Photo by Vanessa Wenzl | The Crow’s Nest
By Vanessa Wenzl
The South Florida Bulls played Florida A&M University on Saturday night in their 38-24 winning home opener to over 36,000 fans.
Coach Alex Golesh won his first game as head coach breaking FAMU’s 10 game winning streak.
Since Golesh arrived, he’s made it clear that the goal is to lay down a winning culture.
“I feel more tonight than I ever did that we’re laying a foundation,” Golesh said in the post-game press conference. “And I know the expectation is to win.”
With the expectation in place, aggression was no stranger to the players in tonight’s win.
Not only was it clear to Golesh that the foundation being laid in the locker rooms was working, but it was also clear to the fans.
The offense showed speed and smarts in the pocket compared to last week’s lose against Western Kentucky.
“You make mistakes, you will improve on them,” Golesh said.
Freshman starter quarterback Byrum Brown showed something to believe in after closing out an 11-game losing streak.
Brown completed 20 of his 34 passes with five touchdowns of the night. Brown ran two touchdowns and passed three.
“We went out there and did what we were trying to practice throughout the whole week,” Brown said.
Brown rushed the ball 17 times throughout the game with two scoring points.
Wide receiver Naiem Simmons had his first bulls touch down in the fourth quarter with a 31-yard catch from Brown.
The offense had 81 plays, narrowly beating out FAMU with 72 putting our defense to the test.
Defense showed the rattlers this this week hard work pays off with an improvement in turnovers. Senior Safety Logan Berryhill caught two interceptions tonight resulting in his first for his career. Berryhill clenched the win with his second interception with 2:08 left in the fourth quarter. Safety Jalen stokes also recorded his first interception of his career in the first quarter.
As the Bulls brought home their first win of the season, they show a promising future to the dedicated fan base.
The road to victory continues next week as USF will play No. 3 University of Alabama at home this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. televised on ABC.
