Instant Analysis: South Florida 42 Rice 29

TAMPA, Fla., (Sep. 23, 2023) – Wide receiver Naiem Simmons had 272 receiving yards plus a touchdown and quarterback Byrum Brown threw for 435-yards to go along with 82-yards rushing and South Florida (2-2; 1-0 AAC) defeated Rice (2-2; 0-1 AAC) 42-29 in an American Athletic Conference game Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.

The Bulls came started the second half trailing 14-13 and proceeded to outscore Rice 29-15 in the second half with better offensive execution and a defense that bent but did not break.

BullsInsider.com was at the game and here is our Instant Analysis:

IT WAS OVER WHEN: Brown completed an eight-yard pass to Gunnar Greenwald at the Rice nine with just under a minute to play.

HE STOLE THE SHOW: Simmons’ receiving yards set a new USF single game record and a Florida state record that was set in 1968. Brown had 517 all-purpose yards, threw two touchdown passes and ran for another.

THE STAT DOESN’T LIE: The Bulls defense shut down the Rice rushing attack limiting the Owls to just one yard on 20 carries.

WHAT A PLAY: Trailing by one, and on the first play of the second half, Brown threw it deep to the right hitting Naiem Simmons in stride at the Rice 41. Simmons was eventually tackled at the Rice 24-yard line for a 51-yard completion. Three plays later USF scored to take a 20-14 lead.

THE BOTTOM LINE: USF gets its first win over a FBS opponent since it defeated Temple on Oct. 23, 2021. This win also marks the first time USF won its American Athletic Conference opener since the 2018 season. Golesh’s offense really got going in the second half when Brown and Simmons developed a very nice two-man game. Up next for the Bulls is a trip to Annapolis, MD to face Navy on Saturday at 3:30 on CBS Sports Network.