Sunday, 3 a.m.
Call it the drive to relevance. That, or the day that USF became one of the big boys again.
There were 87 yards to go.
There was 2:25 left to play.
And the Bulls were playing in one of the toughest places in the Southeast Conference to play.
So...any problems?
The Bulls re-established themselves Saturday night, driving against the clock, against the crowd and against the No. 13 team in the nation. They checked every box, driving downfield to set up a game-winning 20-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica to upset the University of Florida, 18-16.
The win was a leap for the Bulls, who have won minor bowl games for the last two years. Still, that was better than the woeful seasons that came beforehand.
The Gators trailed going into the final period, 15-9, but a 40-yard punt return set up D.J. Lagway with a four-yard touchdown pass to take the lead.
However, the Bulls came back to win their second straight game over a ranked opponent. Before last week's win over Boise State, it had been 14 seasons (19 games) since the Bulls had beaten a ranked opponent.
Byrum Brown threw for 263 yards and ran for another 66 to lead the Bulls. Keshaun Singleton caught two passes for 75 yards for USF, including a 66-yard touchdown.
Florida had trouble with penalties, with 11 infractions for 101 yards. Twice, the Gators had touchdowns called back.
Lagway threw for 222 yards for Florida.
The Bulls travel to Miami to face the Hurricanes at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Florida will travel to LSU.
FSU 77, East Texas A&M 3: This week wasn't about an upset. This week was about domination.
A week after stunning highly regarded Alabama, the Seminoles ran away with a huge win over an outmanned East Texas team. The Seminoles had 29 first downs and piled up 729 yards.
Playing less than a half, quarterback Tommy Castellanos hit seven of 10 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. He completed scoring passes of 83, 42 and 53 yards.
Receiver Duce Robinson played less than a half, too, but caught five passes for 173 yards and two scores. The Noles ran the ball for 368 yards.
East Texas had 197 yards of offense.
The Seminoles are home Saturday Sept, 20, against Kent State.
Miami 45, Bethune-Cookman 3: So that's why they're paying Carson Beck so much money.
Beck was nearly flawless as he led the fifth-ranked Hurricanes to an easy win over Bethune. Beck hit 22 of 24 passes for 267 yards. He hit his first 15 passes in a row.
The Canes had 543 yards for the game.
The Hurricanes are home against USF on Saturday.
