Satire & opinion · November 2, 2026
Hartline Announces Search for Forward Pass
Eight games into the season, the offensive staff begins investigating offense.
TAMPA — With November arriving ahead of the passing game, South Florida's offensive staff has been presented with an ambitious new assignment: find more ways to throw a football.
Head coach Brian Hartline supplied the actual mission statement after Saturday's 30–10 win over UAB:
“We're gonna try to find more ways to throw the ball.”
The comment came in his October 31 postgame remarks, as reported that evening by WUSF's Rick Mayer. Hartline also identified edge protection as a problem and credited UAB's pressure. This was criticism of the unit's limitations, not a statement that he was firing Tim Beck or taking away his play sheet.
Still, finding ways to throw is an extraordinary item to have sitting in the inbox eight games into a football season. Other programs are installing wrinkles. South Florida is checking whether the fabric exists.
The forward pass remains a promising concept
The Bulls attempted 12 passes against UAB and gained 46 yards through the air. They completed eight. The issue was not a rainstorm of interceptions; they threw none. It was a passing game so small you could fit it in the overhead compartment.
Beck's offense supplied one touchdown. The defense supplied two. Nico Gramatica supplied three field goals and three extra points. The full 12–12–6 scoring breakdown is already on the books. Monday's question is what the people responsible for the six intend to do about it.
Hartline is right about protection. A quarterback cannot study the coverage while an edge rusher is studying the inside of his helmet. But protection, play design and getting the ball out are coaching problems too. Naming the problem is useful. Fans would also enjoy seeing it fixed before the commemorative stadium bricks start gaining more yards than the offense.
The defense receives an actual award
On November 2, C.J. Hicks was named the American Conference's Defensive Player of the Week. His four sacks tied the school record, and two forced fumbles became touchdowns. Official award announcement.
One department has a conference award. The other has a search query.
Hicks did not need an entire drive to arrange a scoring opportunity. He found the quarterback, removed the ball and let a teammate handle delivery. If this keeps up, Beck may have to list the defensive line as his emergency contact.
The backup brought legs. The staff still owes answers.
Luke Kromenhoek replaced the injured Michael Van Buren and ran for 92 yards. His big runs gave South Florida a spark; the official recap describes gains of 42 and 25 yards that helped produce points.
That is a reason to use what Kromenhoek does well. It is not proof that every successful run was improvised, or that switching quarterbacks automatically repairs the offense. The passing game still finished with the yardage of a moderately successful punt.
In Saturday's Reddit postgame discussion, jcc309 argued that Kromenhoek's running fit the struggling line rather than proving he was the better quarterback. On The Bulls Pen, Bob Loblaw questioned why screens that appeared to help the line had disappeared. Those are fan assessments, but they point to the same coaching question: how are you helping the players you actually have?
Hartline owns that question along with Beck. Being 6–2 gives the staff a good record. It does not give the offense a good disguise.
Next is ECU on Friday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2. Memphis follows Thursday, November 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. FAU and Tulane remain kickoff TBA on the official schedule.
The defense is ready for November. The offense will join it as soon as someone locates the forward pass.