USF’s 2025 season ends with a whimper in Cure Bowl loss
The Bulls can't overcome absences of key players and a skeleton crew coaching staff against Old Dominion.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The South Florida Bulls entered Camping World Stadium on Wednesday seeking a triumphant ending — a 10th win and a statement victory in the post–Alex Golesh era. Instead, USF closed the 2025 season with a whimper.
The Bulls fell to Old Dominion 24-10 in the Cure Bowl.
“Hats off to every one of these guys who battled this year,” interim coach Kevin Patrick said. “There were a lot of highs, there were some lows, but these guys are going to work through it.”
It marked Patrick’s first game as a collegiate head coach. He brings 11 years of experience as an assistant at USF, and the outfit he wore Wednesday was the same one he donned as the Bulls’ defensive ends coach during the program’s inaugural game against Kentucky Wesleyan in 1997.
USF played the game shorthanded both on the field and on the sideline. The Bulls were without a significant portion of their coaching staff following Alex Golesh’s departure and were also missing several key players. However, no absence was felt more than that of quarterback Byrum Brown.
The Bulls scored a season-low ten points. USF entered the game averaging 43 points per contest but managed just 333 total yards, well below its season average of 501.7.
Graduate quarterback Gaston Moore made his first career start in place of Brown, completing 20-of-28 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown.
“The entire team has 100% faith in him,” graduate offensive lineman Cole Best said. “It wasn’t perfect, but I couldn’t be more proud of him and the way that he stepped up and led this offense.”
Moore also threw two interceptions, part of a five-turnover night for the Bulls.
It marked the first time since 2020 — against Cincinnati — that USF committed five turnovers in a game. The Bulls have done so just seven times in program history.
In the fourth quarter, with Old Dominion leading 17-10, Moore was knocked out of the game after a hard hit from senior cornerback Botros Alisandro who sent him airborne before he landed on his head and neck area. Moore did not return. Best and Patrick were each assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties following the play.
Freshman quarterback Locklan Hewlett relieved Moore and completed 7-of-12 passes for 45 yards with an interception. His only other action this season came in Week 1, when he threw a long touchdown pass to sophomore Keshaun Singleton on a fake punt against Boise State.
USF was without Singleton on Wednesday because of an arm injury. In his absence, freshmen Christian Neptune and Jeremiah Koger stepped up. Neptune posted career highs with ten receptions for 102 yards, while Koger added four catches for 68 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown reception. Junior Jey’Quan Smith finished with five receptions for 61 yards.
Old Dominion dominated the ground game, rushing for 255 yards compared to USF’s 52. The Bulls posted an expected points added per rush of minus-0.26.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Henicle threw for 127 yards and ran for 107 yards with two rushing touchdowns in his first start of the season. He replaced Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year Colton Joseph, who entered the transfer portal last week.
Redshirt sophomore Devin Roche rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries. The Monarchs piled up 181 rushing yards in the second half and became just the third team to eclipse 200 rushing yards against USF this season.
USF’s lone takeaway came in the first quarter when sophomore cornerback Jarvis Lee stripped Henicle and sophomore safety Fred Gaskin recovered the fumble. The Bulls recorded four sacks, with graduate linebackers Jhalyn Shuler and Rico Watson III and senior defensive end Michael Williams III each registering one, along with Lee’s strip sack.
Graduate linebacker Mac Harris exited with a lower body injury in the third quarter and did not return. No update has been provided on his status.
Both teams struggled in the kicking game. USF sophomore kicker Nico Gramatica missed field goals from 48 and 39 yards after missing just one attempt inside 50 yards during the regular season. Old Dominion botched a hold for redshirt junior Nathaniel Eichner late in the second quarter, turning the ball over on downs, and Eichner later missed a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
The Bulls finished the season with nine wins, the sixth time in program history they have reached that mark and the first since 2017. USF is now 8-5 all time in bowl games.
“This team has accomplished more than I ever thought we could, and I couldn’t be more proud of these guys and these coaches — specifically the coaches who stayed through all of this and continued to pour into us,” Best said.
USF will now turn its attention to the transfer portal, which opens Jan. 2. Lee announced after the game that he will enter the portal, joining wide receiver Brandon Winton and defensive lineman Dinellson Exume. Neither Winton nor Exume saw action this season. Lee recorded 55 tackles and led the team with 12 tackles for loss. Gaskin also entered the portal Wednesday morning. He recorded 53 tackles and had two interceptions in 2025.
“I’m encouraged that this program is going to keep climbing no matter who is at the helm because we built a good culture,” Patrick said. “The love that we have for these guys and they have for each other is the biggest thing we got out of this year.”
The loss was an anticlimactic ending to a roller-coaster season for the Bulls. Now, all eyes turn to Brian Hartline and how USF responds in 2026.