\u00a0USF\u2019s second fumble was a botched handoff between Brown and running back Nykahi Davenport.<\/a> Again, at midfield, North Texas reached the USF14, but Bulls linebacker Jhalyn Shuler<\/a> lurked a pass for Mestemakers\u2019 first interception of the season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown, who ran for a career-high 162 yards against Charlotte, looked to be at a similar pace, gaining 44 rushing yards on USF\u2019s next drive. His last run was a 7-yard touchdown to tie the game.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After North Texas made the score 14-7 with a 23-yard touchdown run by running back Makenzie McGill II, Brown ended the first quarter with an interception.\u00a0<\/p>\n North Texas failed to capitalize, punting back to USF after a three-and-out. Brown threw a 14-yard touchdown to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Koger<\/a> on the ensuing drive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Facing fourth down at the USF11, North Texas wide receiver Wyatt Young motioned into the backfield at quarterback and punched it in to put the Mean Green back on top.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Just under a minute from halftime, North Texas muffed a punt. Four plays later, USF was just 2 yards away from the endzone. USF receiving the ball in the second half gave USF two options. Kick a field goal and enter the second half down four or attempt to tie the game.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n USF chose the latter. Brown faked a handoff, leaving tight end Jonathan Echols<\/a> wide open. His third career touchdown catch evened the score at 21 a piece.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After an unconventional, first half, the second went completely off the rails, subverting any expectations of how the game could pan out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Just one minute into the third quarter, USF wide receiver Christian Neptune<\/a> hurried to the backfield before a snap and took a handoff. It is hard to imagine that North Texas was expecting Neptune to then look up and throw the ball into orbit, falling into the arms of receiver Keshaun Singleton,<\/a> who took it 29 yards to the house.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Two plays after a third interception from Mestemaker, USF running back Sam Franklin<\/a> ran in an 11-yard touchdown. Fifty seconds later, a North Texas receiver caught a pass near the line of scrimmage before getting leveled by USF cornerback Jarvis Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ball popped out, and Shuler was there to scoop it up. A week prior, North Texas cancelled afternoon classes to sell out DACTU Stadium for the first time in program history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Shuler taunted every North Texas fan in attendance, jogging across nearly the entire length of the goal line before stepping into the endzone for USF\u2019s fourth touchdown in three and a half minutes of game time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It took less than five minutes into the second half for USF to double its point total from the first. A 54-yard touchdown catch from North Texas receiver Miles Coleman, followed by a 63-yard touchdown reception by Koger, brought the combined point total in the third quarter to 42.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In a game defined by unorthodox moments, the most defining happened with 13 minutes left in the fourth. Offensive lineman Cole Skinner<\/a> lined up at fullback, took a handoff on the goal line for the first Bulls touchdown scored by an offensive lineman since 2010.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n One more rushing touchdown from Brown made the final score 63-36. Brown totaled the game with 327 yards and five scores. USF has now run for over 300 yards in consecutive games and scored 50+ in its last three.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Several USF defenders made their presence felt for all four quarters. Shuler\u2019s interception and fumble recovery touchdown were accompanied by 8 tackles. The only USF defender with more tackles was safety Tavin Ward<\/a>, who racked up a career-high 14.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all a mindset. We have to come in the games expecting to win,\u201d said Ward.\u00a0<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s College Football Playoff Predictor determined that USF\u2019s performance increases its playoff chances from 11 to 18 percent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n USF will hope to raise that number against Florida Atlantic University for its Oct. 18 Homecoming at Raymond James Stadium.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 59
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/a>
Written by: Dominic Feo<\/a> on October 14, 2025.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photos courtesy of USF Athletics \u201cYou have three turnovers in the first quarter, it\u2019s going to be hard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-2552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}