TAMPA, FLA – The Bulls opened the 2024 USF Football Season presented by Tampa General Hospital, the second under head coach Alex Golesh, with a 48-3 victory over Bethune-Cookman Saturday night in Raymond James Stadium as an energetic student section of nearly 6,000, the most since the 2021 season-opener vs. Florida, cheered on.
The Bulls captured their first season-opening win since 2020 and logged their third-straight win of 34 points or more, dating to the end of the 2023 season. The opening game attendance of 36,262 was the most for an American Athletic Conference program for the 2024 opening weekend.
Three Bulls running backs and quarterback Byrum Brown scored rushing touchdowns on the night. Brown opened the scoring for the Bulls’ 2024 season with an electrifying 42-yard touchdown run in which he bounced outside and then outran the Wildcats secondary to the endzone. Brown, who led the Bulls with 11 touchdown runs in 2023, capped an 82-yard first scoring drive of the season for the Bulls. He finished 13-of-20 passing for 152 yards, giving way to Bryce Archie late in the third quarter.
Bulls newcomer Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen led the team with five receptions for 73 yards, including a 44-yard long that set up a touchdown. Kelley Joiner Jr. led the Bulls with 78 yards and two touchdowns rushing. Kicker John Cannon blasted a 53-yard field goal, the third-longest in program history, and a 40-yarder while going 4-of-4 point after attempts.
The Bulls defense forced two turnovers and held B-CU 170 yards and just 48 on the ground, giving up just three points on a 48-yard field goal and one incursion into the red zone.
Linebacker Jhalyn Shuler recorded his first interception at USF on B-CU’s second possession and returned it 29 yards to the B-CU six. Joiner Jr. plunged in from two yards out three plays later to make it 14-0.
The Bulls drove 48 yards on their next possession, making it 21-0 when running back Ta’Ron Keith plunged in from a yard out. An 18-yard completion from Brown to Sean Atkins got the Bulls moving on the drive.
The Bulls defense held B-CU to just nine yards and no pass completions through the Wildcats’ first six drives, not allowing them to get off their own goal line on two occasions and forcing a quarterback change late in the second quarter.
After forcing a second punt from inside B-CU’s five, USF drove 40 yards to make it 28-0 after a 1-yard plunge from Nay’Quan Wright.
B-CU got on the board with 22 seconds left in the first half when C Hector connected on a 49-yard field goal. The Bulls answered moving the ball quickly to the B-CU 35, setting up a career-long 53-yard field goal from John Cannon that sent the teams to the locker room with the Bulls leading 31-3.
A Cannon 40-yard field goal made it 34-3 and the Bulls made it 41-3 after Brown hit Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen for a 44-yard completion and Joiner capped the drive with a four-yard run.
The Bulls brought on Bryce Archie for their next drive and he immediately hit Michael Brown-Stephens with a 15-yard dart for a touchdown on the first play of the series.
KEY STATS
• USF out-gained B-CU 403 to 170 on the night and outran the Wildcats, 231-48.
• The Bulls forced two turnovers, turning both interceptions into touchdowns.
• USF posted its sixth 40-point scoring game under head coach Alex Golesh and their third straight dating to the 2023 season.
NOTABLES
• K John Cannon hit a career-long 53-yard field goal to end the first half. It marked the third-longest field goal in program history and the longest for a Bull since a 52-yarder from Spencer Shrader vs. Temple in 2021. It was the 13th 50-plus yard field goal in program history.
• LB Jhalyn Shuler recorded his first interception at USF (he had two at Coffeyville CC) to set up a USF touchdown before leaving the game with an injury sustained at the end of the play.
• RB Kelley Joiner Jr. led the Bulls with 78 yards and two touchdowns rushing on the night.
• The Bulls had nine first time USF starters and saw 18 true freshmen make an appearance on the night.
UP NEXT
The Bulls hit the road for the first of two games away from Tampa when they take on No. 5 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. next Saturday. The Bulls were within one score late in their contest with the Tide last year before Alabama pulled out a 17-3 win in Raymond James Stadium. The game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff on ESPN.
2024 Season Tickets: www.USFBullsTix.com
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Future schedules can be viewed HERE
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 27th season in 2023 with a program-best six-game turnaround and Boca Raton Bowl victory under first-year head coach Alex Golesh. USF completed construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility in 2023 and a $340-million on-campus stadium and football operations center is slated for completion by 2027. The Bulls have posted 16 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections (including two consensus selections, the last coming in 2021), as well as 32 first-team all-conference honorees. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and the Bulls have made 11 bowl game appearances (going 7-4), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. USF posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016, while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns and reached as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press rankings during the 2007 season.
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