The University of South Florida football team will take the field on Friday night this week to take on Alabama-Birmingham (UAB).
But the USF Bulls head into Friday night with a big question: Who’s playing quarterback? Michael Van Buren’s injury status was a big uncertainty this week.
And in the world of college football, those kinds of tidbits often go unknown until gametime.
USF head coach Brian Hartline has spoken on the situation a bit this week, but not in a super informative way.
Social media has also provided a possible club, but maybe not.
USF’s chances of a win could hinge on whether Van Buren can play, and it’s still a bit of a mystery whether he will or not.
Is Michael Van Buren Playing Tonight?
There’s been no official word as of midday Friday about Van Buren’s playing status for Friday night.
There are basically two pieces of information out there.
The first comes from USF’s student newspaper, The Oracle, which wrote about mid-week comments from Hartline.
“We will have (a quarterback),” Hartline is quoted as saying about Van Buren — also, thanks for that obvious bit of intel, coach Hartline.
The second bit of info is more speculative — on Thursday, USF shared a social media post with Van Buren as the main focus of the photo, although the caption was just, “Best Thursdays in football (football emoji).”
That led some wondering about whether it was a good sign for Van Buren:
Michael Van Buren Jr. is in the image that the USF Football account posted.
Does it mean he’s been fully participating in practice? I have no idea.
Could be gamesmanship, or it could be a sign that MVB is back.
— Colby Allfrey (@AllfreyColby) November 5, 2026
Van Buren left last week’s game in the second quarter with an undisclosed injury, and Hartline wouldn’t reveal in the middle of the week what had happened.
So it still doesn’t seem totally clear. There is supposed to be an official availability report on the AAC website, but that page shows “report pending” for the USF game as of 2 p.m. ET on Friday.
USF’s Backup QB
South Florida’s backup quarterback is Luke Kromenhoek.
He led USF to 30 unanswered points after replacing Van Buren last week.
“His legs are definitely a weapon,” Hartline said, via The Oracle. “Luke’s been that guy, and no one on the team was shocked by it.”
South Florida’s offense will likely look different if Kromenhoek has to play, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
Is Michael Van Buren Playing Tonight? USF QB Injury Raises Backup Question