Is the rout of Rice Alex Golesh’s swan song at USF?

USF played spectacular football Saturday night in its regular-season finale at Raymond James Stadium, pounding Rice 52-3.

And then a lot of folks immediately started talking about the future.

Most notably: Will third-year head coach Alex Golesh return or leave to take over a Power Four program like Arkansas?

Golesh, who has turned USF from downtrodden into a team with three straight winning seasons, faced the question head on.

“When all (the rumors about leaving) came out, I told our team Wednesday night that all I ask is for an opportunity to finish the season the right way, finish with a win, and then give me the time to sit down with my family and figure this whole thing out,” he said.

“I’ve said this 100 times: I’m not smart enough to do two things at once. … I’m so locked in on what’s going on that I haven’t had time to process anything. I really haven’t. And I’ve been honest and real throughout my time here. In all fairness to everyone I need time to process everything. I owe that to everybody. …

“I apologized to our guys that the last thing I want to be is a distraction to our team.”

Along with that coaching update came the record-setting stat put up by USF quarterback Byrum Brown, who threw for 275 yards and ran for another 104, making him only the 12th player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to post more than 3,000 passing and 1,000 rushing yards in the same season (a list that includes four Heisman Trophy winners).

“He’s one of the toughest, smartest young men I’ve ever been around, but I think the biggest thing you can say about him is that his teammates believe in him at a level that I’ve never really been around,” Golesh said of Brown, a redshirt junior eligibility-wise but a senior academically (adding another question to his USF ties next year). “Byrum is a really, really special player.”

Before Saturday’s game, Brown led the nation in total offense (344 yards a game) and points responsible for (20.5).

And now he has 3,158 passing yards and 1,008 rushing yards on the year with a bowl game to go.

The Bulls (9-3, 6-2 in the American) will find out their bowl opponent next week. If they win that game, it would mark a double-digit victory season (achieved only twice before) and make for three straight seasons with a bowl victory (achieved just once before).

Other top performers Saturday: Keshaun Singleton (six catches, 125 yards, two touchdowns), Mudia Reuben (five catches, including a 60-yard TD; 90 total yards), Sam Franklin (10 carries, 65 yards), Nykahi Davenport (11 carries, 59 yards, one TD), linebackers Zavier Hamilton (six tackles) and Mac Harris (five tackles, 100 for the season). Linebacker Jhalyn Shuler led everyone with seven tackles before getting ejected for targeted in the second half.

Overall, the game’s outcome was never really in doubt as USF scored touchdowns on its first four drives: 68 yards in 3:24, 77 yards in 1:11, 80 yards in 1:27 and 67 yards in 2:24.

At halftime the Owls (5-7, 2-6) trailed 28-3 and the only doubt was whether Brown would reach the 1,000-yard season goal before the game ended. Midway through the second half, he pushed over the threshold with a patented 6-yard burst up the middle.

A few minutes later, Golesh took a moment to take Brown out of the game to the standing cheers of the crowd.

“This whole experience has been truly a blessing,” said Brown, who made the symbol of a heart to his chest as the crowd cheered. “I don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward, but if that is my last time playing at RayJay I wanted to show the fans my true appreciation. I came here as a 17-year-old freshman and they’ve been with me all the way.”

Golesh also made a point to shout out the 30 players honored before the game on senior night, several of whom suffered through horrible losing seasons before Golesh arrived.

“This is a special group that has stuck together,” said Golesh, who has a combined 23-15 record at USF, following the previous years when the Bulls went 4-29. “They bought into what we were saying and bought into our vision.”

And still, along with the good vibes, there was the notion of what might have been this season: After USF’s early victories over Boise State, Florida and North Texas there was hope for a conference title and maybe a breakthrough into the nation’s top 12. But then came heartbreaking three-point losses at Memphis and Navy.

“I have to stand in front of the team and take the blame because it’s my fault that we didn’t win those games,” Golesh said. “I revert back to that because that’s the competitor in me that reverts back to the ones we didn’t win. But in terms of where we are as a program, it’s light years from where we were, and I am very proud of that.”

• • •

Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.

Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.

Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.