Takeaways, highlights, notables, sights, sound bites and learning experiences from USF's 18-16 road triumph against the No. 13-ranked Florida Gators, and a lookahead to Saturday's road game against the Miami Hurricanes.
The Quick Read
This was the 337th USF football game — and the most significant win in program history. With all due respect to the former standard-bearer — USF 21, West Virginia 13 in 2007 — this was a road victory against an in-state rival and a brand-name SEC program. And it occurred at the Swamp, one of the most intimidating venues in all of college football.
Beating Florida? Enormous. The potential to defeat Miami? Ground-breaking. But let's not get the big picture confused. The next milestone for USF is winning the program's first conference championship. There's a lot of football remaining — with plenty of obstacles ahead — but it's high time to raise a trophy.
In two weeks, USF's defense has established an aggressive identity and a take-no-prisoners attitude. It has veteran leadership, depth and athleticism. All of that bodes very well for the remainder of this season.
The Bulls must clean up their penalties (nine flags for 75 yards is too much). One flag-filled sequence could have cost USF the game. In the fourth quarter, Chase Leon drilled a 46-yard punt to the Florida 25-yard line, but an illegal motion penalty forced a re-kick. Leon delivered again with a 51-yard punt, but it was returned 40 yards by Vernell Brown III and USF's Rico Watson was flagged for a personal foul, setting up the Gators at the USF 20-yard line (so that initial illegal-motion flag essentially forced a 55-yard difference in field position). The Gators scored five plays later for a 16-15 advantage that stood up until the game's final play.
Really loving USF's starting receiving corps of Keshaun Singleton (breakout star in the making), Chas Nimrod (a legitimate deep threat) and Mudia Reuben (Mr. Reliable in the slot). And that doesn't account for the steady Joshua Porter, the promising freshmen and the tight ends. Suddenly, Byrum Brown has a ton of nice options.
There's a ton of national attention focused on the despicable act of Florida DL Brendan Bett, who spit in the face of a USF player to prompt a critical unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (and ejection) on the game's final drive. But what about that USF player, offensive lineman Cole Skinner? He maintained his composure — without retaliation — and simply raised his arms in protest as officials assessed a penalty that aided USF's winning drive. Now that is discipline in the heat of battle.
Game Takeaway
Now the attention is coming — fast and furious.
After USF's 18-16 upset victory against the then-No. 13-ranked Florida Gators on Saturday at the Swamp in Gainesville, the Bulls are the hottest story in college football. After two straight wins against nationally ranked opponents, USF achieved a No. 18 ranking in the Associated Press poll (and No. 23 in the coaches poll) on Sunday.
The reaction of head coach Alex Golesh?
He's back to work, preparing for next Saturday's road game against the Miami Hurricanes.
"I think there's still so much to play for, there's so much still ahead of us,'' Golesh said. "I told the guys last week (after a 34-7 win against Boise State) and I truly believe this: There's going to be so many people who are going to tell them how good they are now, how good we are, how good I am. When you're process-driven, you just go right back to work and you worry about Sunday, you worry about Monday.''
Golesh and his players were jubilant in the wake of Nico Gramatica's final-play 20-yard field goal that clinched the Battle of 18-16. But afterward, Golesh and his players pledged that they would remain humble and focused.
"I guess we'll embrace it (Saturday night),'' QB Byrum Brown said. "But it's all about us, all about the inner circle, all about the people in that facility. We're going to enjoy it (Saturday night) and get ready to go back to work.''
Midway through the third quarter, the Gators led 9-6 in a battle of field goals and field position, perhaps a game better-suited for 1975 than 2025. But on third-and-5 from the USF 34-yard line, the Bulls caught the Gators in a state of confusion during a hockey-line switch. Golesh ordered Brown to throw deep with the intention of getting a 12-men-on-the-field penalty.
The Gators did indeed have 12 men on the field — but the Bulls got a lot more. WR Keshaun Singleton leaped between two Gator defenders, got the catch, then kept running as the defenders bumped into each other. Singleton wound up in the end zone to complete a 66-yard play that put USF up 13-9. On Florida's next series, the long snap went over the head of punter Tommy Doman who shoveled it out of the end zone (before USF's alert De'Shawn Rucker pounced on it) for a safety.
Although the Gators took a 16-15 fourth-quarter lead, the Bulls wouldn't be denied. When Gramatica came up short on a 58-yard field-goal attempt with 2:52 to play, the Gators seemingly had the game by the throat. But not for long. The Gators went three-and-out, throwing a pair of clock-stopping incompletions, and the Bulls got the ball back with plenty of time for Gramatica's redemption.
Golesh pointed to USF's defense, which forced six Gator punts in the last seven possessions. He highlighted Brown's leadership and playmaking. He got emotional when saluting the USF fanbase, the folks who made the trip to Gainesville and the Bulls' fans everywhere. And, of course, he was grateful for Gramatica's work.
What did Brown think when Gramatica trotted on the field for the potential game-winner?
"We won,'' Brown said.
Gramatica, as is his custom, prayed in Spanish before his game-winning kick. He focused on the words of Exodus 15:2, which ends with "Exalt him.''
"Coach Golesh preaches process,'' Gramatica said. "Come in and work every single day. I worked all summer on my process. I treat every day like a game day. Whether it's practice or a game, it feels like a practice. I'm just happy we got this win and I'm grateful that I was put in a position to help. It's a very big moment for our program, but it's not the end. We've got to keep working.''
Golesh couldn't have said it better himself.
The Big Play
The 29-yard catch-and-run by RB Alvon Isaac to help put the Bulls in position for Nico Gramatica's game-winning field goal. From the USF 39-yard line, QB Byrum Brown was chased from the pocket, escaped pressure and dumped it to Isaac in the right flat. Isaac was bottled up but broke a pair of tackles and raced down the sideline to the Florida 32. From there, the Bulls gained 30 more yards on five more plays to set up Gramatica's chip shot.
Game Balls
PK Nico Gramatica with three made field goals, including the game-winner.
LB Mac Harris, who had a team-high 10 tackles (one for a loss) and one sack.
RB Alvon Isaac, who had a combined 136 yards (51 returns, 49 receiving, 36 rushing).
LB Jhalyn Shuler, who had seven tackles (one for a loss) and a pass breakup.
QB Byrum Brown, a steady leader who was 23-for-36 passing with 263 yards. Brown also rushed for 66 yards.
CB James Chenault, who had a spectacular diving interception.
WR Keshaun Singleton, whose third-quarter 66-yard touchdown reception put USF ahead for the first time.
WR Christian Neptune, the freshman, who had five catches for 39 yards in extended duty.
Notable Numbers
0 — USF turnovers through the season's first two weeks.
4 — Number of teams in the Association Press poll era (1936-present) that began the season unranked and defeated two straight ranked teams (1976 North Carolina, 2008 East Carolina, 2012 Oregon State, 2025 USF).
5 — Number of walk-off game-winning field goals in USF history (Bill Gramatica at Liberty 1998, Maikon Bonani vs. Kansas 2008, Maikon Bonani at Louisville 2010, Coby Weiss at Tulsa 2018, Nico Gramatica at Florida 2025).
7 — Amount of times USF has scored from the red zone this season in seven attempts.
9 — Number of times that USF began 3-0 in the previous 28 seasons (1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018).
9 — Number of Football Bowl Subdivision programs in college football history to win games AT Florida, AT Florida State and AT Miami (USF, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina and South Carolina).
13 — Number of times USF has defeated a ranked opponent.
240 — Number of consecutive pass attempts without an interception by USF QB Byrum Brown, who set the program record (formerly 235 by Marquel Blackwell in 2001).
5,005 — Career passing yards for Byrum Brown in 22 USF games.
89,909 — Saturday's attendance at the Swamp, making it the fourth-largest crowd to witness a USF football game.
The List
Our choices for the six biggest regular-season victories in USF football program history:
1. USF 18, No. 13-ranked Florida 16 (Sept. 6, 2025) — The Swamp was drained and the Bulls had an all-time victory.
2. USF 21, No. 5-ranked West Virginia 13 (Sept. 28, 2007) — Raymond James Stadium was never more loud than this unforgettable Friday night.
3. USF 17, No. 18-ranked Florida State 7 (Sept. 26, 2009) — It was freshman QB B.J. Daniels and a relentless Bulls defense.
4. USF 26, No. 17-ranked Auburn 23 (Sept. 8, 2007) — Matt Grothe-to-Jessie Hester ended this overtime thriller and the Bulls had an SEC road victory.
5. USF 23. No. 16-ranked Notre Dame 20 (Sept. 3, 2011) — Kayvon Webster's 96-yard fumble-return touchdown (after Jerrell Young's strip) set the tone for this season-opening shocker.
6. USF 35, Pittsburgh 26 (Sept. 8, 2001) — In USF's first full FBS season, Bulls stunned the Panthers (and the nation) behind a career day from QB Marquel Blackwell (37-for-65, 343 passing yards).
Next Up: Miami
Saturday afternoon, the Bulls travel to Hard Rock Stadium to face a nationally ranked opponent for the third straight week, the No. 5-ranked Miami Hurricanes (2-0). Miami opened with a riveting 27-24 victory against Notre Dame, then subdued Bethune-Cookman 45-3.
The Hurricanes are led by former Georgia QB Carson Beck, who was 20-for-31 with 205 yards and two touchdowns against Notre Dame. A bigger issue might be how USF deals with UM's disruptive front line, which includes Akheem Mesidor (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) and Rueben Bain Jr. (6-3, 275) coming off the edge.
The Hurricanes have won six of the seven meetings against the Bulls, but USF's victory was memorable. The Bulls prevailed 23-20 in overtime during the 2010 season, when USF cornerbacks coach DeMarcus Van Dyke played for the Hurricanes. The USF staff also includes defensive line coach Kevin Patrick, a first-team All-American and Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the Hurricanes in 1993.
–#GoBulls–
