The University of South Florida shook up the AP top 25 rankings in its season opener, beating No. 25 Boise State University, 34-7 on Aug. 28. USF snapped its 16-game losing streak to ranked opponents.  

Head coach Alex Golesh devoted this game to the late USF basketball head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. In his third season as head coach, Golesh is ready to put a true identity on the field this season. 

“I quoted Amir, ‘this ain’t the same old South Florida anymore.’ And I truly believe that I felt his presence tonight in me. I don’t know why or how, but that’s a special dude that loved our football team,” Golesh said. 

More than 30,000 people filled the stands at Raymond James Stadium to feed off the energy of the Bulls. The defense’s energy was unmatched for the Broncos, as the Bulls forced three fumbles. Last season, Boise State only coughed up five fumbles. 

Senior linebacker Jhalyn Shuler dropped a career high of 14 tackles and one fumble recovery. This was Shuler’s first game playing fully healthy, having taken the off-season to recover from the injury that sidelined him for three games last season.

“I think we were very violent at the point of attack. I’m really proud of what we did. You know, being able to get in and out of defenses and uh, really execute, you know what we practiced over the week. So really proud of us,” graduate linebacker Mac Harris said. 

Redshirt Junior Byrum Brown first game since missing eight games last season, threw for 210 yards on 24 attempts, completing 16 passes. Putting the running game on his back, Brown rushed for 43 yards and two touchdowns.  

“ I felt like I needed to get a hit, get tackled a little bit, just to wake me up a little bit. So, I asked him to run me and did, and, you know, you saw the results,” Brown said. 

The highlight of the game came on 4th-and-6, when freshman quarterback Locklan Hewlett subbed in as the punter and threw a 45-yard pass to Junior Kesahaun Singleton in single coverage, breaking a couple of tackles towards the end zone. 

“We worked on that play almost every day, so we had confidence in it. I think that’s what it boiled down to,” Hewlett said. 

With momentum and confidence on their side, the Bulls take a quick road trip to The Swamp to clash with the University of Florida on Sept. 6, broadcast on ESPN.