USF needed a new quarterback because the old one turned into a problem for everybody else. Byrum Brown took the Bulls from a laughingstock to a 23-16 program as a starter, then put up 4,166 total yards and 42 touchdowns in 2025 before bolting for Auburn in the portal. That left a massive void in Tampa and kicked off a full-camp quarterback battle that just wrapped.
ESPN's Pete Thamel broke the news that the job belongs to Michael Van Buren Jr., a junior transfer who's already been through two different SEC rooms. He started as a true freshman at Mississippi State in 2024, then transferred to LSU for 2025, where he took over the final four games of the season, including the bowl game. Across those two stops he's played in 17 games and thrown for 2,896 yards and 19 touchdowns.
The guy he beat out, Luke Kromenhoek, isn't some camp body either. He's a Mississippi State transfer in his own right and reportedly gave Van Buren a real fight for the job all fall. But according to Thamel, Van Buren edged him out, and USF is rolling with the arm and legs that flashed down the stretch at LSU.
Van Buren edged Luke Kromenhoek in the camp quarterback race. Van Buren will debut for USF against FIU on Sept. 5.
Van Buren's college career has been a tour of the transfer portal — freshman year at Mississippi State, a move to Baton Rouge, and now a third school for his junior season. That kind of bouncing usually reads as a red flag, but it also means he's already started meaningful SEC snaps against ranked competition, which is more than most first-time college starters can say.
USF gets its answer on Sept. 5, when Van Buren makes his Bulls debut against FIU. It's a soft landing spot for a first start — an in-state, Group of 5 opponent — but the real evaluation starts once American Athletic Conference play kicks in and USF tries to prove Brown's departure didn't set the program back a step.