South Florida football and Byrum Brown have risen as the beloved breakout story of college football. Taking down Boise State and Florida to put the CFB world on notice.
Except victories like that coincide with a “standard” Brown helped explain Wednesday.
Brown sat down with ESPN's College Football Live discussing the ascension of the No. 18 ranked Bulls. The dual-threat quarterback explained how “the energy is electric” for practices and the student body. But dove into what makes USF special this season.
“Our brotherhood has gotten much stronger. It's a player-led team and not just coaches coaching us,” Brown revealed. “We've got players coaching everybody and everyone has the same goal and same standard.”
Now the games become larger for Brown and the Bulls — especially with No. 5 Miami on the horizon.
Miami presents notable history involving Byrum Brown, USF
USF scaled two massive challenges already. Boise State entered Tampa fresh off a 2024 College Football Playoff run before falling 34-7 to Brown and the Bulls. Brown stayed composed down in Gainesville to pull off the Saturday upset of Florida.
The Hurricanes, though, are another level of superior with their top five ranking. Miami presents explosive depth at wide receiver and a past national title winner in Carson Beck leading the offense. But “The U” presents notable history involving Brown and USF.
These ‘Canes are familiar with the running/throwing threat. Miami bottled him to just 27 yards on 14 carries in last year's 50-15 rout. Brown forced just one missed tackle against Miami, per David Lake of Inside the U on 247Sports.
Lance Guidry led that Miami defense, though. He lost his job following weeks of inconsistent play. Now Corey Hetherman gets dibs on halting Brown.
The new defensive coordinator is no stranger to game-planning for dual-threats. His Minnesota Golden Gophers unit of 2024 contained three last year. Former Michigan quarterback Alex Orji was held to 12 rushing yards on nine attempts last season. The Virginia Tech duo of Collin Schlee and William Watson endured worst results: 12 total carries for -24 rushing yards despite scoring one touchdown.
Miami will attempt to seal off running lanes and prevent Brown breaking off big plays inside Hard Rock Stadium. USF walks in as a big 15.5-point underdog on Wednesday.
