What HC Alex Golesh, South Florida Players Took from Alabama

TAMPA, Fla.— For the upstart South Florida Bulls, written off by many in advance of a home showdown against No. 10 Alabama, playing the Crimson Tide close did not result in sitting pretty on a competitive outcome.

"[We] certainly played well enough to win. The sacks, the ability to get off the field, really phenomenal in a lot of ways," rookie South Florida head coach Alex Golesh said. "There are no moral victories... Valiant efforts are for losers. Moral victories are for losers. That's what losers say. Winners win. So, there are no moral victories, there are no valiant efforts, there [is] no anything. We played winning football on defense. We played well enough to win that football game."

Golesh, familiar with what it feels like to beat Alabama owing to standing on the Tennessee sideline as Josh Heupel's offensive coordinator last season, expected to do it again as the head coach in Tampa. He repeatedly emphasized how proud he was of the way his team forced the issue and gave itself chances to topple an SEC foe in an upset that would've rivaled any in college football's rich history had it happened.

Much has been made, and will be made, of the shortcomings in the Crimson Tide's on-field product in its first appearance at Raymond-James Stadium since losing the 2016-17 national title game against Clemson. South Florida, for its part, did plenty to affect the game. The pass rush resulted in the highest number of sacks that the Bulls had in a single game since 2019. The running game was multifaceted, to the detriment of the Alabama defense. Both the quarterback and running back positions were effective. The Bulls' defensive unit held an SEC West squad that scored 56 points against the other midmajor team it faced this fall to three points through three quarters.

"Coach called up some good runs," South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown, whose legs spelled trouble for the Crimson Tide all game long, said. "We executed at a high clip during those times, but gotta be more consistent with it." Brown had the second-most rushing yards of any player in the game. His 92 yards were better than Alabama's second-highest rusher by a margin of 18. Brown's passing was an Achilles heel in the game. One of his only deep shots in the second half was an interception in the fourth quarter which changed the game considerably. He owned his passing woes but said that "nothing too crazy" contributed to the success of the running game.

Defensive back Daquan Evans was arguably the best player on the field for USF. He got his first career sack in the game but decided that was not going to cut it when it came to making his presence felt. He added two more sacks, an additional tackle for loss and one pass breakup.

"It's just part of our game plan," Evans said. "Coach T.O. [defensive coordinator Todd Orlando] will call it, and we just execute whatever call he calls. That's just the game plan, for real." He was also one of the most animated players on the field. "We been knew we could play with them, from the start," he said. "That was our motto all week, 'We can beat them no matter what."

There was no sentiment whatsoever from the South Florida head coach or players that the team would do what was expected and get blown out of its own venue. Confidence seeped from them, and that was also the case after the game was over. This team had largely played up to its own expectations, save for the few mistakes and plays which fell short that were ultimately the difference.

Even the multiple changes at the quarterback position, one of which made landfall before kickoff, didn't phase South Florida or change its plan to attack the Crimson Tide offense.

"Obviously, you knew Jalen [Milroe] wasn't gonna play, allegedly," Golesh said. Milroe did not play in Saturday's game. When Tyler Buchner was lifted, it was for Ty Simpson. "We had a plan to be really aggressive with [Milroe] as well. You've got a young guy [Buchner] that came in, and certainly had played a bunch of football... I told T.O., 'Man, make sure we're ready for what he is, which is a mobile quarterback, too, that's got a bunch of experience playing.' When they put Ty in, I know Ty hasn't played a bunch of ball, I just said, 'Keep being aggressive, and keep going and getting it.' I don't know that the plan changed just a ton. We were gonna be aggressive and force them to beat us deep all night. And I thought we certainly did that."

That was just what the Golesh-Hendon Hooker-Jalin Hyatt connection did to beat the Crimson Tide in Neyland Stadium last October.

It didn't seem that South Florida was all that caught off guard by Alabama. The points of effectiveness worked throughout the afternoon, an afternoon that eventually segued into an evening. Linebacker Jhalyn Shuler led his group with 11 tackles and shared the same confidence as his fellow Bulls. He echoed that there was never doubt on the Bulls' side that the improbable upset could happen. The message has now shifted to using the building blocks to continue building up a program that as recently as half a decade ago was one of the preeminent midmajor forces in college football.

"We knew coming in that nobody really counted us in, everybody was counting us out," Shuler said. "It's all good. They not at practice with us. They not in the film room with us. They not going to work with us every day... After watching the game today, I hope everybody's perception is a little different."

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