Steve Spurrier expects a 'good test' for Florida against South Florida

One of the biggest takeaways from the opening weekend of the 2025 college football season had to be the re-emergence of teams from the state of Florida.

Florida (LIU), Florida State (Alabama), Miami (Notre Dame) and South Florida (Boise State) all opened their seasons with massive wins, putting the college football landscape on notice for program’s from the Sunshine State.

Heading into week two, No. 5 Miami, No. 13 Florida and No. 14 Florida State are all ranked inside the top-15 of the AP Poll Rankings for the first time since the 2006 Preseason Poll. USF received 25 votes, but could jump into the top-25 with a potential upset victory over the Gators this weekend in Gainesville.

Fresh off of their 34-7 drumming of then-ranked No. 25 Boise State, legendary former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier revealed that he expects the Bulls to give Florida a ‘good test’ this weekend in the Swamp.

“(Florida) had a good game (against LIU) and nobody got hurt,” Spurrier said. “Sometimes you worry about these down-the-line teams that somebody might accidentally get hurt. DJ Lagway had a nice day and then Tramell Jones came in and played well. It was a good day but the real season starts this week. Back in the summer, we thought the first two we should be (good). But South Florida really looked good in their victory the other day. We may get a good test this week against South Florida.”

USF has emerged as GO5 College Football Playoff contender

After falling behind 7-0 with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter, USF outscored Boise State (which made the College Football Playoff last season) 34-0 over the remainder of the game. Quarterback Byrum Brown, who missed all of last season with an injury, shined as he ran for 43 yards and two touchdowns along with throwing for 210 yards.

Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh just kicked off his third season in charge at USF and has shown early in the season that his Bulls can be legit contenders to earn the Group of Five bid in this year’s College Football Playoff. With their win over Boise, the Bulls earned their first ranked victory since 2016 and could earn their second in that time frame on Saturday.

The two programs have met just three times in history, with Florida leading the all-time series 3-0. Their last meeting came in 2022, where the Gators held off USF 31-28 in Gainesville. This year’s meeting of the in-state schools could however be the most anticipated in the history of their rivalry.

Kick-off between the Gators and Bulls on Saturday is scheduled for 4:15 PM on SEC Network.