Escape From Ohio: Bulls hang on at Bowling Green

Led offensively by running back D.J. Crowther’s 23 carries for 143 yards, the South Florida Bulls defeated the Bowling Green State Falcons 14-6 on Saturday at Doyt L. Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.

While the Bulls were outstanding defensively, holding the Falcons to just 3.4 yards per play and 2.6 per rush, their offensive line was also mauled up front for most of the first three quarters.

“Tomorrow we're getting some corrections to talk about it,” said Bulls head coach Brian Hartline postgame, who tied Jeff Scott for sixth on the Bulls all-time coaching wins list with the victory. “But we're excited for conference play, and that's where all of our focus is going to go at this point. The first four weeks was an opportunity for us to grow, but now we have to find a way to go, one and zero every single week in conference play, and see how it goes. So, full turn direction towards Temple, and that'll be our focus pretty quickly after we review the film tomorrow.”

The first half saw USF gain just 83 yards on 29 plays, with Crowther’s nine carries for 33 yards the only bright spot. Behind an offensive line that was limestone levels of porous, Michael Van Buren had two fumbles lost in the first quarter alone to BGSU senior defensive end Myles Bradley. It was an unexpected turn for a team that entered as an 18.5-point favorite, and had just one turnover in 180 minutes of football prior to Saturday.

Bradley set a Falcons school record with 4.5 sacks as an individual, as BGSU bagged six total as a team. He also became the USF opponent with the most sacks against the Bulls in 30 years of football, as he repeatedly turnstiled an offensive line filled with injuries that has forced players to compete out of position.

USF grad student OL Thomas Shrader, who has also played at center and guard this season, was put at right tackle Saturday before being taken off the field due to a leg injury. He was seen on crutches following the game with a boot on his foot, only adding to the woes up front.

Defensively the Bulls were outstanding. Zavier Hamilton’s eleven tackles led all USF players, but the team wide 11 tackles for loss was the difference, pushing the Falcons back a total of 25 yards. In the first half Bowling Green gained just four first downs on 26 snaps, despite their average drive starting at their 46-yard line thanks to the sack/fumbles of Van Buren.

The biggest defensive play of the game was Asani Redwood and Sam Robinson’s co-TFL on a 4th and 1 from near midfield on the first play of the the fourth quarter, which put the Bulls back on the field in a position to set up their first score.

“We just had we had the mindset that we go out there, we stop right here, just change the game,” said Redwood, a grad student transfer from West Virginia. “The guard came across. I don’t remember him coming across, and I just got it there. I just saw the running back. Got a big hit right there.”

From there Crowther’s dominance was even more prevalent, as his four carries for 31 yards on the drive led to a Luke Kromenhoek TD scramble on the first Bulls possession of the final stanza. Crowther picked up five more carries for 41 yards on the ensuing possession, running in from one yard out himself for the final score of the game.

“I think I have the mentality of just you know not letting the first man bring me down and just being gritty and running hard,” said Crowther, a grad student transfer from Dartmouth. “I think at the end of the day we know what we want to be at, and we just got to take the steps moving forward to get to win a week.”

“To not play at the level we want to play, and then still find a way to win. That's it,” said Hartline “You know, by Tuesday, the outcome won't matter. Maybe at least the score won't matter. The outcome does a little bit, but at the end of the day, we're looking forward to conference play. That's what we've been working for this entire off season, and we're going to work. You know, really turn the page pretty quickly after we try to learn from the film.”

Bull… ets

• USF continues to be one of the least penalized teams in FBS, conceding just six flags for 35 yards on Saturday. They’re averaging just 26.7 yards of penalties per game in FBS play, trailing only Notre Dame at 26.5 as of press time.
• The lack of time to throw made things particularly difficult on quarterback Michael Van Buren, who was just 7-11 for 52 yards passing. But the Mississippi State and LSU transfer has thrown all 91 of his passes through four games as a Bull without an interception.
• Kicker Nico Gramatica moved to 75-76 on career PAT’s, but also missed his first field goal attempt of 2026 from 41 yards to close out the first half. The junior was 5-5 this season heading into the contest, with a long of 53 yards against FIU.
• The Tournament of Roses presented the Bowling Green band with an invitation to participate in their annual parade in Pasadena at halftime. The Falcons have a 600-member marching band at a school of about 20,000 students.