Alex Golesh’s South Florida has been both fun and fierce through two weeks, climbing into the AP Top 25 at No. 18 after a 34-7 win over then-No. 25 Boise State and an 18-16 stunner at then-No. 13 Florida. The Bulls’ win in Gainesville came on a walk-off 20-yarder from Nico Gramatica, marking the program’s first-ever victory over the Gators, a performance that made their jump into the poll feel well earned rather than ornamental. Now the reward is another stage: a trip to No. 5 Miami in a ranked showdown that keeps the spotlight sharply on Tampa’s upstarts.

Hype often carries a cost, and it commonly appears in habits rather than headlines. That is why the next seven days can be as tricky as the last two Saturdays were thrilling. Amid national attention, fresh rankings, and a bus headed to Hard Rock, the trap is drifting from the routines that built this start—a truth the staff keeps front and center with a schedule that has allowed little time to exhale. The goal is simple enough to say, yet hard to live: keep the main thing the main thing while facing a third straight brand-name opponent.

Alex Golesh has been clear about the standard and how easy it is to slip when everyone’s clapping: “It’s part of this process of building a program to just be able to consistently get better week to week to week. You get better as the weeks go. For us, it’s a matter of teaching it, of holding the same standard. We’ve got to be more detailed than we’ve ever been and not because we won the first two, but because the guys are truly sitting there watching what our reaction is,” he said. That’s a practical guardrail for a young roster processing success in real time, and it tracks with sports psychology research that favors process over outcome to steady performance under stress. USF’s week-to-week message is to return to the work, not the ranking, which is the surest way to make a fast start feel like a foundation instead of a flash.

The tone hasn’t wavered as the chatter has grown either: “When you truly learn to be processed, driven as a program, whether it’s to win or loss, there is no reaction. You obviously enjoy it for the time being. You learn, you grow, but you revert right back to your process, and that’s all we’ve preached since we got here. That’s all we’ve taught since we got here, and again,” Golesh said this week, a reminder that the tape is the judge and jury when buzz tries to be both.

That resonates for a team that just won two very different games and knows the only through line that matters is execution, detail, and the next practice rep. In that frame, the ranking is a mile marker, not a destination, and the emphasis on being process-driven is less a slogan than a daily protocol the players can trust when the noise gets loud.

There’s a long road left, and the next turn is the sharpest yet with a top-five Miami that has answered every bell and set a high bar for pace, precision, and poise at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. If USF keeps its eyes on the standard that delivered September’s upsets, the Bulls will give themselves a chance to turn a hot start into a real run, no matter how bright the lights in Miami Gardens get. Either way, the test waiting at Hard Rock will say a lot about how ready this group is to keep stacking weeks the same way it started.

New QB pledge for USF

Hayes Fawcett reports that Class of 2027 quarterback James Perrone has committed to South Florida, giving Alex Golesh an in-state passer with size at 6’2 and 190 pounds who chose the Bulls over Virginia Tech, UCF, and West Virginia. It reads like a smart, early win on the trail: a Miami native staying close to home while a rising program rides real momentum. For a staff that values evaluation clarity, getting a multiyear quarterback prospect into the fold this early sets a tone for how the class can take shape.

The fit makes sense on paper. Golesh’s offense asks the quarterback to play on time, distribute with confidence, and punish space when defenses hesitate, and Perrone’s frame gives him a sturdier starting point as he matures. Regional competition for his pledge tells its own story about perceived ceiling, and picking USF over familiar recruiting foes adds a little spice to future weekends. It is also the kind of decision that can encourage other skill players to take a closer look at Tampa, since quarterbacks often become the connective tissue of a class.

Perrone kept the message simple, and it landed the way early commitments often do for energized fan bases: “Blessed. #GoBulls.” The economy of that line matches the moment, because what matters next is the work, the relationship with the staff, and the steady build between now and his senior year. Nothing is finished in September of a sophomore season, but this is a clear marker of intent from both sides, and it gives USF a young centerpiece to grow with as the program keeps stacking steps forward.