South Florida’s nine-game home winning streak ended Saturday, but the 17-13 loss to Temple exposed a bigger concern for the Bulls. An offense that has become increasingly difficult for its defense to carry.
Temple entered the game struggling through the first month of the season, but the Owls were all to take advantage of another inconsistent offensive performance from South Florida to steal a conference game at Raymond James Stadium.
It is no secret that this South Florida offense is a shell of what it was last season. The Bulls finished 2025 fifth nationally at 40.5 points per game. Through four games against FBS opponents this season, they are averaging just 18.5 points per game, ranking 104th nationally.
The regression hasn’t come from one area. The run game has carried the offense at times, but it hasn’t been consistent enough to overcome a passing attack that has struggles to create sustained production. Against Temple, neither side of the offense did enough.
The game started slowly, as has become a theme for the Bulls. Nico Grammatica opened the scoring with a field goal before Temple responded with 10 unanswered points in the second quarter, capped by a 24-yard touchdown connection from Ajani Sheppard to JoJo Bermudez.
South Florida finally found some rhythm to open the second half, putting together a 14-play touchdown drive that ended with D.J. Crowther scoring from one yard out. The score extended Crowther’s touchdown streak to three games and tied the game at 10.
That drive, however, proved to be the exception rather than the turning point.
South Florida later took a 13-10 lead following another Grammatica field goal, giving the defense an opportunity to close the game. The unit had held Temple to just 10 points through 57 minutes of play, but Sheppard broke free on a 34-yard quarterback draw with 3:18 remaining to give the Owls a 17-13 advantage.
Michael Van Buren Jr. and the Bulls were given two chances to answer. After a punt on the first drive, the defense got a big stop that allowed the offense one more chance.
South Florida moved the ball into Temple territory in the closing seconds, but Mudia Reuben couldn’t get down in time, and the clock ran out, ending the comeback attempt.
Van Buren Jr. completed 17-of-32 passes for 205 yards and failed to throw a touchdown. South Florida rushed for only 114 yards on 34 carries, and average of 3.5 yards per attempt, and finished with 319 total yards.
The most frustrating part for South Florida is that its defense gave the offense more than enough chances to win.
Temple produced only 274 total yards. The Owls completed nine passes all night and scored just 17 points, yet it was enough to hand the Bulls their first loss of the season.
South Florida has developed into one of the best defensive teams in the America Conference, allowing just 14.6 points and 312.4 yards per game. The improvement is significant from last season and has allowed the Bulls to survive several stretches in which their offense has disappeared.
Saturday was the first time the defense couldn’t hold off the opponent.
Head coach Brian Hartline acknowledged the imbalance between both sides of the ball.
“Offense, we puttered out. We didn’t do a good enough job owning the football,” Hartline said. The best way to take care of your defense is to own the football.”
There isn’t much time to fix the problem. South Florida travels to San Antonio on Thursday night for another conference matchup against UTSA. The Roadrunners are 4-1, with their only loss coming against the top ranked team in the country, the Texas Longhorns.
They will provide the hardest test of the season thus far for a Bulls team trying to avoid losing back to back games for the first time since September of 2024.
The Bulls will take on UTSA at the Alamodome this Thursday at 7:30 P.M. The game can be watched nationally on ESPN.
