‘A really gritty game;’ South Florida’s head coach on 34-7 drubbing of No. 25 Boise State

Broncos surrender 34 unanswered points in Week 1 loss

South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

South Florida snapped a 19-game losing streak against ranked opponents by routing No. 25 Boise State, 34-7, in Thursday’s season opener. 

“A really gritty game,” Bulls head coach Alex Golesh said in his postgame press conference. “I was really glad to see our guys respond in a positive way. It wasn’t awesome early offensively for us … and then we felt like to get going, we had to shoot the ball down the field and were able to connect on enough of them to kind of spring the offense.

“Defensively, our guys were incredibly gritty. Three turnovers, absolutely monumental. Four fourth-down stops were absolutely huge.”

Boise State is now 1-4 in its last five openers — all on the road. 

Here are the highlights from Golesh’s postgame press conference. 

On South Florida’s mentality 

Aug 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; South Florida Bulls wide receiver Keshaun Singleton (11) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Boise State Broncos in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“After the game — and it’s truly what we’ve talked about since January — I told the team that you’ve got to have a fourth-and-inches mentality. You’ve got to have a grittiness and a toughness to you in everything you do. 

“I told them last night that this is going to be a display of our identity. For the first time in two and a half years, I felt like we truly are ready to put a true identity out on display. We’ve worked, our guys have worked. We’ve got a bunch of seniors who have been through a lot. … But ultimately, until it becomes player-driven, it’ll max out at whatever point. And I felt like tonight, it was truly player-driven.”

On forcing four fumbles 

Aug 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Boise State Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen (4) is brought down by South Florida Bulls linebacker Jhalyn Shuler (7) in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“That’s a team that doesn’t fumble. That’s a team that fumbled (and lost) five times all year last year. To strain, to cause turnovers, those things don’t just happen. To cause the turnovers, just a ton of credit to our defensive staff, our defensive guys.”

On fake punt call

Aug 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; South Florida Bulls place kicker Nico Gramatica (7) kicks an extra point against the Boise State Broncos in the fourth quarter at Raymond James Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“I think the fake punt spurred it, kind of got the momentum going. Huge credit to (the special teams coaching staff) for coming up with it, huge credit for Locklan (Hewlett) for executing it, (Keshaun Singleton) certainly for catching it. But I thought that kind of got the momentum going at just the right time when it was kind of teetering back and forth.”

On Boise State’s program

Aug 28, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; South Florida Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown (17) greets Boise State Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen (4) after a game at Raymond James Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“That’s a really good team in Boise. I told (head coach Spencer Danielson) after the game about how much respect I have for that program. … That’s a really, really long time that they have done it the right way, over and over and over again. Just a gritty, tough, hard-nosed football team that doesn’t make many mistakes, hasn’t made many mistakes and just continues to fight.”