An occasional series looking ahead to what USF will face in its American Conference schedule
Tulane at South Florida, November 27 (or November 28, designation by October 11), Kickoff time: 12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. TV: TBA.
This will be South Florida's final regular-season game at Raymond James Stadium, although (fingers crossed), the Bull could be the host team for the American Conference title game on December 5. To do that, they would have to finish atop the conference regular season standings, which brings us to this game.
Most of the experts expect Tulane to be good, even with a new head coach (Will Hall), who took over after Jon Sumrall took the job at Florida.
But is USF's performance matches its talent, the Bulls could definitely be in the mix to win the American. If that comes down to the last game of the regular season, Bulls Nation would be absolutely floating (albeit with chewed fingernails).
Obligatory caution: In that case, we'd also hear new coach Brian Hartline's name linked to about 50 other jobs. But, who knows, with the potential for more power conference movement in motion by the end of this year, the Bulls may be headed uptown by then anyway.
Why Tulane could be really good: The Green Wave established themselves as a top-tier team in the American and there's no reason to believe Sumrall's departure will trigger a collapse. It's true that Hall has to piece things together as Tulane has just five returning starters, but he has some intriguing pieces to work with.
Start with quarterback Kadin Semonza, who transferred last season from Ball State but didn't see the field. Don't let that fool you, though. Semonza was the MAC Freshman of the Year after throwing for 2,904 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2024, and he reportedly is in the lead to win the starting job for the Green Wave.
Houston backup Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, a former starter at Louisiana, could also be in the mix.
The running game should be strong as well. Jamauri McClure returns after leading the position with 540 yards averaging 6.5 yards per carry last season. Big things are also expected of Florida State transfer Jaylin Lucas.
The receiving corps returns Anthony Brown-Stephens who had 41 catches, and Zycarl Lewis Jr. is also back. LSU transfer Destyn Hill has the potential for a big impact.
Why Tulane might struggle: The defense will have an extreme makeover after being extremely ordinary last year.
Tulane was fifth in the conference in scoring defense and seventh in total defense in 2025, and then saw multiple key defenders head to the portal.
That includes basically the entire defensive front and secondary stalwarts corner Jahiem Johnson (Arkansas) and safety Javion White (Houston). They did add former USF defensive back Kejuan Banks as a reinforcement.
X factors: The Bulls are 1-4 lifetime against Tulane, and the four losses came in the last four times these teams played. The games weren't close, either. The Green Wave outscored USF 176-70 in that span, including 45-10 in 2024. That was game were former Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown suffered a broken leg.
Of course, the Bulls have a new coaching staff and a major roster turnover, so the memory of that 2024 game shouldn't an issue.
This game is scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, which is always a special time, and the Bulls do get to stay home. There will be a lot of pomp and circumstance celebrating USF's time at Ray-Jay, but Hartline will make sure his players are as insulated from that as possible.
The word of the day for the Bull for that game: FOCUS!
Previously in this series:
South Florida at East Carolina
South Florida at Florida Atlantic
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