In the return game of the home-and-home series, the Miami Hurricanes will host the USF Bulls in week 3 of the 2025 football season. This non-conference game is a key game for the Canes, who will have already faced Notre Dame in the opener, and host rivals Florida the week following this game.
As ever, this is a key game for USF, who will look to make a splash with an underdog win against a bigger, faster, stronger, better team, and a “get-the-job-done” game for Miami, who will undoubtedly be heavily favored and expected to win this game.
This will be the 8th game ever between these teams. Miami enters with a 6-1 record against USF (with the lone loss being the final straw before Randy Shannon’s firing). Miami went up to Tampa and beat USF 50-15 last year, the largest margin of victory in this series. While USF was able to find some yards between the 20s, they were largely kept off the scoreboard, and Miami was able to cruise to a lopsided victory.
USF is led by head coach Alex Golesh, a spread-offense guru in his first turn as a head coach after great success as OC at Tennessee. Golesh has led USF to consecutive 7-6 records in his first 2 years on the job, but is still looking for a breakthrough win against a P4 team. USF played Alabama to a 17-3 game (that was very close for 3.5 quarters) in 2023, and that is the closest they’ve come to a breakthrough.
Under Golesh’s leadership, USF is a an offense-first outfit. QB Byrum Brown leads the way, utilizing his dual-threat ability to stretch the field with his arm, and hurt defenses who ignore him with his running ability. Brown burst onto the scene with a solid season in 2023 (nearly 3,300 yards on 65% completions with 26 TDs and 11 INTs passing and 800 yards and 11 TDs rushing), but took a major step back in 2024.
Battling multiple injuries last season, Brown had fewer than 300 yards rushing and 850 yards passing in 6 games. Brown is reportedly fully heathy for the 2025 season, and his return to the form he showed in 2023 will be essential for USF to take a step forward on the field this season.
USF returns its entire offensive line for 2025, and the hope is that continuity is helpful for them to take a step forward.
On defense, USF mostly runs a 3-3-5, and return 8 starters on that side of the ball. They allowed nearly 440 yards on 5.8 yards per play last year, which is something that the Bulls will look to improve upon, but that Miami will look to exploit once again.
When you look at this matchup on every level — roster talent, offense, defense, special teams, coaching — Miami has a massive advantage. Yes, they will need to go out and play to the standard to curtail USF’s up-tempo offense and exploit their undersized defense, but that should be a fair easy task for a team of Miami’s expected caliber.
Last year, after a bit of a slow start, Miami scored on a long Cam Ward TD pass just before the half, and then ran away with things in the 2nd half, ending with a 5 TD win. This year, I’d expect a 3+ touchdown win for Miami to get another (hopefully 3rd) win on the resume before the Canes turn their attention to the Florida Gators for week 4.
What are your expectations for this game? Let me know in the comments below.
Go Canes