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Florida paid $500K to play South Florida for upset loss

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh09/07/25griffin_mcveigh
Golesh, Alex Miami week FP on3
USF head coach Alex Golesh speaks to the media. Kelly Quinlan/Bulls Insider

The Week 2 upset has been delivered via USF. Alex Golesh took his team into the Swamp and walked out with a massive victory for the program. A little bit of cash will be heading back to Tampa with the Bulls as well.

Even though Florida is considered an in-state opponent, USF received $500,000 to play them. Not bad for the Group of Five program, helping out the athletic department. But the win, ultimately, is better than any amount of money the Gators could offer.

“Florida paid South Florida $500K to play in Gainesville,” Front Office Sports said via X. “USF just upset #13 Florida 18-16.”

USF is making national headlines for the second consecutive game. The opener against Boise State grabbed plenty of eyeballs due to a Thursday evening kickoff. Golesh watching his team get an almost dominant result certainly played a role too. Who knows, maybe when the AP poll is released in the coming days, the Bulls will be ranked inside the top 25.

On the flip side, Florida head coach Billy Napier just brought a whole lot of questions to his plate. Some pressure was taken off him after positive results late in the season. Bringing back a good roster and adding quality talent built up the excitement even more.

Losing in this fashion, to this opponent, takes away a good chunk of the goodwill, if not it all. The schedule only gets tougher from here, starting a brutal eight-game SEC schedule next week against the LSU Tigers. And while the money might not be coming out of Napier’s pocket, paying for a loss is never advised.

More on USF upset over Florida

Fresh off a statement win in its season opener against Boise State, USF did it again. The Bulls went into The Swamp and upset No. 13 Florida on a walk-off field goal on Saturday.

USF got the ball back with 2:25 to go and got a fresh set of downs when Brendan Bett was ejected for spitting on a Bulls player. That 15-yard penalty kept the drive going, and USF eventually got down to the 2-yard line with two seconds to go.

Nico Gramatica was called upon to kick a field goal virtually equivalent to a PAT. He made it, and time expired as the ball went through the upset. Just like that, USF got the upset – and Florida is facing more questions.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report