One of the biggest surprises of the college football season so far has been the performance of South Florida, which will likely find itself in the top 25 of the next AP poll on Monday. The Bulls have now knocked off a pair of ranked opponents to start the season 2-0.
South Florida opened its season with a 34-7 drubbing of then-No. 25 Boise State, a game in which the Bulls dominated and controlled most of the way and were not under a lot of pressure in the second half. They upped the ante on Saturday, rolling into The Swamp and knocking off No. 13 Florida 18-16 on a last-second field goal as time expired.
With those wins, South Florida joined an exclusive group of teams. It is just the fourth team in the AP poll era, dating back to 1936, to knock off a pair of ranked teams as an unranked squad in its first two games of the season, according to ESPN. North Carolina in 1976, East Carolina in 2008 and Oregon State in 2012 are the only three other teams to do so.
South Florida had dropped its last eight games against ranked teams rating back to 2016 and had not knocked off a top-25 team on the road since 2011, but both of those streaks are now in the rearview.
Now, the Bulls will almost certainly find themselves in the top 25 heading into Week 3, but they will still need to continue upping their game in order to keep the winning streak going. The schedule doesn't lighten up, as their non-conference gauntlet continues with a date with No. 5 Miami on the road. After that, American Conference play finally opens up and the Bulls get some lighter opponents across the line of scrimmage.
Star quarterback Byrum Brown has been the best player on the field for the Bulls in both games so far this season, completing 65% of his passes for 473 yards and a touchdown while running for 109 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He is the engine that makes this South Florida offense go both through the air and on the ground and has proven that through two games in 2025.
