Brown’s 517 total yards earn first Offensive Player of the Week honor since 2018 for USF;
Simmons shatters program receiving record with best mark ever by an FBS player from state of Florida
TAMPA, SEPT. 25, 2023 – Redshirt freshman quarterback Byrum Brown (Raleigh, N.C.) made his last start as an 18-year-old one for the ages Saturday as the Bulls posted a 42-29 conference-opening victory over Rice in Raymond James Stadium. On Monday he was honored as the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week alongside junior receiver Naiem Simmons (Cherry Hill, N.J.), whose program-record setting receiving performance earned him AAC Weekly Honor Roll recognition.
Brown was also named to national honors with selection to the Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” Quarterbacks and Manning Award “Stars of the Week” for Week 4, the first Bull to be so honored since Blake Barnett in 2018. Brown was also named to the O’Brien National Quarterback Award Midseason Watch List.
Brown became USF’s first player honored as an Offensive Conference Player of the Week since 2018 when running back Jordan Cronkrite earned the award after running for a program and conference record 302 yards at UMass. It also comes one week after Daquan Evans earned AAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, the first for a Bull since 2017.
Brown, who will turn 19 on Friday, was scintillating in the Bulls’ first win in a conference-opener since 2018. He completed 22-of-29 passes (75%) for 435 yards, two TD and no interceptions, which ranks as the second-best total in program history behind the 503 yards posted by Quinton Flowers at UCF in 2017.
Brown added a team-best 82 yards rushing and a touchdown for 517 total yards, which rank as the second-best total in program history and he joined Flowers as the only two players in program history to post 500-plus yards of total offense in a game. Flowers owns the record with 605 at UCF in 2017. Brown’s 517 total yards are the most for any player in the nation through Week 4 and his passing yards rank as the 7th-best mark through Week 4.
Brown accounted for three touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) and a two-point conversion reception (from wide receiver Sean Atkins) on the day. He now has 18 total touchdowns accounted for in six career starts, a USF record that breaks the mark of 15 held by Blake Barnett through six starts.
Brown leads all FBS quarterbacks with 351 rushing yards on the year and ranks 20th nationally with 17.0 points responsible for per game while leading the AAC and ranking 26th nationally running for 87.8 yards per game.
Meanwhile, only the massive numbers of Brown could surpass his teammate Simmons for conference honors as the two connected for four plays of 42 yards or more on the day, part of a season-best 12 explosive plays for the Bulls.
Simmons was named to the Honor Roll after posting a USF record 272 receiving yards and a touchdown in the game, breaking Tyre McCants’ program mark of with 227 set at UCF in 2017. Simmons eight catches on eight targets tied his career mark previously set in FCS competition at Wagner as he made grabs of 42, 49, 51 and 53 yards and racked up 71 yards after the catch on the day.
His receiving yards vs. Rice rank as the most-ever by a player from a state of Florida FBS program, breaking the 55-year-old record of 268 set by Florida State’s Ron Sellers vs. Wake Forest in 1968. The total nearly broke the AAC record, ranking second-most in the history of the conference behind CJ Johnson of ECU who posted 283 yards vs. Cincinnati in 2019.
Simmons 272 yards are the second-most for any FBS player on the year, one yard shy of Gage Larvadain’s of Miami (OH) who logged 273 yards vs. UMass. Simmons ranks 11th nationally averaging 23.8 yards per catch.
The Bulls will hit the road for the first of back-to-back conference road clashes when they take on Navy in Annapolis, Md. on Saturday. The game is set for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on CBS Sports Network and can be heard on 102.5 FM and Bulls Unlimited on TuneIn radio.
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ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
The USF football program first took the field in 1997 and completed its 26th season in 2022 while completing construction on a new $22 million Indoor Performance Facility. The Bulls have posted 15 winning seasons, earned 16 All-America selections, including 2021 consensus All-American kick returner Brian Battie, and had 32 first-team all-conference selections. USF has had 30 players selected in the NFL Draft and has made 10 bowl game appearances (going 6-4 in those games), posting a program-record six straight appearances from 2005-2010 and most recently making four straight bowl appearances from 2015-18. The Bulls posted back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2016 and 2017, logging a program-record 11-2 mark in 2016 while finishing both seasons ranked in the Top 25. USF spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the Top 25 during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings during the 2007 season.
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