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Florida Atlantic's Tom Herman angrily confronts South Florida head coach Alex Golesh after a 44-21 embarrassment

Tom Herman became angry after FAU's loss to USF. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Florida Atlantic head coach Tom Herman didn't like that the situation was different Friday.

Rewind to October 14, 2023. FAU defeated South Florida 56-14 in its first season under the former Texas head coach. It wasn't a graceful win, as FAU tried to recover an onside kick but then tried it on fourth down and had a 42-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Leading up to this year's matchup, Herman spoke openly about seeing USF as a rival, saying, “We don't like them, I hope they don't like us.” Those comments were ultimately an unfortunate prelude to a 44-21 win for USF USF.

And USF didn't just beat FAU. On their last real play of the game, with a 23-point lead on fourth down, the Bulls went all out and got the ball with a 10-yard pass.

As the game ended, USF head coach Alex Golesh attempted a frosty handshake with Herman, which apparently triggered something in Herman. He followed the coach and insulted him for several seconds.

At one point, Herman could be seen turning around and trying to yell at Golesh again, but his wife, Michelle, grabbed him by the polo sleeve and pulled him away. There are no moments like this in professional football.

Golesh played down the incident after the game, but admitted that last year's defeat had provided some motivation:

“Not much back and forth. Nothing really, I said a year ago we would come back to get it and we came back to get it. Whatever is said, it's said, I'm fine. I think that's what was said. “We recruit each other, I think we don't like each other. I don't think we recruit each other. At least I can't think of a guy we had to defeat.

“We'll definitely face them, I have a lot of respect for a lot of these guys, but I said we'll come back to get it. Last year we were embarrassed at the end of the game at home. We came and got it, and we will continue to do so.

The loss improves USF's record to 4-4, while FAU now has a record of 2-6 in Herman's second year. The team has only one FBS win against FIU this season.

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