The Hurricanes are ranked fifth in the AP poll, but they are not the talk of the college football nation. Even No. 10 Florida State, which took down Alabama in Week 1 and already matched its 2024 win total, is not the darling of the state that has garnered glowing features in national publications.
No, the biggest story in Florida college football — and around the country — is No. 18 USF, which upset 2024 playoff qualifier Boise State and a then-top 15 Florida squad in the season’s first two weeks, earning a spot in the AP poll for the first time since 2018.
The Bulls, 17 1/2-point underdogs, are trying to make it three straight upsets in a row. The Hurricanes are hoping to put an end to the Cinderella run when the two teams face off at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. Other opponents might have overlooked USF, but Miami is making sure it does not.
“Definitely an opponent we’re taking very seriously,” defensive back Keionte Scott said. “They do a lot of good things on offense. So the coaches are doing a good job of preparing us and getting us ready for this battle we’re about to go into. And we’re real focused on the opponent.”
Under Mario Cristobal, the Hurricanes have come up short in let-down spots before, losing to a Group of 5 team like Middle Tennessee State in Cristobal’s first season and dropping a pair of games to underdogs in Syracuse and Georgia Tech last year — which derailed a potential playoff run. But no one is taking the Bulls lightly.
“I came from (Jacksonville) State, so even with Bethune, I always told them, ‘Whoever we play, it’s nameless, faceless opponents,’” safety Zechariah Poyser said. “So everybody we play, we’ve got to treat them the same. So like I told the boys, I came from (the) G-5, but there are ballers everywhere, so you’ve got to approach the game as we would any game.”
The USF offense is difficult to play against. The Bulls feature veteran dual-threat quarterback Byrum Brown, who threw for 254 yards against the Hurricanes last year. The 6-foot-3, 232-pound Brown is off to a strong start; he had 263 passing yards and a touchdown against UF last week, and he ran for another 66 yards.
“We’ve got to make sure we take the quarterback run game away this week,” defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said.
Brown has weapons around him, including leading wide receiver Keshaun Singleton and Chas Nimrod.
“They’ve got a good guy that’s leading the offense back there at the quarterback position,” defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. said. “He’s smart, he’s talented, he’s experienced, so he’s the one that’s really keeping them guys going. Then they got guys in the backfield with him, guys on the perimeter. It’s a pretty complete team. They’re a team that’s very disciplined, trusting their coaches, trusting each other.”
USF also runs a fast-paced offense, which keeps opposing defenses off their game.
“A tempo team is difficult to plan for and play because you have to line up assignments, get your eyes in the right places,” Poyser said. “So a tempo team can cause confusion to a defense, for sure, because they’re going so fast.”
The Bulls’ defense has kept opponents off the board, limiting Boise State and Floirda to 23 points combined. But there are weaknesses for the Hurricanes to exploit.
USF got pressure on UF quarterback DJ Lagway just three times last week, according to Pro Football Focus. With time to throw, Carson Beck and the Hurricanes’ offense could flourish this week.
“They look like one of the better defenses in the country from what I’ve been able to see” Beck said. “They have a lot of athletes that are going to challenge you with various pressures — man looks, zone looks, I think their defensive coordinator does a really good job of just mixing things up and trying to challenge the quarterback with different looks. So really excited for the challenge at hand.”
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/09/12/hurricanes-bulls-advance/
