Brian Hartline began his first season as a head coach with a victory. His South Florida players were victors, too, and he said that was more important.
“I was more concerned about these guys getting their first collegiate win,” he said.
Nico Gramatica matched a career-best with four field goals and the Bulls’ defense came up with three fourth-quarter turnovers in a 19-9 win over Florida International on Saturday night.
Hartline, hired by USF in December after nine years as an Ohio State assistant, said he gave little thought to the personal circumstances.
“I mean, I'm good. That didn't really cross my mind,” he said. “I'm looking forward to Week 2. I'm looking forward to seeing where we go from this week, and that's probably what excites me more than anything."
The Bulls’ offense had difficulty sustaining drives that started on their side of the 50. The defense did its part to shorten the field in the fourth quarter to set up three decisive drives.
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Leading 6-3, Tayvion Beasley's interception set the Bulls up at the Panthers' 35. Then, D.J. Crowther carried the ball eight times and scored from the 1 as his teammates pushed him into the end zone with 13 minutes to go.
A fumble on FIU's next possession led to Gramatica's third field goal, a 30-yarder, and an interception by Tavin Ward off a tipped pass led to Gramatica's fourth boot from 29 yards with 1:44 remaining.
FIU quarterback JJ Kohl – credited with the two picks and fumble – thew for 301 yards as the Panthers outgained USF 381-208, but they turned the ball over on downs four times. The Bulls kept the visitors mostly in check until the final play, a 21-yard TD toss James Resar.
“The defense did a great job bending, not breaking,” Hartline said.
Gramatica tied a career-best with 13 points that included a 53-yard field goal in the second quarter that gave USF a 6-0 lead at the half. It was the third longest of his career and his sixth of 50-plus yards, a school record.
He opened with a 37-yarder to cap the Bulls’ second drive in the first quarter.
“That’s ‘Automatica,’ ” said quarterback Michael Van Buren.
Despite Gramatica’s heroics, Hartline would like more production out of his offense. However, he was pleased the team limited its Game 1 mistakes – no turnovers and only four penalties for 30 yards.
“Let me put this way,” Hartline said. “We didn't put the ball on the ground and that's huge. You know, that's a big part of the job description. They got to be experts at ball security and they were tonight.”
But, Hartline admitted, the offense will have to get “more explosive.”
“I think, frankly, every time we touch the ball, we have a drive, we want to score on that drive,” he said. “We want to score touchdowns. And if it's a field goal, we feel like we let our team down. And that goes not just me, that's everyone. So, I think the standards are where they need to be.”
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Van Buren, a transfer from LSU, opened his first USF start with five straight completions but ended 11-for-18 for 100 yards.
“I think there's probably some opportunities he would probably want to have back, but again, he took care of the football,” Hartline said.
The methodical run-heavy scheme was a big contrast to the no-huddle attack used the past three years by former coach Alex Golesh, now at Auburn.
“A lot of times I've been a part of a lot of boring Week 1s, to say the least,” Hartline said. “Find a way to win and grow from there.”
A crowd of 41,847 at Raymond James Stadium watched in evening heat and humidity. It was the Bulls' largest home-opener crowd since 2021 (vs. Florida, 64,692), the seventh largest in program history and third largest in 15 years.
“Glad the support was out there. I hope they had a great time,” Hartline said. “At least they stayed dry, didn't rain, and I look forward to hopefully seeing them back out here again.”
The program’s 30th season continues next Saturday at noon, when the Bulls face American Conference foe Army in West Point, New York. It’s USF’s earliest conference opener ever.
The Black Knights (1-0) rushed for 569 yards in a 59-3 season-opening win over Bryant University, a Rhode Island school in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision.
South Florida returns home Saturday, Sept. 19, to face FCS school Delaware State, out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
“You guys all come back again, bring some friends,” Hartline said.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
