Brian Hartline's first season at USF gets a tune-up game before conference play, and Delaware State is walking into Raymond James looking for a payday more than an upset.
Bush’s Picks
DSUUSF
DSUUSF
OverUnder
Best BetSouth Florida
USF just ran a top-5 scoring offense in the country and is at home against an FCS opponent — this isn't a market that needs much interrogation. The only variable is how clean the new quarterback and coaching staff look in the moment, and even a shaky debut should be plenty against this level of competition.
Delaware State
+Coming off first 6-win season since 2012
+DeSean Jackson added 27 new players for 2026
+Nothing to lose, road underdog freedom
−Significant FBS-FCS talent and depth gap
−Facing a team that ranked top-5 nationally in scoring
−Program still building, limited history against this level
South Florida
+2025 offense finished 5th nationally in scoring, 3rd in yards
+Hartline brings elite receiver-development pedigree from Ohio State
+Loaded transfer class rebuilt the roster fast
−Brand new head coach with zero games under him
−Unsettled QB battle between Van Buren and Kromenhoek
−Lost Byrum Brown and a chunk of the 2025 core to Auburn
This one comes down to who's still figuring themselves out the least. USF is in the strange position of replacing a coach who just won 9 games — Alex Golesh bolted for Auburn after South Florida finished 5th nationally in scoring and 3rd in total yards in 2025, and he took quarterback Byrum Brown with him. New coach Brian Hartline, an Ohio State assistant for nearly a decade before taking the job, has been auditioning a QB battle between LSU transfer Michael Van Buren and Mississippi State transfer Luke Kromenhoek all offseason, and neither has taken a real snap that counts yet.
Delaware State, meanwhile, knows exactly who it is. DeSean Jackson enters year 2 fresh off steering the Hornets to their first 6-win season since 2012, and he brought in 27 new players to keep the momentum rolling. This is a MEAC program that's building something real — just not against AAC-level talent. Road trips to FBS buildings like this one are how mid-major and FCS programs pay the bills, and Delaware State will collect its check and hope to hang around.
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DSU Delaware State
USF South Florida
The bigger question for USF isn't whether it wins — it's whether the new-look offense looks anything like the juggernaut Golesh built. Hartline's calling card at Ohio State was developing receivers, and he brought in a loaded transfer class to surround whichever quarterback wins the job. A game like this against overmatched FCS competition is exactly the low-risk environment to let that timing develop before American Conference play gets serious.
Delaware State Hornets
South Florida Bulls
Sep 12?@ Army—
Sep 5?vs Florida International—
Recent form.
Delaware State's defense will have its hands full regardless of who's throwing it for USF. The talent and depth gap between a MEAC roster and a Power-conference-fed AAC roster doesn't close in one training camp, no matter how many new pieces DeSean Jackson brought to Dover. The more interesting story for Hornets fans is whether the offense that got them to 6 wins can manufacture enough possessions to keep this from turning into a track meet early.
Delaware State Hornets
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
South Florida Bulls
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For USF, this is 2026 preseason-into-Week-4 stakes as much as anything: a chance to bank a win, get first-year continuity on tape, and settle the quarterback race before Saturday, September 19 turns into a real conference gauntlet. For Delaware State, it's a measuring-stick trip against a program that just finished a top-5 scoring offense nationally — a tough gauge, but a fair one for where the rebuild actually stands.
Neither program is treating this as the season, but both leave with something to show for it either way — USF with data on its new pieces, Delaware State with a paycheck and film against a real FBS operation.
