Containing Byrum Brown is critical for Florida defense against USF

(Photo by Chris Spears)

When Billy Napier sees South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown on film, he’s reminded of Hendon Hooker, now the backup quarterback of the Detroit Lions. Back in 2022, Napier’s first season as Florida’s football coach, Hooker led Tennessee to a 38-33 win over the Gators in Knoxville. Hooker threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 112 and another score.

The defensive coordinator of that Tennessee team was Alex Golesh, now the head coach of the South Florida Bulls (1-0), who come to Gainesville Saturday (4:15 p.m., SEC Network) to face the 15^th-ranked Gators (1-0) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Napier sees a lot of the Tennessee system that gave the Gators fits back in 2022, in part because of Brown, a 6-3, 230-pound dual threat who has thrown for 4,742 yards and 33 touchdowns, while running for 1,300 yards and 19 TDs in his South Florida career.

Limited by a lower leg injury a year ago, Brown is trying to regain the form that led to a sophomore season in 2023 in which he threw for 3,292 yards and 26 touchdowns while running for 809 yards and 11 more TDs. Based on his first game performance while leading the Bulls to a 34-7 win over then 25^th-ranked Boise State, Brown seems to be fully recovered and ready to lead South Florida to a third straight bowl game.

Against Boise, Brown completed 16-24 passes for 210 yards but he did the most damage with his legs. He scored on a 23-yard run in the second quarter to cap an 80-yard scoring drive. In the third quarter, he completed a 55-yard pass and followed that up with a 15-yard touchdown run.   

“Big, physical player, will drop his pads,” Napier said. “Tackling him, there’s some physical things that come with that. I think he does break tackles. He has the ability to outrun angles and he has arm talent. It’s a good scheme fit, in my opinion. If you go back to the Hendon Hooker days at Tennessee, where the quarterback was a little bit more of a run threat, I think there’s some similarities in that regard. He’s a good competitor as well. You see the leadership.”

When Brown was healthy two years ago, the Bulls ran a vertical passing attack that averaged nearly eight yards per attempt but the run element was always there. Against Alabama in 2023, Brown ran for 92 yards in a 17-3 loss. A year ago, prior to his season-ending injury, Brown ran for 108 against the Bama defense.

The Gators are coming off a shutout of D1AA Long Island in which they gave up only 86 total yards and two first downs. Containing Brown will be a completely different task.

“You got some read elements to the offense in the run game, whether it’s zone read or some type of gap-perimeter combo,” Napier said. “And then it’s just the unannounced play, they’re covered and he takes off. Those are always an issue, especially with the types of coverages that we play. It’s going to be important. We’re going to have to rush as a team and work together there to compress the pocket and keep the guy in the pocket.”

WEEK ONE OBSERVATIONS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Predicting the Associated Press top 25: 1. Ohio State 1-0; 2. Penn State 1-0; 3. Georgia 1-0; 4. LSU 1-0; 5. Miami 1-0; 6. Texas 0-1; 7. Oregon 1-0; 8. Arizona State 1-0; 9. Notre Dame 0-1; 10. Clemson 0-1; 11. South Carolina 1-0; 12. Illinois 1-0; 13. Michigan 1-0; 14. FLORIDA 1-0; 15. Oklahoma 1-0; 16. Indiana 1-0; 17. Texas A&M 1-0; 18. SMU 1-0; 19. Ole Miss 1-0; 20. Florida State 1-0; 21. Alabama 0-1; 22. Tennessee 1-0; 23. Utah 1-0; 24. Iowa State 2-0; 25. Tulane 1-0

The national MVP of week one had to be Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Bill Belichick’s former defensive coordinator with the New England Patriots and former head coach of the Detroit Lions had all the answers for the Buckeyes in their win over then No. 1 Texas. Patricia’s Ohio State defense made Arch Manning and the Texas offense look very, very ordinary.

Speaking of Belichick – or as he’s now known, Darth Tar Heel – North Carolina scored on its opening possession then gave up 41 consecutive points in a 48-7 loss to TCU. Belichick should know by now that the college game isn’t really different than the pros because the team with the best players almost always wins. The Tar Heels have a serious talent deficiency.

By trying to win with a horizontal passing attack, Notre Dame played right into Miami’s hands Sunday night. Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr either couldn’t or wouldn’t throw the ball downfield. Miami is way too fast to beat with 2-inch horizontal passes. I was surprised Notre Dame only ran the ball 28 times with Jeremiya Love only getting 10 carries (for 33 yards).

LSU’s defense is definitely improved, but Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik helped make the Tigers look better. Klubnik completed only 19-38 passes for 230 yards (6.1 per attempt) with one interception. Clemson was only 3-13 on third down, in part because Klubnik kept missing receivers.

It has been a long, long time since Alabama looked so physically pathetic as the Crimson Tide did against Florida State. FSU beat up Alabama on both the offensive and defensive lines. Bama fans are going nuts but if they want to send HBC Kalen DeBoer packing they will have to pony up $70 million.

Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos is selling T-shirts and sweatshirts on his website that feature the line “Nick can’t save them,” a reference to his prediction that Florida State would whip Alabama in the season opener.

Tulane coach Jon Sumrall asked Northwestern to allow the Green Wave to wear white uniforms to honor the 2005 team that had to endure Hurricane Katrina. Northwestern denied the request. Tulane took it out on Northwestern, beating the Wildcats from the Big Ten, 23-3. The Green Wave recovered one fumble and intercepted five Northwestern passes.

AJ Swann, who began his career at Vanderbilt, then transferred to LSU, has re-emerged at Appalachian State, where he threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns in the Mountaineers 34-11 win over Charlotte … Former Alabama running back Justice Haynes ran for 156 yards and three touchdowns in Michigan’s 34-17 win over New Mexico … Georgia Tech’s sixth-year quarterback Haynes King, who began his collegiate career at Texas A&M in 2020, ran for 156 yards and three TDs in the win over Colorado. King has run for 1,630 yards and 25 touchdowns while passing for 6,678 yards and 51 touchdowns in his career … Another former Aggie quarterback, Conner Weigman, threw for three touchdowns in Houston’s 27-0 win over Stephen F. Austin … Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was 11-22 passing for 136 yards with a TD and a pick in UCLA’s 43-10 loss to Utah.

SEC FOOTBALL

No. 8 Alabama (0-1): Wide receiver Ryan Williams is undergoing concussion protocol and is day-to-day. Wide receiver Isaiah Horton has a lower leg injury but is expected to be ready to go by Saturday. Defensive lineman Tim Keenan is out this week and his return is listed week-to-week. Saturday: Louisiana-Monroe (1-0)

Arkansas (1-0): Getting a win Saturday against Sun Belt Conference Arkansas State is a must since six ranked teams remain on the schedule. For Sam Pittman to remain gainfully employed he has to get the Razorbacks to a bowl game, which requires six regular season wins. Saturday: Arkansas State (1-0) in Little Rock

Auburn (1-0): Jackson Arnold’s 137 rushing yards were the most by an Auburn quarterback since Nick Marshall ran for 214 against Tennessee in 2013. Saturday: Ball State (0-1)

No. 5 Georgia (1-0): The Branch brothers stood out in the win over Marshall. Safety Zion Branch had seven tackles, while wide receiver Zachariah, a transfer from Southern Cal, had three catches for 95 yards and a TD. Saturday: Austin Peay (1-0)

Kentucky (1-0): HBC Mark Stoops says it would be “premature to pull the plug” on quarterback Zach Calzada. In the win over Toledo, Calzada completed only 10-23 passes for 85 yards with an interception. He gained only 14 yards on 10 rushing attempts even though he wasn’t sacked. Saturday: No. 21 Ole Miss (1-0)

No. 9 LSU (1-0): Pro Football Focus graded only center Braelin Moore with an above average grade in the win over Clemson. Left tackle Tyree Adams graded average with the other three grading below average. Saturday: Louisiana Tech (1-0)

Mississippi State (1-0): Placekicker Kyle Ferrie set a Mississippi State record in the win over Southern Miss with a 55-yard field goal. Ferrie is 28-36 on field goals during his MSU career. Saturday: No. 11 Arizona State (1-0)

Missouri (1-0): Placekicker Blake Craig could be done for the season after an injury in game one. For insurance, HBC Eli Drinkwitz added juco placekicker Ryder Goodwin to the roster Sunday. Saturday: Kansas (2-0)

No. 18 Oklahoma (1-0): Cal transfer running back Jaydn Ott only played four snaps in the season opening win over Illinois State. HBC Brent Venables said Ott didn’t play much because injuries had curtailed his practice time in August. Saturday: No. 14 Michigan

No. 21 Ole Miss (1-0): Lane Kiffin has to be concerned about the Rebels’ run defense after giving up 191 yards (5.46 per carry) to Georgia State in the season opener. The Rebels gave up only 69 passing yards.Saturday: at Kentucky (1-0)

No. 13 South Carolina (1-0): Utah State transfer running back Rahsul Faison, who was only cleared to play by the NCAA a couple of days prior to the season opener, gained 40 yards on seven carries against Virginia Tech. Saturday: South Carolina State (1-0)

No. 24 Tennessee (1-0): The Vols already depleted secondary got bad news when junior corner Rickey Gibson III was ruled out for an extended period of time with an “upper body” injury suffered against Syracuse. The Vols are already without Jermod McCoy, who is trying to come back from an ACL injury suffered last year. Saturday: East Tennessee State (1-0)

No. 1 Texas (0-1): The Texas defense did its part against Ohio State, holding the Buckeyes to 203 yards, but the UT offense generated only 336 yards, was 1-5 on fourth down and 0-2 in the red zone. Saturday: San Jose State (0-1)

No. 19. Texas A&M (1-0): After giving up a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half against UT-San Antonio, the Aggie defense registered six 3-and-outs and a 4-and-out. Saturday: Utah State (1-0)

Vanderbilt (1-0): The Commodores hope to clean up the play on the offensive line before Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech. In the season opening win over Charleston Southern the Commodores committed five false starts. A holding penalty was nullified on an offsetting pass interference call. Saturday: at Virginia Tech (1-0)