USF football did what it was supposed to with one-sided blowout of Bethune-Cookman

What can you say about USF’s opening-night 48-3 rout of Bethune-Cookman University besides this what was supposed to happen?

We knew going in that the Bulls were deeper, bigger, faster, and stronger than the Wildcats, and that’s how it played out. USF led by four touchdowns at halftime, and after that, it was hard for our minds not to drift ahead to next week’s game at Alabama.

While the Bulls were cruising over the Wildcats, ‘Bama was toying with Western Kentucky in a 63-0 win. While the ‘Bama fan sites will look at USF as another tune-up before the “real” games start in conference play, you can bet the message will differ inside the locker room.

Alabama’s players will be reminded that USF gave them a mighty tussle last year before falling 17-3. They’ll be ready to play, but the Bulls will be ready, too.

What can we meaningfully take away from the Bethune game?

Not much, to be honest, beyond the fact the much-maligned defense from last year flew to the ball all night and didn’t give the visitors room to breathe.

Head coach Alex Golesh noted the defense “flew around with intent, a violent intent.”

He added, "It's great to be 1-0 ... we were supposed to win that game."

Overall, the Bulls were just that much better than the visitors. The score could have been even more lopsided had Golesh wished for that.

Quarterback Byrum Brown had a highlight moment with a 42-yard touchdown run for USF’s first score. Otherwise, I had the feeling head coach Alex Golesh didn’t want to reveal too many secrets about his star QB to Alabama film-watchers. Brown took a seat late in the third quarter to give backup Bryce Archie some playing time.

Archie repaid the favor with a TD toss on his first pass.

So it went.

Heading into this season we said USF needed to diversify on offense compared to a year ago, particularly in the passing game.  That’s what happened. Newcomer Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen, who transferred from Purdue, was the leading receiver with five catches, including one for 44 yards.

Sean Atkins, whose 92 catches last year were one less than the next three USF receivers combined,  had four catches.

We wondered what strides the defense would make after struggling last year. Well, the Bulls held Bethune to just nine yards on the Wildcats’ first six possessions. They got into the red zone only once.

The Bulls ran for 231 yards and four touchdowns, including two by Kelley Joiner.

Kicker John Cannon joined the party with a 53-yard field goal, the third-longest in school history.

USF now heads into the teeth of a schedule that will define exactly how much progress the Bulls have made over last year. After Alabama and a trip to Southern Miss, Miami comes to Tampa and, wow,  did the ‘Canes look great against Florida.

Then the conference opens with Tulane, followed by preseason favorite Memphis.

The opening act was fun, but we knew that would happen. On the other hand, being blasé about any win shows how far USF has come in a short time.