If you blinked during the first eight seconds, you missed the moment UTSA’s whole night went sideways.
On Salute to Service night at Raymond James Stadium, South Florida didn’t just beat a program built on November voodoo and comeback lore — the Bulls dragged UTSA out to deep water early and never let them breathe, rolling to a 55–23 win that felt decided before the Bulls’ offense even broke a sweat.
This was billed as a clash between a surging Roadrunner team and a USF squad trying to prove its hot start wasn’t a blip. Instead, it turned into a three-hour infomercial for Alex Golesh’s defense, Byrum Brown’s stardom, and the very real possibility that the Bulls are a problem in the American.
UTSA got the ball first. Technically.
On the very first snap, Owen McCown dropped back like it was going to be a continuation of his video-game line against Tulane. Instead, USF safety Jarvis Lee Jr. came screaming off the edge, drilled McCown as he let it go, and the wobbling pass floated right into the arms of Tavin Ward. Forty yards later, it was 7–0 USF and the Bulls’ offense was still standing on the sideline.
That should’ve been a wake-up call.
It was actually a preview.
On the Roadrunners’ second possession, they marched to the USF 2-yard line and looked ready to settle back in. Nope. McCown dropped back again, Lee blitzed again, and this time he knocked the ball out. Safety Fred Gaskin scooped it and took off for an 85-yard house call. 14–0 Bulls, 7:06 still left in the first, and Byrum Brown hadn’t taken a snap.
USF’s defense didn’t just “set the tone.” They spotted the offense a two-score lead and basically dared UTSA to chase the game.
After a muffed punt off a USF player’s heel gifted UTSA a short field, the Roadrunners finally cashed in with a 33-yard field goal. That made it 14–3 and briefly felt like UTSA had grabbed a rope to hang onto.
Brown cut it immediately.
On USF’s first offensive drive of the night — finally taking the field with just over two minutes left in the first quarter — Brown led a 65-yard march in 2:12, capping it with a 13-yard touchdown run where he looked like he was running a QB power drill on air.
From there, the Bulls’ offense turned into pure chaos in fast-forward.
USF scored touchdowns on four straight possessions, with drives that lasted 2:12, 1:25, 0:32, and 1:30. It felt like every time UTSA’s defense turned around, Brown was dropping a dime or watching one of his playmakers sprint past orange helmets.
By halftime, it was 45–10. The second half was less about drama and more about preservation. Brown’s night was so efficient they could’ve put him in bubble wrap: he played just over 29 minutes and the Bulls still hung 55.
The box score says Byrum Brown was nearly perfect. The eye test says that might be underselling it.
He opened the game 10-for-10 through the air and finished 14-of-15 for 239 yards and two touchdowns, adding 109 rushing yards and another score. That’s 348 total yards and three TDs in basically a half of work.
It was his fifth straight game with 300+ yards of total offense, his ninth career 100-yard rushing game, and his 26th career rushing touchdown, pushing him into third place on USF’s all-time list.
The scary part? None of it felt forced. He took what UTSA gave him, punished them when they got greedy, and hit the gas every time a lane opened. It was the kind of performance that gets “dark-horse Heisman buzz?” thrown around group chats, even if it’s just as a joke at first.
Brown wasn’t doing it alone. This was one of those nights where the supporting cast looked like stars, too.
And if the offense was explosive, the defense was downright mean.
UTSA came in with a star back in Robert Henry Jr., who’s been cooking defenses all year and sitting around 124 yards per game. USF held him to 27 rushing yards. The Roadrunners, as a whole, were suffocated: just 72 rushing yards, and every carry felt like it was being played in a phone booth.
The final damage:
At the center of it? Jarvis Lee Jr., again.
Lee finished with six tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble — plus the pressure that triggered the pick-six on the first play of the game. That’s a “defensive player of the week, no questions asked” kind of line.
Oh, and just for fun, kicker Nico Gramatica drilled a 51-yard field goal, his fifth career make from 50+ and a new school record. On a night loaded with fireworks, the kicker quietly made history too.
Usually this section is about the moment the game flipped.
Here? The turning point was literally the opening snap.
Ward’s pick-six and Gaskin’s scoop-and-score didn’t just create a 14–0 cushion — they wrecked everything UTSA wanted to be. The Roadrunners are built to lean on the run game with Henry, take calculated shots, and trust their defense to flip momentum when needed.
Instead, they were chasing from the jump, stuck in obvious passing situations against a defense that was teeing off, and forced to watch their November magic dissolve in the Florida humidity.
By the time UTSA settled in and started trading punches, USF had already emptied the clip.
For South Florida, this is a statement win with receipts attached.
USF moves to 7–2 (4–1 AAC) and looks every bit like a contender, not a novelty act. The defense isn’t just opportunistic; it’s destructive. The offense isn’t just fast; it’s efficient. And Byrum Brown is playing like the best player on the field every week.
For UTSA, this is a cold splash of reality.
All the November success, weekday-game swagger, and Jeff Traylor-era momentum runs smack into a night where nothing worked early, the trenches got bullied, and their star running back was erased. One game doesn’t erase what they’ve built — but it does remind everyone that the margin for error in the American is thin.
If last year’s meeting was UTSA’s coronation in this matchup, this one was South Florida yanking the crown back and spiking it on home turf.
The Bulls didn’t just beat UTSA; they hijacked the entire script — defensive touchdowns, explosive plays, ridiculous efficiency, and a QB putting up numbers like it’s a skill-player 7-on-7. On a Thursday night where the Roadrunners were supposed to lean on history, USF wrote something new.
And if this is the version of the Bulls that shows up the rest of the way, the rest of the American better start scripting contingency plans.
A better brand, built by Vaughn & Co. ©
