September 6, 2025 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

South Florida takes the belt, 18–16, on the road at Florida.

Home · Defending Holder

FloridaAP No. 13 16

Away · New Holder

South Florida 18

AP poll, week 2: South Florida unranked at Florida No. 13 · No. 1 that week: Ohio State. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

South Florida took the belt here, ending Florida’s run of 287 days and 3 defenses (reign #326) and starting reign #327. It lasted 7 days and 0 defenses, until Miami took it on September 13, 2025.

For South Florida this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt — and this was the day it took it.

This is the only time Florida and South Florida have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Florida struck first with Trey Smack's 28-yard field goal in the first quarter, but South Florida answered with a methodical second-quarter drive capped by Nico Gramatica's 25-yard field goal as time expired in the half, trailing 9-6. The third quarter turned pivotal when South Florida's Byrum Brown connected with Keshaun Singleton on a 66-yard touchdown pass to take a 15-9 lead, while Florida's defense forced a DJ Lagway interception moments earlier. Florida responded with a Eugene Wilson III 4-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter to tie it at 16-16, but South Florida's Nico Gramatica delivered the championship-clinching 20-yard field goal with no time remaining to secure the belt with an 18-16 victory.

Byrum Brown to Keshaun Singleton 66-yard TD pass (Q3) -- gave South Florida their first lead and crucial momentum heading into the final quarter
DJ Lagway interception (Q3) -- turnover that stalled Florida's offense and gave South Florida possession in scoring position
Nico Gramatica 20-yard FG (Q4 0:00) -- the game-winning field goal that clinched the belt for South Florida with no time left

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

By Quarter

Line score

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Florida	3	6	0	7	16
South Florida	0	6	9	3	18

Pulled directly from CFBD’s play-by-play record, the same source as every score in the lineage.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

FloridaSouth Florida

Total yards355391

Rushing yards133128

Passing yards222263

First downs2020

3rd down conv.4/126/16

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards11–1039–75

Time of possession34:1325:47

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 5:39	Florida	+28 yd	Trey Smack 28 yd FG GOOD
Q2 14:52	South Florida	+38 yd	Nico Gramatica 38 yd FG GOOD
Q2 7:13	Florida	+36 yd	Trey Smack 36 yd FG GOOD
Q2 7:05	Florida	+29 yd	Trey Smack kickoff for 62 yds , Alvon Isaac return for 29 yds to the USF 32
Q2 1:50	Florida	+41 yd	Trey Smack 41 yd FG GOOD
Q2 4:40	Florida	+28 yd	DJ Lagway pass complete to Hayden Hansen for 28 yds to the FLA 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 3:26	Florida	+24 yd	DJ Lagway pass complete to Vernell Brown III for 24 yds to the USF 29 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:00	South Florida	-58 yd	End of 2nd Quarter
Q2 0:00	South Florida	+25 yd	Nico Gramatica 25 yd FG GOOD
Q2 1:04	South Florida	+22 yd	Alvon Isaac run for 22 yds to the FLA 29 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:02	South Florida	+20 yd	Byrum Brown run for 20 yds to the FLA 7 for a 1ST down
Q3 9:23	Florida	+26 yd	DJ Lagway pass complete to Ja'Kobi Jackson for 26 yds to the FLA 39 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:43	Florida	+0 yd	DJ Lagway pass intercepted
Q3 8:43	Florida	+0 yd	DJ Lagway pass intercepted
Q3 5:41	Florida	+32 yd	DJ Lagway pass complete to Eugene Wilson III for 32 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Q3 2:03	South Florida	+66 yd	Byrum Brown pass complete to Keshaun Singleton for 66 yds for a TD (Nico Gramatica KICK)
Q3 0:13	Florida	+0 yd	Team Safety
Q3 0:09	Florida	+22 yd	Trey Smack kickoff for 70 yds , Alvon Isaac return for 22 yds to the USF 32
Q4 14:22	South Florida	+40 yd	Chase Leon punt for 51 yds, punt out-of-bounds at the USF 20 for a 1ST down , Vernell Brown III returns for 40 yds to the FLA 36 for a 1ST down South Florida Penalty, Personal Foul (Rico Watson III) to the USF 20 for a 1ST down
Q4 12:29	Florida	+4 yd	Eugene Wilson III 4 Yd pass from DJ Lagway (Trey Smack Kick)
Q4 2:52	South Florida	+58 yd	Nico Gramatica 58 yd FG MISSED
Q4 0:00	South Florida	+20 yd	Nico Gramatica 20 Yd Field Goal
Q4 0:00	South Florida	-63 yd	End of 4th Quarter
Q4 1:54	South Florida	+29 yd	Byrum Brown pass complete to Alvon Isaac for 29 yds to the FLA 32 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Florida

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
D.J. Lagway	23/33	222	6.7	1	1	58.8

South Florida

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Byrum Brown	23/36	263	7.3	1	0	74.6

Rushing

Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jadan Baugh	18	93	5.2	15
Ja'Kobi Jackson	6	22	3.7	9
Eugene Wilson	1	9	9.0	9
D.J. Lagway	6	9	1.5	7

South Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Byrum Brown	17	66	3.9	20
Alvon Isaac	5	36	7.2	22
Cartevious Norton	6	24	4.0	8
Sam Franklin	1	2	2.0	2

Receiving

Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Eugene Wilson	7	60	8.6	1	32
Vernell Brown III	5	56	11.2	0	24
Hayden Hansen	3	40	13.3	0	28
Ja'Kobi Jackson	2	24	12.0	0	26
J.Michael Sturdivant	2	21	10.5	0	12
Aidan Mizell	2	18	9.0	0	10
Tank Hawkins	1	2	2.0	0	2
Tawaski Abrams	1	1	1.0	0	1

South Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Keshaun Singleton	2	75	37.5	1	66
Alvon Isaac	4	49	12.3	0	29
Mudia Reuben	5	44	8.8	0	15
Christian Neptune	5	39	7.8	0	15
Chas Nimrod	3	24	8.0	0	16
Wyatt Sullivan	2	17	8.5	0	15
Joshua Porter	1	12	12.0	0	12
Sam Franklin	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Florida

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Jaden Robinson	9	4	0	0	1	0
Myles Graham	8	4	0	0	0	2
Tyreak Sapp	5	3	1	2	0	0
Jordan Castell	5	3	0	0	0	0
Bryce Thornton	5	2	0	0	2	1
Brendan Bett	5	1	0	0	0	0
Sharif Denson	4	3	0	0	0	1
Michai Boireau	4	1	0	0	0	0
Devin Moore	3	2	0	0	2	0
George Gumbs	3	1	0	0	0	1
Aaron Gates	3	1	0	0	0	0
Aaron Chiles	2	1	0	0	1	1
Brien Taylor Jr.	2	1	0	0	0	0
Jayden Woods	2	0	0	0	0	1
Grayson Howard	1	1	0	0	0	0
Cormani Mcclain	1	1	0	1	0	0
Jamari Lyons	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kahleil Jackson	1	0	0	0	0	0
Trey Smack	1	0	0	0	0	0
Javion Toombs	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ty Jackson	1	0	0	0	0	0
L.J. McCray	0	0	0	0	0	1
Kamran James	0	0	0	0	0	1

South Florida

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Mac Harris	10	4	1	1	0	0
Jhalyn Shuler	7	3	0	1	1	0
Jarvis Lee Jr.	6	5	0	0	0	0
De'Shawn Rucker	6	4	0	0	0	0
Tavin Ward	6	1	0	0	0	0
Zavier Hamilton	5	1	0	1	0	0
Fred Gaskin	4	3	0	1	0	1
Ricardo Watson	4	2	0	0.5	0	1
D.J. Harris Jr.	4	2	0	0	0	0
Joshua Celiscar	4	2	0	0.5	0	0
James Chenault	3	2	0	0	0	0
Devin Lee	2	1	0	0.5	0	0
Traevon Mitchell	2	1	0	1	0	0
Jaelen Stokes	1	1	0	0	0	0
Boogsie Silvera	1	1	0	0	0	0
Rodney Hill	1	1	0	0	0	0
Chase Leon	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jacob Merrifield	1	0	0	0.5	0	0
Jonas Duclona	1	0	0	0	0	0

Interceptions

Florida

No recorded stats in this category.

South Florida

Player	INT	YDS	TD
James Chenault	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Florida

No recorded stats in this category.

South Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Alvon Isaac	2	51	25.5	29	0

Kicking

Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Trey Smack	3/3	100.0	41	1/1	10

South Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Nico Gramatica	3/4	75.0	38	1/1	10

Punt Returns

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Vernell Brown III	1	40	40.0	40	0

South Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Joshua Porter	1	5	5.0	5	0

Punting

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tommy Doman	4	187	46.8	1	2	63

South Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Chase Leon	6	287	47.8	0	4	52

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401752684) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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