Brian Hartline's first real road test as a head coach comes against a Kent State team that just posted the second-biggest turnaround in program history. Nobody circled this one in July, but it's not the pushover it would've been a year ago.
Bush’s Picks
KENTUSF
KENTUSF
OverUnder
Best BetSouth Florida
South Florida still has the far deeper roster even after the offseason exodus, and Hartline's transfer haul was built specifically to plug the holes Golesh left behind. Kent State's turnaround is real, but it came against MAC competition, not a team stocking the league's best portal class. Back the Bulls to win outright, with the understanding that a new coach and first-time starter add some volatility to how comfortably they do it.
Kent State
+Second-biggest turnaround in program history in 2025
+Went 4-4 in MAC play, first since 2022
+Carney earned full-time title off real results
−Still finished below .500 at 5-7
−Program was 1-23 combined the two years prior
−First-ever trip against a much deeper roster
South Florida
+Went 9-3 in 2025 before this offseason's changes
+Landed the American's top-rated transfer class
+Hartline coached a run of first-round NFL receivers at Ohio State
−Lost starting QB Byrum Brown and coach Golesh to Auburn
−Multiple key skill-position transfers left as well
−Brand-new head coach, first-time starter at QB
This is new territory for both programs — South Florida and Kent State have never met on a football field. USF walks in as the far bigger name, but this year's roster barely resembles the one that went 9-3 in 2025. Alex Golesh bolted for Auburn and took quarterback Byrum Brown and a chunk of the two-deep with him, leaving Hartline to rebuild on the fly in his first season as a head coach anywhere.
The fix was going all-in on the portal. Hartline, fresh off a decade on Ohio State's staff that produced a run of first-round receivers, brought in the American's top-rated transfer class per 247Sports, headlined by UTEP's Kenny Odom and Ohio State national champion Bryson Rodgers. Michael Van Buren Jr. has reportedly won the quarterback job over three other transfers, which tells you everything about how much turnover this roster has absorbed since last winter.
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KENT Kent State
USF South Florida
Kent State's story cuts the opposite way. Mark Carney took over after Kenni Burns was fired following back-to-back 1-23-level seasons, and instead of another lost year, the Golden Flashes went 5-7 with a 4-4 mark in MAC play — the program's biggest step forward in years. It's still a losing record, but it's the kind of losing record that gets a roster believing again, and Carney had the interim tag stripped off his title because of it.
Kent State Golden Flashes
Oct 9?@ Western Michigan—
Oct 2?vs Ohio—
Sep 25?vs Ball State—
Sep 19?@ Ohio State—
Sep 12?vs Wofford—
Sep 5?@ South Carolina—
South Florida Bulls
Oct 8?@ UTSA—
Oct 2?vs Temple—
Sep 25?@ Bowling Green—
Sep 19?vs Delaware State—
Sep 12?@ Army—
Sep 5?vs Florida International—
Recent form.
The gap in resources and talent still favors USF on paper, and 2026 carries some extra weight in Tampa as the final season at Raymond James Stadium before the Bulls move on-campus. But a team replacing this much production, with a new staff and a first-time starter at quarterback, is exactly the kind of team that can get tripped up by a MAC opponent playing loose and confident off a genuine turnaround season.
Kent State facing South Florida for the first time ever adds a layer of unpredictability neither side can scout away. If Carney's group shows up with the same energy that fueled last year's four-game conference improvement, this has a real chance to be closer than the names on the schedule suggest.
