November 02, 2026 | Football
Takeaways, highlights, notables, sights, sound bites and learning experiences from South Florida's 30-10 home victory against the UAB Blazers.
The Quick Read
• Of course, South Florida's quarterback situation is bound to be a huge subject leading into next Friday night's game at East Carolina. And of course, Bulls head coach Brian Hartline will likely be reluctant to give any clues before the ball is snapped at Greenville, N.C. The injury status of Michael Van Buren is unknown after he was removed from the game during the second quarter and there's the old axiom that you don't lose your starting job due to injury. But Luke Kromenhoek, a bull-in-a-china-shop runner, showed that he's more than capable and he clearly provided a needed spark against UAB. Stay tuned.
• The Bulls are now tied for fifth in The American standings with ECU, Tulane, FAU and UAB – all at 2-2. Ahead of them stand UTSA (4-0), North Texas (4-0), Memphis (4-1) and Army (4-2). The Bulls have beat Army and UAB and USF's remaining four games are at ECU, vs. Memphis, at FAU and vs. Tulane. UTSA and North Texas face each other on Nov. 14. UNT also has to go to Tulane on Nov. 21.
• DE C.J. Hicks and LB Grayson "Pup'' Howard look like professional players coming off the bus. They are two of USF's best athletes and players. And they are definitely performing like that. It has been a long time since a USF defensive player made a two-game impact like Hicks (96-yard fumble-return touchdown against Kent State, a program-record four sacks and two forced fumbles – both returned for touchdowns – against UAB).
• Good thing South Florida's defense scored twice. The Bulls managed just 237 yards offensively and that's not nearly enough to win consistently.
• Too many field goals and not enough touchdowns. The Bulls settled for field-goal attempts after drives stalled out when reaching the UAB 10, 12 and 14.
• With four games (and a bowl game) remaining, the Bulls have allowed 116 points (an average of 14.5 points per game). The program records are 178 points allowed and a 16.2-point average (in an 11-game 1998 season).
The Big Play
The Bulls were down 10-0 in the second quarter. On first-and-10 from the USF 45-yard line, QB Luke Kromenhoek took off around the right side. He was crunched by a pair of UAB defenders, but escaped and kept running down the sideline, and running over defenders. It was a 42-yard gain — tying for USF's second-longest play of the season — and it provided the emotional juice that changed the game's momentum.
Game Balls
• DE C.J. Hicks, who tied a program record with four sacks. He added two forced fumbles (both of which resulted in touchdowns) and one pass breakup.
• LB Grayson Howard, who had a team-high eight tackles with two sacks and a 13-yard fumble-return for a touchdown.
• QB Luke Kromenhoek, who rushed for a game-high 92 yards while going 7-for-10 with 39 yards in the passing game. He kept the USF offense turnover free for the fourth straight game and sixth on the year.
• DT Asani Redwood, who had a 6-yard fumble-return touchdown.
• PK Nico Gramatica, who was 3-for-3 in field-goal attempts (31, 30 and 33 yards) and scored 12 of the Bulls 30 points.
• P Luke Goater, who averaged 41.8 yards on five punts (with two inside the 20).
Notable Numbers
3 — Number of South Florida players to register four sacks in one game (Shurron Pierson vs. Southern Miss in 2002, George Selvie in 2007, C.J. Hicks vs. UAB in 2026).
3-2 — South Florida's all-time record on Halloween.
4 — Number of consecutive seasons in which South Florida has been bowl eligible, tying the second-longest streak in program history.
6 — Number of South Florida sacks against UAB for a season high.
7 — Number of consecutive South Florida games in which an interception was not thrown (by either team).
9 — Number of times for a South Florida defender to register two forced fumbles in a game. DE C.J. Hicks was the ninth — and the first since LB Dwayne Boyles in 2021.
11 — Eleven of South Florida's last 13 American Conference victories have been decided by 20 points or greater.
17 – UAB rushing yards allowed by the USF defense.
17-5 — South Florida's home record over the past four seasons.
19 — Number of consecutive quarters played by South Florida's offense without a turnover (dating to Sept. 26 when QB Michael Van Buren lost a pair of first-quarter fumbles at Bowling Green).
46 — Number of yards gained by UAB after Blazers PK Jonah Delange missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt with 12:14 left in the second quarter (after UAB had gained 131 yards to that point in the game).
47 — Number of second-half points allowed by South Florida in eight games.
Quotable
"Going into the game, affecting the quarterback was a huge piece of our game plan. The key is (getting) a victory for the defense, whether it be the back end or the rushers. A lot of those sacks were excellent. Don't get me wrong. But he (UAB QB Ryder Burton) held the ball a bit because the back end (USF secondary) was doing a great job. It's never a one-man show.''
— Bulls head coach Brian Hartline on the defense.
"If you have momentum, you've got to keep it. If you don't have it, you've got to go get it. It can take one play to do either one. So that felt like one of those plays when Luke had that opportunity. We rattled off 30 unanswered (points after that). That's pretty well done.''
— Hartline on the 42-yard run by QB Luke Kromenhoek in the second quarter.
"We're sitting on the sideline, and we're like, 'Heck yeah!' He gave us the momentum that we needed, and we took hold of it and were able to finish the game. We're very proud of what he was able to do. He's a great guy and a guy that you want on your team.''
— LB Grayson Howard on QB Luke Kromenhoek's 42-yard run.
"I definitely think it gave us a lift. Obviously, there were some struggles early on, and then we popped that big one. I feel like we caught a little bit of fire, some energy. I had an unbelievable block out on the edge, then a really good pocket where I was able to climb up and then find a way to escape. It really wasn't just me on that play. It was the whole offense.''
— QB Luke Kromenhoek on his 42-yard run.
"The reason why today went so well for him was because his approach was so great. His ability to practice week in and week out and be ready for it. We'll see how the whole thing unveils on a short week. But really happy for Luke.''
— Hartline on Kromenhoek's performance.
"Credit goes to Coach Hartline and Coach (Josh) Aldridge for recruiting a heck of a player. C.J. has been one of our leaders. He's a guy that does everything right. He's a guy that attacks practice with work ethic and intensity. He does it at practice every day. So just happy for him. He gave us two opportunities to score on defense, so just very very proud of the type of guy he is and what he's able to do for us on Saturdays.''
— LB Grayson Howard on DE C.J. Hicks.
"We played well, but again, there's still room for improvement. We could have had a shutout. We came out with energy after they scored those first 10 points. (Had) we come out with that same energy (earlier), they don't score (the first 10 points). So, we've got to do our job continuously and be consistent with it. We know what we're capable of. Like I've been saying, we feel like we can be one of the best defenses in the conference. I feel like we showed that in the back half of the game.''
— DE C.J. Hicks on the South Florida defense.
"He just told us that you know don't get tired of playing good defense, and don't get worn out. It's a privilege to be able to be out there, so we should be happy every time we go out there, no matter if it's for three plays, three and out, or if we're there for a 100-play drive. We should be excited to play good defense, and we were. I'm proud of those guys for sure.''
— LB Grayson Howard on the feedback from defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge.
"You train the entire season. You build scars the entire season, just so you can play your best football in November. We've kind of put ourselves behind the eight-ball a little more than we would have wished, but everything's still in front of us. We're going to do a great job attacking it, controlling what we can control. Do a great job playing our best ball in November, and then we'll look up at the end of it. We're really focused on our day to day. We're not focused on end results. End results will be a reflection of our day to day. We'll live in that world.''
— Hartline on finishing fast in November.
The List
South Florida limited UAB to 17 yards rushing, the fifth-lowest total in a Bulls' conference game (the overall low-water record for USF is minus-52 yards by non-conference opponent Charleston Southern in 2003).
Minus-7….at Rutgers (Big East, 11/5/11)
Minus-4….at Temple (American, 9/21/17)
11…………vs. Rice (American, 9/23/23)
15…………at Syracuse (Big East, 11/10/07)
17…………vs. UAB (American, 10/31/26)
Next Up: At East Carolina
The Bulls (6-2, 2-2) travel to Greenville, N.C., for a Friday night American Conference showdown against the East Carolina Pirates (4-4, 2-2) on ESPN2. East Carolina defeated Temple 17-9 on Saturday. USF is 9-4 all-time against ECU — including a bowl victory — and 5-1 in Greenville (the last trip was a 29-14 defeat for USF in 2021).
–#GoBulls–
Joey Johnston
Athletics Senior Writer
