Nick Saban shouts out USF players in upset of Florida: 'They all wanted to play for Florida'

Some people might see No. 18 USF as the surprise of the season so far in college football. Nick Saban, though, remembers the Bulls quite well.

Appearing on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday, Saban was asked about the 2-0 start for South Florida, with a pair of Top 25 wins over Boise State and Florida. He, however, didn’t need a reminder as USF gave games to Alabama in each of the past two seasons, especially so in his final season as the Tide’s head coach when ‘Bama went to Tampa and won just 17-3.

“Third week. 17-7, man. Big rain delay,” Saban said as he thought back. “I was walking around in the locker room during the rain delay and saying, ‘Can we really lose to these guys?'”

That was a version of USF that was in Year 1 under Alex Golesh. Now, in year three under Golesh, the Bulls have become the talk of the sport early on with a 34-7 blowout of the Broncos, who last year made the playoff from out of the Group of Five, and then the 18-16 in-state win over the Gators in The Swamp.

Looking at them further, Saban can’t fully explain some of the success the Bulls have had of late at South Florida. It’s just more intangible things when it comes to USF, with a chip on its players’ shoulders.

“Yeah, I think that all those guys playing out there against Florida, playing for South Florida? They all wanted to play for Florida, so they’re trying to prove something,” Saban noted. “They got some passion about what they’re trying to do. And they’ll be the same way in Miami.

“I do think this team buys into what their coach wants them to do. They’ve got lots of grit. They play hard. They overcome a lot of adversity. If you look at them statistically, they’re nothing special. I mean, they’re not ranked high in any category – nothing. They stop people in the red zone, they score in the red zone – that’s about it. The rest of it is not that impressive, except the competitive spirit and the grit that they play with and that has carried them through because they stay in games and then they seem to be able to make plays when they need to make them in critical moments.”

With how they’ve opened this season, and could continue to do so this weekend in Coral Gables, USF is projected as a possible team to make the CFP. It’s now just a matter of keeping that momentum they’ve already built with how they’ve played through two weeks.