USF had 631 yards of total offense Friday night, including 407 on the ground. The Bulls forced four turnovers, and quarterback Byrum Brown accounted for five touchdowns in the 28-point win over visiting Charlotte.
So what's the problem?
Because even though the 54-26 victory might sound impressive, the Bulls know it could have -- and probably should have -- been more decisive. And with a date coming next at undefeated North Texas, that's a blinking caution light even as USF improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the American Conference.
"Elite teams put teams away when they have an opportunity to put them away," Bulls coach Alex Golesh said.
The Bulls were elite for a while Friday night, and then they weren't.
USF led 26-0 just 45 seconds into the second quarter, and it was still 33-10 entering the fourth before the 49ers pulled within 15.
Charlotte, now 1-4, scored 16 points in that final quarter. Put another way, that's more points than Boise State scored in the whole game (7) against the Bulls. That's as many points as Florida scored at The Swamp.
That turn of events didn't seem likely with how the game started.
"You talk about a defensive effort to start, the first eight drives (had) six three-and-outs," Golesh said. "We had an interception and allowed 13 yards total. You're up 26-0. You've got go and put a team away."
Brown rushed for 162 yards, threw for four touchdowns, and ran for another. But he also had two interceptions. He was also victimized by multiple dropped passes by his receivers, and the Bulls fumbled three times and lost two of them.
The Bulls could get away with that because Charlotte is in the first stage of a massive rebuild. Against a go-go offense like North Texas, self-inflicted wounds could be more costly.
"I thought the start was intentional. I thought the start, for us, was an attempt to go put it away early," Golesh said. "I thought from a fundamental standpoint, it was really poor in a lot of ways. A lot of dropped balls to put balls on the ground. Interceptions happen. It's not what you want, but fumbles are totally preventable."
There is no rationalization for that.
"I was really disappointed with the ball being on the ground," Golesh said. "You can justify it however you want, but if you justify it you're making excuses and that's the fastest way to get beat."
There was obviously great concern about running back Cartevious Norton. He left the game with what was described as an upper-body injury and was taken to Tampa General Hospital. Norton gave a thumbs-up to the crowd of 34,577 as he was wheeled off the field and Golesh said the initial reports he received were positive.
By the way, Nykahi Davenport's 7-yard TD run with 43 seconds left in the game, followed by Niko Gramatica's PAT, put the Bulls up by 28 points. FanDuel Sportsbook had them favored by 27.5 entering the game.
Vegas knows.