the Bulls faster, more physical and much better than a veteran Boise State offense.
• At 6-foot-2, 232 pounds — with start-and-stop athleticism and pure power — the running ability of QB Byrum Brown is a major WEAPON.
• On a Thursday night workday, at a non-conventional kickoff time, the Raymond James Stadium crowd was loud, spirited and fun. Bravo! And a tip of the cap to a superb student section.
• An early fourth-down gamble did not work, but a daring fake punt broke the game open. Alex Golesh is nothing but bold and decisive. Over the long haul, that's what everyone wants from their head coach.
• USF football is getting significant exposure from this season-opening upset and a great runway of attention leading into the Sept. 6 meeting against the Florida Gators. National relevance is a very good thing.
Game Takeaway
As a few hundred USF students rushed the field to celebrate with Bulls players Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium, it was one of the program's most euphoric moments.
For the first time since 2016, USF had defeated a ranked opponent. What's more, it was USF's first victory against a ranked non-conference opponent in 14 years.
"Believe it,'' linebacker Jhalyn Shuler said. "It's real. It happened.''
It did indeed.
USF 34, No. 25 Boise State 7.
"In our team meeting, I told our players we'd be up in the fourth quarter — now could we reset and finish?'' head coach Alex Golesh said.
The answer: An emphatic … yes!
It was defensive domination, sideline-to-sideline intensity.
"Lights-out defense,'' quarterback Byrum Brown said. "Love them boys.''
It was trickeration — perhaps the most memorable gadget play in program history — a daring move to sneak true freshman quarterback Locklan Hewlett into the game in fourth-down punt formation. Hewlett, after gathering in a tricky long snap, delivered a stunning 45-yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton in the third quarter, putting USF up 17-7 in the third quarter and deflating Boise State's emotions for good.
"It was set up perfectly,'' Hewlett said. "When I got out there and saw the way they lined up, I knew it could work. I absolutely did not expect my first pass attempt at USF to be (out of punt formation), but it was a great to make it work.''
It was the return of Brown, back in form at quarterback after missing eight games to injury last season. Brown made it look like men against boys in the running game. He had two stunning touchdown runs — with another long touchdown run called back by penalty — and a couple of shorter gallops where he lowered his shoulder and leveled a Boise State would-be tackler.
"I thought our focus, our intent, our attention to detail was really, really good,'' Golesh said. "To be honest with you, this handling the success part is something we haven't done a great job with. Winners act a certain way. Elite football teams act a certain way.
"Celebrate the win. Separate the positive from the negative. Then put this behind us, turn the page, keep moving. If you celebrate this more than 12 hours, you're going to jack the next one up (at Florida). And the next one is really big, too.''
The Big Play
Of course, it was the bold-and-beautiful third-quarter fake punt, the 45-yard touchdown pass from Locklan Hewlett to Keshaun Singleton. It provided soaring confidence for USF and deflated Boise State.
"That was a Week One kind of thing,'' Golesh said. "Nobody knew who No. 13 (Hewlett) was. I'm not sure we can do it again next week. But we had the perfect situation, the right part of the field.''
"Right situation,'' special teams coordinator Chad Creamer said. "We got a bunch of guys who executed it well. Lock threw a good ball. We had a skinny kid (Hewlett) who looked a lot like our punters. I noticed that over the summer. It initially became a thought, and it became what you saw tonight. Right moment, right time. We practiced it, over and over again. There were a lot of days when we said, 'No, we're not doing that.' We had the ability to check out of it if the look wasn't right. But it really set up perfectly. Coach Golesh likes to push the envelope and it worked really well.''
Game Balls
* LB Jhalyn Shuler, who had a career-high 14 tackles, a fumble recovery and one tackle for a loss.
* QB Byrum Brown was 16-for-24 passing with 210 yards, while adding 43 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
* CB De'Shawn Rucker, who had 11 tackles and one pass breakup.
* WR Keshaun Singleton, who had five receptions for 93 yards and a 45-yard touchdown catch, catching all five balls he was targeted with.
* WR Chas Nimrod, whose 55-yard reception opened up USF's offense enroute to a three-catch, 96-yard game.
* LB Mac Harris, who had eight tackles and a forced fumble.
* B-backer Ira Singleton, who had two fumble recoveries.
* OT Zane Herring, who moved to left tackle (for the first time in his life) due to injuries and played well against an excellent Boise State pass-rush.
* True freshman QB Locklan Hewlett — enough said.
Notable Numbers
0 — Number of USF turnovers.
3 — Number of Boise State turnovers forced by USF.
4 — Number of career 50-yard-plus made field goals by PK Nico Gramatica, who hit a 52-yarder vs. Boise State. That tied a USF career record.
4 — Number of times Boise State was stopped on fourth down by the USF defense.
12 — Number of different USF players with a pass reception, including freshman wide receivers Christian Neptune and Jeremiah Koger.
18 — Number of rushing touchdowns by QB Byrum Brown in 21 USF games played.
25 — Number of victories in home openers for USF (beginning its 29th season of football).
34 — Number of unanswered points scored by USF, which fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter.
206 — Number of consecutive pass attempts by QB Byrum Brown without an interception (dating to 2023). The USF program record is 235 by Marquel Blackwell in 2001.
The List
Our choices for the best performances by a USF defense against a ranked opponent (listed chronologically):
USF 29, No. 25 Bowling Green 7 (Nov. 16, 2002) — Urban Meyer's celebrated offense gets emphatically shut down.
USF 45, No. 9 Louisville 14 (Sept. 24, 2005) — Sports Illustrated was on hand to write about Louisville's explosive offense (the story was killed).
USF 24, No. 7 West Virginia 19 (Nov. 25, 2006) — Bulls had the answer for QB Patrick White and RB Steve Slaton.
USF 21, No. 5 West Virginia 13 (Sept. 28, 2007) — The biggest win in USF history was tour de force for defensive coordinator Wally Burnham.
USF 17, No. 18 Florida State 7 (Sept. 26, 2009) — Freshman QB B.J. Daniels had a happy homecoming, but USF's defense was ferocious.
USF 34, No. 25 Boise State 7 (Aug. 28, 2025) — Outside of the program's 1997 debut (USF 80, Kentucky Wesleyan 3), this was the most significant USF home opener.
Next Up: Florida
And now it's off to Gainesville, where the Bulls have lost twice at the Swamp, including a 38-14 defeat in 2010 and a heartbreaking 31-28 loss in 2022. Florida also defeated USF 42-20 at Ray-Jay in 2021.
The Gators open Saturday against Long Island, a Football Championship Subdivision team, so USF has the advantage of a few extra days of rest and preparation.
"I'm an even-keeled guy,'' said linebacker Mac Harris, who refused to hype up the opportunity at Florida. "I'm going to watch a lot of film. From Monday until we play them, we're going to study hard, push that standard and be ready to play. Every single game is important.''
–#GoBulls–
