Former Tennessee football coach takes down Florida in epic fashion

Alex Golesh left Tennessee after the 2022 season to pursue his first head coaching opportunity with South Florida. Since then, he has quickly led South Florida to success, including back-to-back seven-win seasons and two bowl wins in his first two years in Tampa. 

He has reached a new level of legend status on Rocky Top since leaving the Vols as the Bulls beat the Florida Gators on Saturday with a walk-off field goal, defeating the No. 13-ranked Gators 18-16.

South Florida missed a 58-yard field goal with under three minutes remaining in the game, but Florida's mismanagement of the clock gave the ball back to USF with over two minutes and one timeout remaining. 

Byrum Brown led the Bulls offense on one final drive down the field, getting USF down to the 2-yard line, allowing Nico Gramatica to make the chip-shot field goal from 20 yards out.

Brown and the Bulls' offense outperformed DJ Lagway and the Gators. Brown threw for 263 yards, while Lagway threw for just 222 yards. USF had 391 yards of total offense, while Florida had 355 yards of offense. 

The Bulls opened the season with a big win over Boise State, the preseason favorite to take the Group of 5 spot in the College Football Playoff. After South Florida's win over Boise State and now Florida, they have to be the favorites to take the G5 spot in the CFP. 

Golesh could also become the favorite to be the next Florida head coach after another disappointing loss in the Billy Napier era for Florida. 

The Gators received a lot of preseason hype this summer, and the conversation around the Gators' football program could quickly change with South Florida's massive upset. 

USF will have another chance to make some national noise with a trip to No. 5 Miami scheduled next week. While the Bulls won't be expected to win that game, they will come into the game ranked, and Golesh will give the Bulls the best chance to win based on how they have handled previous Power 4 opponents.