Golesh’s culture shines in USF’s strong win vs. North Texas

DENTON, Texas — The South Florida Bulls (5-1) used a dominant second half to beat the North Texas Mean Green (5-1) 63-36 on Friday night.

For 29 years, South Florida football has been defined by mediocrity. The Bulls’ blips of success have always been quickly snuffed out and left behind a trail of “what-ifs.” Friday night’s ugly first quarter seemed destined to be another buzzkill for the Bulls. However, the 2025 Bulls are not your same old South Florida Bulls, my brotha.

“Where we have grown as a program is there are no ‘here we go again’ moments,” head coach Alex Golesh said.

The 5-1 start is USF’s best since 2017. It’s just the seventh time in program history the Bulls have started 2-0 in conference play.

It was a tumultuous first half for USF. The Bulls turned the ball over three times in the opening quarter, including back-to-back fumbles on their first two possessions. North Texas had five plays of 15 yards or more in the first frame and converted twice on fourth down in the first half — both on touchdown drives.

With the score 21-14 in favor of North Texas, the game turned late in the second quarter when senior punter Chase Leon boomed a 50-yarder to Mean Green returner Miles Coleman. Coleman muffed the punt, and junior safety Cedrick Hawkins recovered the loose football. Senior quarterback Byrum Brown then found sophomore tight end Jonathan Echols in the end zone with two seconds left in the half to tie the game.

The Bulls stampeded out of halftime, scoring 21 points in the first 3:25 of the third quarter. USF is now outscoring opponents 86-17 in the third quarter this season.

The third-quarter surge began when freshman wide receiver Christian Neptune took a handoff from Brown and threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Keshaun Singleton — marking the third straight season a USF wideout has thrown a touchdown pass. (Sean Atkins, we’ll never forget you.)

The defense followed with back-to-back takeaways. Sophomore safety Fred Gaskin intercepted sophomore quarterback Drew Mestermaker three plays after Singleton’s touchdown. Then, after senior running back Sam Franklin punched in another score, sophomore cornerback Jarvis Lee forced a fumble that senior linebacker Jhlayn Shuler scooped off the turf and returned 34 yards for a touchdown. In the blink of an eye, the Bulls had blown the game open.

USF’s 16 takeaways in 2025 are the most in college football. The Bulls held North Texas to 15 points in the second half; the Mean Green entered the game with the No. 8 scoring offense in the FBS at 44.8 points per game.

Senior safety Tavin Ward led USF with a career-high 14 tackles. Shuler had eight tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception to go with his scoop-and-score. Senior cornerback Jonas Duclona also snagged an interception.

The Bulls’ pass rush showed up, too. USF sacked Mestermaker twice after managing just four sacks in four previous FBS matchups. Graduate defensive tackle Jacob Merrifield had one, while senior defensive tackle Traevon Mitchell and freshman defensive end Richard Scott III combined for another.

Mestermaker completed 30 of 48 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions — his first picks of the 2025 season.

Junior receiver Miles Coleman led North Texas with seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore receiver Wyatt Young added 79 yards, and senior Cameron Dorner had 73. The Mean Green’s offense was one-dimensional, managing just 3.3 yards per rush. They finished 9 of 18 on third down and 2 of 4 on fourth.

The only thing that stopped USF’s offense on Friday night was itself. The Bulls posted a 52% success rate and averaged 6.63 yards per play.

The 63 points tied the most scored under Golesh. USF has now piled up 180 points in its last three games.

The Bulls’ rushing attack led the way with 306 yards on 5.4 yards per carry, with four different rushers topping 50 yards.

Brown stuffed the stat sheet again, finishing with 245 passing yards, 82 rushing yards, five total touchdowns and three turnovers. It marked his second straight week with five touchdowns.

Freshman running back Chase Garnett had a career-high 74 rushing yards. Sophomore Alvon Isaac and graduate senior Sam Franklin added 64 and 51, respectively.

Even junior offensive lineman Cole Skinner got in on the action with a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter — his first career carry.

Ten different USF players caught a pass. Freshman Jeremiah Koger led the way with 94 yards and two touchdowns. Koger has 169 receiving yards and three touchdowns over the past two weeks after not recording a catch in the first four games.

It was also a historic night for North Texas — DATCU Stadium, which opened in 2011, hosted its first sellout crowd.

Gaskin said after the game that the Bulls “feed off the crowd” on the road. USF now has two road wins in front of sellout stadiums in 2025.

“The reason that was a sellout was because the Bulls were in town,” Golesh said.

Friday’s win was USF’s first victory as a ranked team since 2018, when the Bulls beat UConn 38-30. USF is now 26-14 all-time when ranked in the AP poll.

Graduate linebacker Mac Harris and Jacob Merrifield both went down with injuries during the game. Golesh said both could have returned if the game had been closer and that both “will be fine.” Senior receiver Chas Nimrod left with a lower leg injury and was later seen in a boot on the sideline. Golesh said the team will know more about his status later in the week.

Next week, the Bulls return home for their Homecoming game against Florida Atlantic as they look to start 3-0 in conference play.