USF-The wait for the University of South Florida Bulls’ highly anticipated season opener against No. 25 Boise State on Aug. 28 at Raymond James Stadium is almost over. The Bulls look to carry momentum after ending last season with a bang, coming out on top of a 5 OT thriller against San Jose St. in the 2024 Hawaii Bowl.
An appearance from Senior quarterback Byrum Brown has been long-awaited, and fans will finally see him hit the grass after his season-ending injury that he suffered midway through the 2024 campaign.
Brown missed eight games last season due to a lower leg injury. Before that, Brown broke 12 program records in 2023 and threw for over 3,000 yards. Head Coach Alex Golesh believes that Brown is back to his 2023 self, if not better.
“He deserves to be confident. He’s physically in a really good place. He’s throwing it better than he’s ever thrown it. He’s running better than he’s ever ran,” Head Coach Golesh said.
With former quarterback Bryce Archie leaving the program after being drafted to the MLB, a new quarterback battle has started to brew. University of Tennessee transfer graduate Gaston Moore has risen from the bottom of the depth chart to QB2 to backup Brown.
“They are attached at the hip; everywhere they go, they are challenging each other. They’re communicating at an elite clip,” Golesh said.
Boise State has also gone into depth on gameplanning for USF, including adding a rain delay to a practice session to emulate the Sunshine State’s unpredictable weather.
Coach Golesh has certainly done the research to gameplan for the Broncos coming off their 2024 College Football Playoff appearance.
“From a personnel standpoint, it’s really not as big of a change as you would think coming off the year they had. They did a really good job and give Lane a lot of credit. Like, they did an incredible job of keeping their really good players for the most part. And it’s a testament to their culture…,” Golesh said
The Bulls non-conference games are against ranked opponents this season like The University of Florida and Miami. Their last win against a ranked opponent was No. 22 Navy in 2016 52-45.
The University of South Florida Bulls will take on Boise State on Thursday, Aug. 28 at Raymond James Stadium with a kickoff at 5:30 p.m. EST and can be watched on ESPN.
