By Five USF Bulls Who Could Decide the Season Opener Against FIU
By Ken Filler | Tampa Bay Sports Journal
TAMPA — After an offseason filled with change, transfers, competition, and plenty of excitement surrounding Brian Hartline’s arrival at South Florida, we are finally getting close to seeing what this new version of USF football looks like.
The Bulls open the 2026 season Saturday night against FIU at Raymond James Stadium, and for all the talk about new schemes, new coaches, and 62 new players, football games usually come down to something much simpler.
Your best players have to make plays.
For USF, I’ll be watching five players against FIU.
If these five have big nights, I like the Bulls’ chances of giving Hartline his first victory as a head coach.
1. Michael Van Buren Jr., Quarterback
It has to start here.
Van Buren won a long quarterback competition with Luke Kromenhoek and will get the first opportunity to run Tim Beck’s offense.
Hartline said the decision came down to Van Buren’s overall body of work and particularly his performance in the Bulls’ final major scrimmage.
“Mike earned it,” Hartline said. “He did a good job of communicating with the guys and trying to be a leader.”
Winning the job is one thing. Winning games is another.
Van Buren doesn’t need to throw for 400 yards Saturday night. He needs to protect the football, make good decisions, and get the ball into the hands of USF’s playmakers.
And when the play breaks down, that’s where Van Buren could become particularly dangerous.
He brings SEC experience after playing at Mississippi State and LSU, including starts against some of the best teams in college football.
He has also shown the ability to escape the pocket and make plays with his legs.
“I’ve experienced college football at the highest level,” Van Buren said. “I think I have what it takes to compete and what it takes to win games.”
Saturday night is his first opportunity to prove it wearing green and gold.
If Van Buren plays clean football and makes a few explosive plays, USF’s offense could be difficult for FIU to contain.
2. Mudia Reuben, Wide Receiver
If Hartline wants explosive plays from his offense, Reuben seems like an obvious place to start.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound receiver showed exactly what he can do late last season.
Reuben finished 2025 with 26 receptions for 495 yards and five touchdowns, but those season numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Over the final three regular-season games, Reuben caught 14 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns.
Against UAB, he exploded for 174 receiving yards, including touchdown catches of 60 and 59 yards.
That’s the player USF needs Saturday night.
Reuben doesn’t necessarily need 10 catches. He needs two or three game-changing plays.
Hartline knows receiver play as well as just about anybody in college football. If he and Beck can find favorable matchups for Reuben against the FIU secondary, don’t be surprised if Van Buren takes some shots downfield.
Reuben is one of the players who can turn a routine offensive possession into seven points very quickly.
3. Caleb Cook, Offensive Guard
Want to know whether USF’s new offensive identity is real? Watch No. 78.
Throughout fall camp, we have heard the same message from Beck and the Bulls’ offensive players.
They want to be physical. Not just when they need two yards. They want physical football to become part of USF’s offensive personality.
Cook could be the perfect player to help establish it.
The Georgia Southern transfer was named to the Outland Trophy watch list and was also voted one of USF’s six captains despite only joining the program this offseason.
That tells you something about the respect he has already earned inside the locker room.
Cook also hasn’t been shy about what he expects from this offense.
“Points and touchdowns,” Cook said when asked what the Bulls offense would provide. “That’s the No. 1 thing.”
I want to see USF establish the line of scrimmage Saturday night. Can the Bulls run when FIU knows they’re going to run?
Can they protect Van Buren?
Can they convert third-and-short?
Those are the situations where Cook and this bigger USF offensive line need to take control.
If USF dominates the line of scrimmage, the entire playbook opens up.
4. Grayson “Pup” Howard, Linebacker
With so many new faces on defense, somebody has to become the guy who settles everything down.
Howard seems like a pretty good candidate.
The Florida transfer wasn’t just named a captain. He was the leading vote-getter among his teammates when USF selected its six captains.
That’s impressive for a player who hasn’t taken a regular-season snap for the Bulls.
USF doesn’t need Howard to make every tackle against FIU.
What it needs is leadership.
Get the defense lined up correctly. Stop the run. Limit missed tackles. Don’t allow a short completion to turn into a 40-yard gain.
And when an opportunity arrives to make a momentum-changing play, make it.
Josh Aldridge has a difficult job rebuilding a defense with so many new pieces.
Howard can make that job considerably easier if he becomes the steady presence in the middle of the field that USF expects him to be.
Season openers can get sloppy.
That’s when you need your veterans and leaders.
Howard could be one of the most important players on the field Saturday night.
5. Ayden Jackson, STAR
If Howard is the stabilizer, Jackson could be the playmaker.
Jackson is one of the few returning starters on a completely rebuilt USF roster. He enters the season with significant expectations after being named first-team preseason All-American Conference by Pro Football Network.
His STAR position also puts him right in the middle of the action.
Jackson could be involved in run support, coverage, and pressure packages.
Against an opponent like FIU, that’s important.
One of the biggest things I’m looking for from the USF defense is whether it can create negative plays.
Something that changes field position and gets Raymond James Stadium involved in the game.
Jackson has the versatility to provide exactly that.
And don’t underestimate how valuable his experience will be on a defense filled with players who haven’t played together in a regular-season game.
The Bottom Line
There will be plenty of emotion Saturday night.
It’s Hartline’s first game as a college head coach.
It’s Van Buren’s first start for South Florida.
It’s the beginning of USF’s 30th season of football and the Bulls’ final season playing home games at Raymond James Stadium before moving into their new on-campus stadium in 2027.
That’s a lot packed into one season opener.
But once the ball is kicked off, none of it matters.
And this is exactly the kind of game USF needs to control.
The Bulls are coming off a 9-4 season, but this isn’t the same football team. Hartline and his staff have essentially rebuilt the roster, bringing in 62 new players while returning only four starters.
That’s why Saturday night matters.
We finally get to see whether everything we’ve heard throughout the offseason translates to the field.
If the answer to most of those questions is yes, Hartline’s first night on the USF sideline should be a successful one.
