GAINESVILLE — USF loves being the team you hate. Your anger just helps inspire the Bulls.
After beating Florida 18-16 in the Swamp, Bulls coach Alex Golesh preached gratitude for a supportive administration and his talented squad. But don’t let that fool you.
The Bulls are happy to be your worst enemy, the source of your Saturday night frustrations, the team that knocks you out of the AP Top 25 poll — ask Boise State. USF is the spoiler of college football: a team few believed in at the beginning that has transformed into a formidable force.
“It’s always great to get a win on the road. Going in there, you like the villain,” Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown said. “They don’t want you to win, just overcoming those odds.”
A week after beating then-ranked No. 25 Boise State, USF (2-0) marched into the Swamp and stunned the No. 13 Gators (1-1). A week earlier, Florida routed Long Island University 55-0.
The dominating performance vs. LIU meant little against the Bulls and may mean even less against an upcoming schedule featuring No. 3 LSU, No. 5 Miami and No. 7 Texas.
With the loss, USF shined a bigger spotlight on Florida coach Billy Napier, who now has to answer for a loss to the in-state opponent few thought would win.
As the minutes counted down, Florida fans faced a whirlwind of emotions.
First was disbelief that sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway couldn’t find his footing. With UF clinging to a 16-15 lead, two incompletions by Lagway and an inconsequential run by Jadan Baugh gave back the ball to USF and sent frustrated Florida fans up the stairs and out of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
As USF marched down the field without much resistance, the disappointment settled in. When sophomore kicker Nico Gramatica sent the ball through the uprights just as the clock reached zero, the anger rose.
“It stinks because I thought the football team was good,” said junior Chandler Poppell, who watched on from about the 10th row from the field.
Poppell hedged the loss’s impact, saying that football didn’t necessarily determine his emotions. But as he stood in the stands, the defeat stung harder than the other games the 20-year-old watched in his time at UF.
“This one’s at the bottom,” he said.
As Florida’s players trudged to the tunnel and into their locker room, USF coaches, players, cheerleaders and fans celebrated with their band. Dancing and jumping up and down, they filed into the visitors’ tunnel with heads held high.
For the second week in a row, the team ruined a ranked opponent’s night, and celebrations ensued.
“This win means everything,” said Jonah Hamilton, an 18-year-old freshman who traveled from Tampa to watch the team play. “We beat Boise State, who was 25 last week. I tried to tell everybody we need to be ranked, and then we play the 13 Florida Gators, come into the Swamp and beat them like this.”
While the Bulls might try to sell you on how they will approach each team with the same mentality and how thankful they are to be supported by a fanbase willing to travel, it’s not the only takeaway.
USF embraces the odds stacked against it. They’re ready to upset your favorite team, and they’re happy to celebrate on your field even after your team has packed up.
“Going into a stadium and hearing all the boos fires me up,” Bulls linebacker Mac Harris said. “I love hearing it. It makes me excited. And I love especially coming into a big packed-out stadium like this, and getting the job done with my guys.”
