{"id":1903,"date":"2025-09-07T09:31:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T09:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/uf-usf-upset-swamp-18-16\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T09:31:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T09:31:49","slug":"uf-usf-upset-swamp-18-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/uf-usf-upset-swamp-18-16\/","title":{"rendered":"USF stuns No. 13 Florida 18-16 at the Swamp"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p><time>September 6, 2025<\/time> \u2014 In Gainesville, unranked South Florida beat No. 13 Florida 18-16 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on a last\u2011second 20\u2011yard field goal by Nico Gramatica, handing the Gators their first tough home loss under coach Billy Napier and leaving Florida 1\u20111 for the season.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>USF won 18\u201116 at the Swamp on a game\u2011ending field goal by Nico Gramatica.<\/li>\n<li>Florida committed 11 penalties for 103 yards, including two that aided USF&#8217;s final drive.<\/li>\n<li>UF QB DJ Lagway was 23 of 33 for 222 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT; USF QB Byrum Brown had 263 passing and 66 rushing yards.<\/li>\n<li>Brendan Bett was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for spitting, costing UF 15 yards on a key sequence.<\/li>\n<li>The loss increases pressure on Billy Napier, now 20\u201120 at Florida, ahead of a brutal upcoming stretch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Verified Facts<\/h2>\n<p>At Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, a reported sellout of 89,909 watched USF convert an 87\u2011yard, eight\u2011play drive late in the fourth quarter. The possession began at USF&#8217;s 11 and was aided by a second\u2011down pass interference on Dijon Johnson and a 15\u2011yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Florida transfer defensive tackle Brendan Bett after an on\u2011field incident with USF lineman Cole Skinner.<\/p>\n<p>On that sequence, Byrum Brown completed multiple plays, including a 29\u2011yard screen to Alvon Isaac and a 12\u2011yard pass to Joshua Port that positioned Gramatica for the game winner. Gramatica, the son of former Buccaneers kicker Martin Gramatica, drilled the decisive short field goal as time expired.<\/p>\n<p>Florida had dominated in Week 1 with a 55\u20110 win over Long Island University but regressed sharply against USF. The Gators were flagged 11 times for 103 yards Saturday, undermining several drives and penalties played a direct role in the Bulls&#8217; late scoring opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Stat lines: UF QB DJ Lagway finished 23 of 33 for 222 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. USF QB Byrum Brown threw for 263 yards and rushed 17 times for 66 yards, including a 66\u2011yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton that gave USF a 13\u20119 lead in the second half.<\/p>\n<h2>Context &#038; Impact<\/h2>\n<p>The loss puts Napier and the Gators on thin ice early in the season. Napier, who is 20\u201120 at Florida, acknowledged the team will face heavy criticism and said the performance was unacceptable. The defeat also disrupts momentum after a convincing opener and raises questions about discipline, situational playcalling and defensive consistency.<\/p>\n<p>Florida now faces one of the program&#8217;s toughest five\u2011week stretches: a trip to No. 3 LSU, a game at No. 5 Miami on Sept. 20, a Sept. 27 bye, then a home game vs. No. 6 Texas on Oct. 4 and a road trip to Texas A&#038;M. The Gators will need clear improvements to remain competitive.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Upcoming marquee opponents: No. 3 LSU, No. 5 Miami, No. 6 Texas, Texas A&#038;M.<\/li>\n<li>Primary concerns: penalties, red zone efficiency, and defensive stops on third down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p>There is no excuse for that result, and we have to be better in all phases, especially situationally,<\/p>\n<p><cite>Billy Napier<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<aside>\n<details>\n<summary>Explainer: How two penalties swung the final drive<\/summary>\n<p>On USF&#8217;s final drive a pass interference flag moved the ball 13 yards and set up the next play. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Brendan Bett tacked on 15 yards and flipped field position, turning a long field into a makeable opportunity for the Bulls&#8217; kicker.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/aside>\n<h3>Unconfirmed<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>No public report yet on any formal suspension or penalty beyond the in\u2011game flags for Brendan Bett; team or conference review status is pending.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bottom Line<\/h2>\n<p>Saturday&#8217;s loss is a serious early\u2011season setback for Florida. Penalties and missed opportunities cost the Gators at the Swamp, and the team must correct multiple issues quickly before facing a brutal schedule. USF earned a signature road upset that boosts its 2025 profile to 2\u20110.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=https:\/\/www.orlandosentinel.com>Orlando Sentinel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=https:\/\/floridagators.com>Florida Gators athletics<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=https:\/\/gousfbulls.com>USF Bulls athletics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 6, 2025 \u2014 In Gainesville, unranked South Florida beat No. 13 Florida 18-16 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on a last\u2011second 20\u2011yard field goal by Nico Gramatica, handing the Gators their first tough home loss under coach Billy Napier and leaving Florida 1\u20111 for the season. Key Takeaways USF won 18\u201116 at the Swamp &#8230; <a title=\"USF stuns No. 13 Florida 18-16 at the Swamp\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/uf-usf-upset-swamp-18-16\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about USF stuns No. 13 Florida 18-16 at the Swamp\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"USF stuns No. 13 Florida 18-16 at the Swamp | Sentinel","rank_math_description":"Unranked USF beat No. 13 Florida 18-16 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept 6, 2025, on a last\u2011second field goal. Penalties and missed opportunities left Billy Napier's Gators exposed.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"Florida Gators,USF Bulls,Billy Napier,upset,Ben Hill Griffin","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}