FIU arrived off just its second bowl berth since 2019, but coach Willie Simmons is replacing nearly his entire two-deep — 2 returning starters on offense and 3 on defense — after that 7-6 breakthrough. USF's talent evaluation said the Bulls should still be the better team mid-rebuild, and the market leaned that way too, installing South Florida as a heavy favorite. Both staffs, though, were starting from scratch in ways a straight power rating doesn't fully capture.
That uncertainty played out early. USF managed just a field goal in each of the first two quarters, and FIU didn't get on the board until a third-quarter field goal of its own, leaving it 6-3 heading into the fourth. It took a 13-point final period for the Bulls to turn a nervy debut into a final score that looked more comfortable than the game actually felt.
Kohl and the FIU offense had their moments late, closing with a 6-point fourth quarter of their own, but 9 total points from a unit with almost no returning pieces was always going to struggle against USF's talent gap at nearly every position. The final margin — with USF's defense doing enough to keep FIU out of the end zone until it barely mattered — was the real story of Hartline's debut, more than any offensive fireworks either fan base was hoping for.
It's one data point in what both programs hope is a much longer season. FIU still gets to find out what its 2 returning offensive starters can build around Kohl, and USF still has to prove its overhauled offense is more than a field-goal unit against real competition in the American. For a 90-degree, sun-soaked opener in Tampa, defense-first football wasn't the show either fan base wanted, but it's a starting point.