Leave it to South Florida legendary quarterback Matt Grothe to perfectly sum up the feeling after the Bulls great escape Saturday at Army.
Paraphrasing here, Grothe tweeted, "Hartline has the biggest set of (um, man parts) of all time."
Oh, let's let Matt say it in his own words.
Hartline has the biggest set of balls of all time
— Matt Grothé (@Mgrothe8) September 12, 2026
The boxscore reads that a 38-yard touchdown pass from Bulls quarterback Michael Van Buren to Joshua Porter was the game-winner in South Florida's 28-24 win over the Black Knights. It was a lot more than just that, however.
Head coach Brian Hartline's decision to go for broke on fourth-and-5, trailing by three with less than a half-minute left, was a statement shouted from the mountaintop about the new era of USF football.
it was a great call by the coaches. They believed in me, you know, had to trust me. I had faith in my receiver as well, to make the play. When (Army) brought cover zero, that's all she wrote."
Porter had a couple of steps on his defender and Van Buren dropped the pass perfectly into Porter's waiting arms. About a second before the pass landed, I let out an audible gasp as I watched it unfold on TV. I've seen a lot of football over the years and it takes something extraordinary to get that kind of reaction from me, but this occasion demanded it.
And make no mistake, this is what COO of Athletics Rob Higgins meant when, after hiring Hartline, he said, "We got our guy."
Higgins believed in him. And after watching this guy in just his second game as a college football head coach, it's clear Hartline's team has complete faith in him as well.
Think about how far the Bulls can go with that attitude. On this occasion, it brought them back from the brink of defeat. They trailed by 10 points with less than five minutes to play. Van Buren, of course, was huge in the comeback -- rushing for one touchdown and throwing that dagger to Porter. But the latter play couldn't have happened if the defense didn't get a huge stop to get the ball back with 1:46 to play.
They were 81 yards away from the end zone.
"He's steady talking throughout the sideline. Like, you know, when we get our opportunity, we've got to make the most of it. So, for the defense to go out and get a stop and get us the ball back, it was just really big.," Van Buren said.
"And just for us to make that play in that moment, that's just a testament to just all the work we put in this offseason."
Hartline made a calculated decision to go for the decisive play. Although we know the strength of Rico Gramatica's leg, it would have been a 55-yarder to put the Bulls into overtime.
"I didn't like the length of the kick, frankly," Hartline said. "I think to not give our guys an opportunity to go win the game ... they've earned it. We're out there because we trust them and just wanted to come up with the right call and had an opportunity to coach them up on the call after the timeout,
"The guys executed and, for a lack of a better explanation, I think they're always swinging and I think that maybe there was a point in which you feel like your back's up against the wall and you've got to rise and rely on your training."
One of the best wins in USF history?
Unquestionably.
But it also could be a harbinger of things to come. As the season approached, I had a feeling that the pundits were selling the Bulls when picking to finish in the middle of the American Conference pack. Those same people had Army favored by 3.5 points on Saturday, and I completely understand why that would be the case.
Hartline's inexperience as a head coach was probably the basis of all that, but, as I've said before, there is a different vibe about this team.
And on Saturday, backs to the wall, game on the line -- all the cliches -- that belief was on full display. Grothe, the swashbuckling quarterback of the early USF years, knows what swagger looks like when he sees it. And he saw it.
We all did.
Add us as a preferred source on Google