USF Football Flashback: Defense Stands Tall In Win At Bowling Green
September 28, 2026 | Football
Takeaways, highlights, notables, sights, sound bites and learning experiences from South Florida's 14-6 road victory against the Bowling Green Falcons.ย
The Quick Read
* We have arrived at an important portion of South Florida's schedule. The Bulls face a better-than-its-record-indicates Temple team on Saturday night, then travel to UTSA for a short-week challenge on Thursday, Oct. 10 (ESPN or ESPN2). Here's an ominous statistic that you'll undoubtedly hear more about: Seventh-year Roadrunners head coach Jeff Traylor is 25-1 in conference games played at the ear-splitting Alamodomeย
* Captain Obvious checking in: The Bulls must quickly solve their offensive-line issues. With that unit haunted by injuries and a reshuffled lineup of players, offensive efficiency has suddenly become a challenge.
* South Florida's defense hasn't allowed a touchdown in six consecutive quarters. It surrendered only two field goals (both on short fields following turnovers) at Bowling Green.
* The Bulls are going for their 10th straight win at Raymond James Stadium. Average margin of victory in the previous nine home victories: 33.9 points.
* Sure, it was nice to go 4-0 in September. It would will be much more meaningful for South Florida to perform well in October and November in the heart of the conference schedule. The Bulls have gone 10-6 in conference games the last two seasons and will look to start 2-0 in conference play for the second straight season and seventh time in program history. ย ย
The Big Play
With Bowling Green leading 6-0 as the fourth quarter began, the Falcons went for it on fourth-and-1 from its 45-yard line. DT Asani Redwood broke through the line and trapped RB Austyn Dendy for a 1-yard loss with LB Sam Robinson cleaning up on the play to share the tackle for a loss. The game's momentum flipped and South Florida mounted a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives to clinch the victory.
Game Balls
* RB D.J. Crowther, who rushed for a season-high 143 yards and one touchdown, while also registering an 11-yard reception.
* DT Asani Redwood, who had three tackles (1.5 for a loss) and the game's biggest play. Redwood also had a 9-yard sack of Falcons QB Jay Kastantin on third-and-7 from the South Florida 21-yard line with 48 seconds remaining.
* LB Zavier Hamilton, who had a career-high 11 tackles.ย
* DB Ayden Jackson, who had seven tackles and two pass breakups. On at least three occasions, Jackson's solo open-field tackle prevented a long gainer by the Falcons. He leads the team with 29 tackles on the year.
* LB Sam Robinson, who had six tackles (1.5 for a loss) on the day and stands second on the team with 24 tackles on the year and leads with 3.5 tackles for loss.
* P Luke Goater, who averaged 43.2 yards on four punts and placed two inside the 20-yard line.
Notable Numbers
1 โ There's only one unbeaten team remaining in the American Conference โ the South Florida Bulls. The Bulls are one of 22 remaining unbeaten teamsย in FBS football.
2 โ RB D.J. Crowther has two straight 100-yard rushing games. He's trying to become the first South Florida running back since 2022 (Brian Battie) with three straight 100-yard rushing games.
9 โ Number of different conferences where South Florida football has won a road game (American, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, SEC, Sun Belt).ย
11 โ For the second straight game, South Florida's defense had 11 tackles for a loss. The Bulls now rank seventh in the nation producing 8.3 TFL per game.
72 โ Fourth-quarter rushing yards by RB D.J. Crowther against Bowling Green. Crowther accounted for 73 percent of the Bulls 98 yards in the quarter on two scoring drives.
91 โ Consecutive pass attempts by QB Michael Van Buren Jr. without an interception. That's the second-longest interception-less streak to start a season in program history (124 by Byrum Brown, 2024).
2014 โ The last season South Florida won a football game by scoring 14 or fewer points. The Bulls defeated SMU 14-13 on Nov. 15, 2014 with a final-play touchdown pass from QB Mike White to WR Andre Davis.
Quotable
"What's the best thing about being 4-0? โฆ The chance to go 5-0!''
โ Question posed inside the South Florida locker room and the Bulls players answering resoundingly.ย
"Oh, there's such a thing.''
โ Head coach Brian Hartline, when asked if there's no such thing as an ugly win.
"I know for a fact the first half was just abysmal. I mean, the second half kind of was, too. But for us to play as poorly as we did and still find a way to win, I think that's there's something to that. But like I've been saying, we've got to get a lot better in a hurry, or what we're trying to accomplish will not be attainable.''
โ Hartline.
"D.J. was running like an animal. He ran his (butt) off tonight and that's two weeks in a row. D.J. is an awesome worker and he is showing up on game day. We don't get better on game day. Game day is a reflection of our prep. Everything he is doing is because of the work he has been doing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.''
โ Hartline on RB D.J. Crowther.ย
"I don't want to let the first man (tackler) get me down. I want to get the dirty-yard runs. That's what it comes down to. It's the mentality of just being gritty and running hard.''
โ RB D.J. Crowther.
"I think Asani was probably waiting for the opportunity to make a big play. What a great individual effort. That individual effort was off the charts. Hopefully, more guys will step up and make those kind of individual efforts. We need those.''
โ Hartline on DT Asani Redwood, who combined with LB Sam Robinson to trap RB Austyn Dendy for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 to begin the fourth quarter.ย
"I think we needed a big play in the moment, and I'm glad I was the one to get it. You know, they say competitive excellence. Man, when your number is called to make a play, you make a play.''
โ DT Asani Redwood on the fourth-and-1 stop.
"We're excited for conference play. That's where all of our focus is going to go. The first four weeks was an opportunity for us to grow, but now we have to find a way to go one-and-zero every single week in conference play. Full turn direction toward Temple.''
โ Hartline.ย
"That package is growing, and we'll see when it fully comes out. Luke provides a lot more than just running up the middle of the field. He's a great asset to our team, and he knows that. We'll always use him in the right way possible.''
โ Hartline on QB Luke Kromenhoek, who had a 2-yard touchdown run.
"We just were everything we have not been in that first half offensively, right? Penalties, sacks, turnovers. It takes all 11 (players). There's one guy here, one guy there. We have a good play, now someone (misses an assignment), now it's a formation issue. So, just really poorly coached. We did a very poor job offensively, myself included, this week. We can't ever let that happen again.''
โ Hartline.
"Bowling Green runs a lot of heavy personnel, so the goal this week was stopping the run. We know if we stop the run, then the mob (other defenders) gets to eat. We get sacks. We wanted to kill their will to run the ball. They were 0-3. They were searching for it, so they came out playing hard. They had heart.''
โ DT Asani Redwood.
"Never take winning for granted. That being said, you always want to be beautiful and you want to love it all the time. But most of the teams I've been a part of, you rarely enjoy true victories because you're always looking for the opportunities to grow. To not play at the level we want to play, and then still find a way to win โฆ that's it. By Tuesday, the score won't matter. We always want to feel great about ourselves, but in the end, we're here for a job. We're really going to turn the page pretty quickly.''
โ Hartline.
"Obviously, there's some frustration when things don't go well and you're not performing at your best level. Winning is hard. Now we're moving on. I think our mindset is the same as each and every week. We come in on Sunday, watch the film, cleanse our mistakes, and get ready to move forward. Learn from our mistakes and build on (the good things).''
โ RB D.J. Crowther.
"Whether we win by 40 (points) or we win by two, it doesn't matter. We've still got to get better.''
โ DT Asani Redwood.
The List
South Florida RB D.J. Crowther is averaging 6.4 yards per carry through four games. Here are the program's single-season leaders (minimum 100 carries):
7.7 โ QB Quinton Flowers (2016)
6.8 โ RB Johnny Ford (2018)
6.8 โ RB Marlon Mack (2016)
6.7 โ RB Brian Battie (2020)
6.6 โ RB Kelley Joiner Jr. (2024)
6.6 โ RB Marlon Mack (2015)
6.5 โ RB Andre Hall (2004)ย
Next Up: Temple
The Bulls (4-0, 1-0) will host the Temple Owls (1-3, 0-1) on Saturday night at 7:30 (ESPNU) in an American Conference game at Raymond James Stadium. South Florida won the last meeting (27-23 in 2023), but Temple leads the overall series 6-4. The Owls have lost three straight games, including a 49-48 overtime decision against Toledo (when Temple failed on a two-point conversion attempt in OT) and a 21-17 home defeat against Army (in which the Black Knights scored the game-winner with 1:41 remaining). The Owls are led by QB Ajani Sheppard โ a 6-foot-2, 230-pound dual-threat Rutgers transfer โ and a running game that's producing 220.3 yards per game.
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โ#GoBullsโ
Joey Johnston
Athletics Senior Writer
