USF generally doesn’t get a lot of air time on ESPN’s College GameDay, but the Bulls’ game Saturday at Florida was an attention-grabber.
The GameDay crew was very positive about USF after the Bulls’ rousing 34-7 opening-week win over Boise State. Host Rece Davis called the Bulls “a sneaky good South Florida team.”
Kirk Herbstreit went further than that.
“You could make an argument that the Bulls were as impressive in week one as anybody that played college football,” he said.
Kirk Herbstreit on @CollegeGameDay re: @USFFootball: “You should make an argument that the Bulls were as impressive in week one as anybody that played college football.” pic.twitter.com/CadpQSvLl9
— Joe Henderson (@JHendersonTampa) September 6, 2025
And former Alabama coach Nick Saban drew on some personal history from playing at USF two years ago.
”One thing I like about this team, they’ve got some dogs on defense. We played these guys a couple of years ago,” he said.
“These kids are tough. They're physical. They play well together. They pressure the quarterback. They're good up front. They tackle well. This is a good defensive team. So they'll challenge Florida.”
Pat McAfee agreed and remembered what it was like to face the Bulls when he played at West Virginia.
“I think USF will challenge anybody. … USF can do that to you. At West Virginia, we were always scared to play USF because of how fast they're always going to be.”
FanDuel favors the Gators by 17.5 points, but USF has the tools to turn that line into folly. After the Boise State game, there is no chance the Gators will look past the Bulls to next week’s SEC showdown with LSU.
Gator Nation might, but the football team won’t.
“This is an ultimate test of your mind, because you have big games looming, of course, next week when they go to Baton Rouge. And here's USF. It doesn't sound like it's going to be a great competition, but it is,” Herbstreit said.
“Everybody on this desk is impressed with Alex Golesh, the job he's done there, the recruiting he's done, this guy is for real. He runs one of those up-tempo offenses. So the defense, the communication, and it's got Byrum Brown. He was out last year quarterback for USF, missed about eight or nine games. Boy, did he look good against Boise.”