Byrum Brown accounted for five touchdowns, Jhalyn Shuler returned a fumble for a score, and No. 24 South Florida used a 28-point blitz spanning halftime to run away from previously unbeaten North Texas 63-36 on Friday night.
The Bulls (5-1, 2-0 American) overcame a shaky start — including two fumbles and an interception on their first three possessions — to hand the Mean Green (5-1, 1-1) their first loss of the season. North Texas hadn’t gone this deep into a season without a defeat since 1959, nine years before “Mean” Joe Greene became a legend in Denton.
Brown completed 22 of 28 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 82 yards and two more scores, marking the second straight game he’s been responsible for five TDs.
“We made some early mistakes, but this team never panics,” Brown said. “Once we settled in, we just played our game.”
The turning point came just before halftime. After North Texas muffed a punt deep in its own territory, Brown connected with Jonathan Echols on a 2-yard touchdown pass with two seconds left to tie the game at 21. From there, the Bulls unleashed a 21-point avalanche in the first 3½ minutes of the third quarter.
First came some trickery: receiver Christian Neptune took a handoff on a sweep and lofted a 29-yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton for a 28-21 lead. One minute later, South Florida’s third interception of the night set up Sam Franklin’s 11-yard scoring run. Then Shuler scooped up a fumble and rumbled 34 yards for the Bulls’ fourth touchdown in that blistering stretch, giving USF a 42-21 advantage.
“We talk about sudden-change football all the time,” said South Florida head coach Alex Golesh. “When you get a chance to flip momentum, you’ve got to bury a team — and that’s exactly what we did tonight.”
UNT redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker — who never started a varsity game in high school — was impressive at times despite the result. He finished 30 of 46 for 326 yards and two touchdowns, and added a rushing score. But his three interceptions were costly; they were his first picks of the season after 11 touchdown passes in the first five games.
The Mean Green finished with 423 total yards but committed five turnovers, including the critical muffed punt before halftime. They entered the game with just three turnovers all season and a +1.6 turnover margin, second nationally only to Alabama.
“In the biggest game in school history, we just didn’t protect the football,” UNT coach Eric Morris said. “That’s something we’ve been great at all year, but tonight it cost us.”
South Florida rolled up 580 total yards, marking the fourth straight game the Bulls have scored at least 50 points. Over their past four contests, USF has piled up 229 points — an average of 57.3 per game — and they’ve scored 267 in their last five conference outings dating back to 2023.
Even with their turnover issues, the Bulls’ tempo and explosiveness continue to overwhelm opponents. It was the second consecutive Friday that South Florida turned the ball over three times in the first half and still won big, following last week’s 54-26 rout of Charlotte.
The Bulls have also forced four turnovers in back-to-back games, showing a growing knack for seizing momentum defensively.
South Florida: Hosts Florida Atlantic on Oct. 18 in another American Athletic showdown. North Texas: Looks to regroup when it welcomes UTSA to Denton on Oct. 18.
South Florida’s message after the win was simple: keep pushing forward. “We’re not satisfied,” Brown said. “This team can still get a lot better — and we plan to.”
