First victory of 2023 American Athletic Conference play
TAMPA (USF) – The USF Bulls football team opened 2023 conference play season with a 42-29 win over new AAC member Rice University at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Byrum Brown posted a career-high 435 yards passing and finished 22 of 29. Brown also scored one touchdown and earned 82 yards rushing. This is the second-highest passing and total offense (517) in program history and he joins Quinton Flowers as the only two players to post 500+ yards in total offence.
Wide receiver Naiem Simmons (Jr) also had a stellar day with a career-best 8 catches and 272 receiving yards breaking Tyre McCants school record in 2017. Running backs K’wan Powell (So.) and Nay’Quan Wright (Sr.) contributed 55 and 40 yards respectively on the ground and Sean Atkins had 73 yards receiving. Kicker John Cannon(So) converted both point-after kicks making him 5 for 5 for the season.
Linebacker DJ Gordon (Jr) led the Bulls defensive efforts with six tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 tackles for loss. Other notable defensive play was provided by defensive end Lloyd Summerall with his first sack for USF and 1.5 tackles for loss. Cornerback Braxton Clark had a career-best 5 tackles and defensive tackle Dough Blue-Eli had 3 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
USF held Rice to one rushing yard for the game, the sixth-lowest total for a USF opponent in program history and the lowest since holding Temple university to -4 yards rushing in 2017.
The Bulls next opponent is the U.S. Navel Academy at Annapolis on Saturday, Oct. 1. Game time is 3:30 p.m.
