The ease with which Memphis blew past South Florida in the first quarter on Thursday was reminisceht of the 2022 debacle against BYU.
Just 11 seconds into that game, Courgars WR Puka Nacua ran untuched for 75 yards and a touchdown. By the end of the first quarter, the Bulls trailed by four rouchdowns and the Bulls were on their way to a humiliating 50-21 loss.
Memphis scored so quickly on Thursday and ran up a three-touchdown lead, Social media was alive with (fill in rhe blank coach) MUST BE FIRED!
Yes, to its credit, USF rallied to take a lead in the fourth quarter before the defense spit the bit in the closing minutes of a 52-41 loss.
But USF head coach Brian Hartline said aferward that he's not into moral victories, and Green, Gold and Bold isn;t either. This was a winnable game. So why, this late into the season, does this see-saw football team keep finding ways to lose?
Let's take a stab at answering that in these three takeaways.
— South Florida Football (@USFFootball) November 13, 2026
No. 1: No smiling!
Hartline is an intense guy and many of his players are, too.
Apparently not all of them, though.
"The mentality, I have felt, it's probably been my most disappointing piece. Like, in my opinion, when I saw the amount of smiling on the field after the loss, like, I'm not used to that. Smiling in pictures and, like, throwing up signs and stuff, like, that's just loser mentality. I don't understand that, you know? I remember, like, crying, broken mad, almost in fistfights after a game. You put so much work into itd," Hartline said.
"We smile here, we lock hands, and we're all (like) I'm good. So, we gotta figure it out, we gotta have a whole change of mentality, if we really want to develop in the level we want to be as people, and as a team. That's very apparent."
Now we're getting somewhere. Remember, Hartline and his staff had to put this team together with little time to account for the kind of "want-to" measurables he's talking about.
You can bet they're on the lookout for players who already have the mentalitu he believes is central to success.
No. 2: Do Bulls have their quarterback?
After the show Luke Kromenhoek put on, the easy answer is yes.
We have no way of knowing if Michael Van Buren, Jr. will be healthy enough to play again this season -- two regular-season games and a bowl.
What we do know, however, is that Kromenhoek has taken full advantage of the opportunity he was presented with after Van Buren went down against UAB.
He had 416 total yards and four touchdowns against Memphis. He's a big young man and uses that size to grind for extra yards.
Remember, this was just his fourth collegiate start (two at Florida State) and only his second since 2024. There is a certain amount of rust that needs to be scraped away, but he has a big arm and obviously the team responded to his leadership.
Interestingly, Kromenhoek's presence seemed to open up the playbook for beleaguered offensive coordinator Tim Beck. The Bulls offense looked the best that it has all season.
No. 3: Consistency, please
You can argue that the last time the Bulls played a complete game was the Week 2 win at Army.
Since then, it seems that when the defense stands up, the offense struggles. On nights like Thursday, it's the opposite.
When a team scores as many points as the Bulls did on Thursday, there should be smiles after the game -- victory smies. Instead, the Bulls lost a second straight game and fell to 6-4 overall.
Statistics say the Bulls have one of the best defenses in the American Conference. But all four losses this season happened when the defense couldn't hold a late lead -- including this game.
When it mattered most, Memphis receivers ran free and the Bulls were gashed for big plays.
Can we take from this that USF can fix this with a tweak or twelve?
Pul-eeze.
Like Hartline said, it starts with attitude and that seems to be a huge issue. He wasn't smiling when he said that.
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