The Bulls Were On The Ropes. Then the MVB Magic Happened.

Improbable, unfathomable, insanity. Those are all words you could use to describe USF’s comeback win over Army on Saturday afternoon.

Stunned Army fans walked out of the stadium with looks of bewilderment. Stunned USF fans stayed on the north side of the stadium with the same looks of bewilderment, but with a side of pure excitement.

According to ESPN’s analytics, Army had as high as a 99.9% chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.

USF was a play away from starting the season 0-1 in conference play. The Bulls would have started their season with a sluggish win at home against FIU, a disheartening loss at Army and a flurry of questions about Brian Hartline and his squad in Year 1.

Instead, the Bulls came away with what could be a galvanizing win on Saturday afternoon. Now the Bulls are 2-0 and have a great chance to stack win after win in the first half of their schedule.

All because of some Michael Van Buren Jr. magic along the Hudson River.

Michael Van Buren Jr. stars in the Bulls’ win

Van Buren Jr. was nothing short of spectacular on Saturday afternoon.

He completed 19 of his 30 passing attempts for 239 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 45 rushing yards and two spectacular touchdown runs. It was the first time in Van Buren Jr.’s career that he’s had four touchdowns in a game.

While Van Buren Jr. was good throughout the game, it was the fourth quarter when he rose to stardom. He was 10-for-16 for 132 yards and two total touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

He helped lead the Bulls to two scoring drives of 75 yards or longer in the final five minutes of the game. Van Buren Jr.’s nearly flawless fourth quarter was capped off when he dropped the game-winning pass in the bucket 38 yards down the field to Joshua Porter.

Pro Football Focus gave Van Buren Jr. a 91 overall grade against the Black Knights. His adjusted completion percentage on Saturday afternoon was 82.1%.

Before the season, the team’s biggest question mark was quarterback. However, Van Buren Jr.’s growth from when he arrived at USF in the spring to now has been widely regarded as exponential. The growth was mentioned by Hartline, Porter and C.J. Hicks after Saturday’s game.

Van Buren Jr. appears to be poised to be a strength of the Bulls’ team in 2026.

USF’s defense responds when they needed it most

The Bulls’ defensive performance on Saturday wasn’t dominant, but in the end, it was just enough to get the win.

The past success of Josh Aldridge against triple-option offenses and the connection of safeties coach Danny Verpaele to Army’s attack was well-noted heading into the game. However, the USF defense didn’t seem to have any special leg up in its game plan on Saturday afternoon.

Army had 219 rushing yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. The Black Knights had a 52% success rate on offense in the game.

However, what Army did well was possess the football. The Black Knights had three touchdown drives of more than 90 yards. In their nine drives in the game, they averaged 11.1 plays per possession.

Army possessed the ball for 35:46 of the game. The Black Knights’ back-breaking style of play was most apparent in the second quarter when their offense possessed the ball for 13:10.

The Black Knights finished the first half with a touchdown drive that went 19 plays, 92 yards and took up 9:57 of game clock. The USF offense only ran one play, a quarterback kneel, in 51 minutes of real time.

However, the Bulls’ defense buckled down in the third quarter. USF stopped Army on back-to-back possessions to start the second half and held the Black Knights scoreless in the third quarter. Both stops were crucial in keeping the Bulls in striking distance before their fourth-quarter comeback. After the game, Hartline called each stop and possession “precious.”

On Saturday, the Bulls recorded six tackles for loss, knocking Army back 15 yards. Seven different Bulls recorded at least half a tackle for loss in the game.

USF only had one sack in the game, but it came at a critical time. Late in the fourth quarter, on third-and-9, Bulls linebacker Zavier Hamilton exploded through the line of scrimmage, sacking Army quarterback Cade Hellums and ensuring the Bulls would get the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

The Bulls only forced one turnover in the game. They only had one sack. But the defense gave the team a chance to win the game late, and that was all the Bulls needed on Saturday afternoon.

Not to mention, they did all of this without starting linebacker and team captain Grayon “Pup” Howard, who missed the game due to injury.

USF’s offense takes a huge step forward

The Bulls’ offense and offensive coordinator Tim Beck were much maligned after their Week 1 win against FIU.

On Saturday, the USF offense looked like a completely different unit from the one that only mustered 208 total yards in Week 1.

The Bulls had 369 yards against Army. They had a 57% success rate, which ranks in the 91st percentile in college football. The Bulls averaged more than 7 yards per play in the game.

USF’s offense averaged 5.2 yards per carry, a big increase from their 2.8 yards per rush against FIU. Jason Collins Jr. and D.J. Crowther had 40 and 39 yards on the ground, respectively, to go along with Van Buren Jr.’s 45 yards.

The Bulls also got more people involved in the passing game. Six different Bulls had a reception in the game, as opposed to the four players who caught a pass in Week 1.

Porter led the way for the Bulls with 67 receiving yards. Bryson Rogers added six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Arhmad Branch also had five catches for 53 yards, his second straight game with five receptions.

USF also continued to play clean football despite ramping up its aggressiveness on offense. The Bulls have still yet to turn the ball over this season. They have only committed seven penalties for 45 yards combined in their first two games.

The Bulls’ offense looks poised to continue to grow as the season goes on. A positive sign for USF fans moving forward.

Don’t forget about Hartline’s game management

Hartline has been praised for his gutsy decision to go for fourth-and-6 on the Bulls’ go-ahead touchdown pass.

His other option would have been to send Nico Gramatica out for a 55-yard field goal to tie the game. But as the wind picked up coming toward Gramatica and the Bulls’ offense, Hartline’s hand was almost forced to go for it.

For the majority of the game, Hartline managed the game conservatively.

Twice the Bulls were near midfield and had a fourth-and-medium, and twice Hartline elected to punt. In the first quarter, with the Bulls up 7-0, the Bulls had fourth-and-6, but Hartline elected to punt. Army would go on to score on the ensuing drive.

Then, in the fourth quarter, on fourth-and-3 with the Bulls trailing 17-14, Hartline again elected to punt. Army would also score on that ensuing drive.

Van Buren Jr.’s touchdown pass to Porter was USF’s first fourth-down attempt of the season.

Hartline also elected to only call one timeout on Army’s long touchdown drive right before halftime. The Bulls got the ball with only 11 seconds left in the half with two timeouts in their pocket, knowing Army was going to receive the ball to start the second half.

Hartline has made it clear that his decision-making will be conservative to start his tenure as the head man. In this new era of college football, it will be interesting to see how those decisions affect games and if Hartline’s philosophy changes as the season progresses.