No Golesh decision yet after QB Brown joins elite group in Bulls' 52-3 rout of Rice

UPDATE: Auburn announced Sunday that it has hired Alex Golesh as head coach. Read more.

ORIGINAL STORY:

On Senior Day, South Florida provided a memorable sendoff for those in their final game in Bulls garb. The question is, will Saturday's 52-3 rout of Rice also be Coach Alex Golesh’s farewell?

The Bulls’ third-year coach has received what USF called “outside opportunities.” Since midweek, there have been media reports Golesh was offered the Arkansas coaching post. At least two reports said he had accepted an offer. And as of Saturday, other outlets were connecting him to expected openings at Ole Miss and Auburn.

ALSO READ: USF coach Golesh offered 'outside opportunities.' Is he headed to Arkansas?

After the game, Golesh said he had made no decision about his future and had not had "time to process it." He also said he was not the source of the reports.

"When you have success in this profession, everybody tries to move you along. and everybody tries to put you into certain situations to feel like, man, this is where you should be," he said. "You do this here, you should be here; you do this here, you should be here. The media, general public. And I get it, I understand it. 


"I apologized to our guys. ... The last thing I would ever want to be is a distraction to our team. We talk about having no distractions. poured into our guys in a way to ask them to never have distractions. 
Distractions take away from the main focus of what we're trying to do, which is win football games.

"These guys, I feel like, have my back, and I have their back, and I apologized. ... I told them that I didn't put it out, and it wasn't true."

Golesh said he owed it to the university to "think about everybody involved" and that when a decision is made, the first ones he will tell will be his players.

"I told our team ... when all that stuff came out, that all I ask is for an opportunity to finish the season the right way, finish the season in a first-class manner ... and then give me the time to sit down with my family and figure this whole thing out.

"I'm not smart enough to be able to focus on two things at once. I'm so process-driven. I'm so locked into what's going on (preparing the team)."

Despite the distraction, USF had little trouble with the outmanned Owls behind four touchdown passes and one scoring run by Byrum Brown, who joined an elite group by becoming only the 12th player in Football Bowl Subdivision to pass for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season.

Going into the game against Rice, Brown needed 117 yards in the air and 96 on the ground to match a feat accomplished by legendary players such as Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Johnny Manziel, Jalen Hurts and Vince Young.

"It's a credit to what he's done outside of the football field, the way he's bought into his process, the way he's bought into doing things the right way," Golesh said. "I've said it a hundred times, I'm gonna say it again, that when your quarterback can be your hardest worker, your toughest football player, you're smartest, the most buy-in, you can do some really, really special things."

Brown topped the 3,000-yard passing mark on a 60-yard catch and run by Mudia Reuben with 11:32 left in the second quarter. It gave the Bulls a 21-0 lead.

Brown went over 1,000 yards running on the opening play of the fourth quarter with a 6-yard pickup, then scored on a 5-yard dash up the middle to give USF a 45-3 lead with 14:39 remaining.

"Truly just a team accomplishment," Brown said.

On the next USF drive, Brown was in for one more play before exiting for backup Gaston Moore with 12 minutes remaining.

Brown finished 16 of 24 for 275 yards with no interceptions and 15 carries for team-leading 104 yards. All four scoring tosses came as South Florida raced a 28-3 halftime lead.

The win before 28,813 fans at Raymond James Stadium ended USF’s regular season with a 9-3 record, 6-2 in the American Conference. The Bulls also won all six home games.

The Owls managed only 257 yards of offense, while yielding 553 to the Bulls.

“Super grateful to our seniors for the way that they remained focused throughout this week, and for them to be able to go out like this,” Golesh said.

A bowl bid awaits USF, and who coaches that game will depend what Golesh decides.

"I'm gonna make the best decision for the entirety of our organization, make the best decision for everybody that came here three years ago and has stuck with me, has stuck with this team, has stuck with us," he said. 


Who starts at quarterback may also be in question.

Brown, a graduate senior (redshirt) with one year of eligibility remaining, could use the transfer portal and jump to a Power conference, even following Golesh to the Southeastern Conference. Or he could apply for the NFL draft.

After the game, Brown said he had "no thoughts" about his future but noted "I'll have a decision to make coming forward."

Asked whether he would play in the bowl, Brown said, "We have one more game."

USF Athletics

Keshaun Singleton led the Bulls in receiving with six catches for 125 yards and two of the first-half scores. Reuben had five catches for 90 yards and a scoring catch.

Sam Franklin added 10 rushes for 65 yards. Nykahi Davenport had a 2-yard touchdown run in the first half.

Brown had a 7-yard scoring toss to Jeremiah Kroger on the first drive of the second half and Nico Gramatica added a 23-yard field goal for a 38-3 lead.

Moore added a 3-yard touchdown toss to Christian Helms to set the final margin.

Enock Gota kicked a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the first half for Rice (5-7, 2-6).