Michael Van Buren Jr.

#3 · QB · Jr. · South Florida6′0″ · 195 lb · Bowie, MD · St. Frances Academy

Passing yards1,273103rd of 159 quarterbacks Last gameW 30–10vs UAB · Oct 31

Nextat East CarolinaFri Nov 6 · 7:30 pm ET

Came in vs UAB.

Luke Kromenhoek started South Florida’s last game, W 30-10 vs UAB, Oct 31.

South Florida’s next game: at East Carolina, Fri Nov 6, 7:30 p.m. ET · ESPN2

Worth knowing

Michael Van Buren Jr. has 1,273 passing yards, already past last season's 1,010.

His most important play this season

Q4, 0:19 · South Florida down 9, takes the leadMichael Van Buren Jr. finds Joshua Porter for a 38-yard touchdownSouth Florida at Army, week 2Q4, 0:19 · South Florida 28, Army 240:19Go-ahead touchdown for South Florida with 0:19 left0:19Go-ahead touchdown for South Florida with 0:19 leftGo-ahead touchdown for South Florida with 0:19 leftJoshua Porter 38 yd pass from Michael Van Buren Jr. (Nico Gramatica Kick)Watch from this play CBS Sports College Football

All 2 of his plays on video

Michael Van Buren Jr.

QB · South Florida · #3

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

Michael Van Buren Jr. takes over from Byrum Brown at South Florida.

1,273passing yards6passing TD100rushing yards

4★ · NATIONAL RECRUIT

No.239

recruiting national rank

Read the story so far

Michael Van Buren Jr. arrived as a 4-star prospect, the No.239 recruit nationally. Michael Van Buren Jr. lines up at QB for South Florida.

On the field, the headline is 1,273 pass yds, with 6 pass td.

Michael Van Buren Jr. inherited the QB job from Byrum Brown (3-star).

The number to watch: No.239 — 4★ · national recruit.

QB successionleap of faith

Inherited fromByrum Brown 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04

Style of play

Play style

Operates within the system without forcing anything.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Ryan AgnewSan Diego State · 2019 · 73% season match
Sam B. RichardsonIowa State · 2014 · 62% season match
Anthony BooneDuke · 2014 · 62% season match
David BloughPurdue · 2015 · 61% season match
Phillip WalkerTemple · 2015 · 61% season match

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	South Florida	116	181	64.1%	1,273	7.0	6	0	134.1	--
2025	LSU	94	151	62.3%	1,010	6.7	8	2	133.3	11
2024	Mississippi State	140	256	54.7%	1,886	7.4	11	7	125.3	36
Career		350	588	59.5%	4,169	7.1	25	9	130.1	31

Season	Team
2026	South Florida	52	100	1.9	2	30
2025	LSU	48	129	2.7	1	35
2024	Mississippi State	69	−12	−0.2	5	17
Career		169	217	1.3	8	35

Last game (Wk 9): 7 passing yards.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 19-9vs Florida International		11/18	100	0	5.6	—	—	7
Wk 2	W 28-24@ Army	Came in late	19/30	239	2	8.0	82.3	0	45
Wk 3	W 59-17vs Delaware State		23/32	300	1	9.4	48.7	—	0	Season-high 300 yds
Wk 4	W 14-6@ Bowling Green		7/11	52	0	4.7	9.4	—	12
Wk 5	L 13-17vs Temple		17/32	205	0	6.4	22.0	—	16
Wk 6	L 24-31@ UTSA	Out after Q1	16/29	177	2	6.1	49.3	0	15
Wk 7	W 29-2vs Kent State		22/27	193	1	7.1	28.7	—	-8
Wk 9	W 30-10vs UAB		1/2	7	0	3.5	--	—	13
Total			116/181	1273	6	7.0	—	0	100

The season, game by game

L 24-31 at UTSAOct. 8177 yds16 of 29, 2 TDBox score only

16 of 29 for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 28-24 at ArmySept. 12239 yds19 of 30, 2 TDBox score only

19 of 30 for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

Signature game

Week 2 · 2026

W 28-24

at Army

239 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 82.3 · 45 rush yds (5 car) · 2 TD

A close one, won by 4 on the road.

With L. Goater — 42 yards per punt · 4 punts · 3 inside the 20 · J. Porter — 3 rec · 67 yds · 1 TD

Where he ranks

Stat	His	Nation	American Athletic
Passing yards	1,273	99th of 370	7th of 37
Yards an attempt	7.0	T-99th of 152	T-8th of 15
Touchdown passes	6	T-119th of 370	T-9th of 37
Passer rating	134.1	90th of 152	8th of 15
Completion percentage	64.1	68th of 152	6th of 15
Rushing yards	100	110th of 370	13th of 37
Rushing touchdowns	2	T-71st of 370	T-10th of 37

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All American Athletic quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	Tayven Jackson	2,568	22	5	268	9.6
2	Caden Veltkamp	2,534	23	5	315	8.0
3	Marcus Stokes	2,532	25	6	259	9.8
4	Owen McCown	1,751	10	4	243	7.2
5	Baylor Hayes	1,343	10	2	192	7.0
6	Ryder Burton	1,333	6	5	194	6.9
7	Michael Van Buren Jr.	1,273	6	0	181	7.0
8	Ajani Sheppard	1,245	8	3	140	8.9
9	Conner Harrell	831	5	2	108	7.7
10	Kadin Semonza	804	4	2	119	6.8
11	Cole Gonzales	802	3	7	127	6.3
12	Mitch Griffis	753	4	5	126	6.0
13	Trace Johnson	749	2	4	106	7.1
14	Jackson Gutierrez	717	7	1	71	10.1
15	Emory Williams	716	7	2	117	6.1
16	Jacurri Brown	471	2	2	82	5.7
17	Cale Hellums	462	4	2	76	6.1
18	Dexter Williams II	340	3	0	59	5.8
19	Gael Ochoa	160	1	0	16	10.0
20	Chaston Ditta	159	1	0	19	8.4
21	Braxton Woodson	152	0	1	25	6.1
22	Jaxon Smolik	129	1	1	27	4.8
23	Air Noland	83	2	1	9	9.2
24	Zach Mundell	82	0	0	3	27.3
25	Drew Devillier	79	0	0	13	6.1
26	Zeon Chriss	64	0	0	9	7.1
27	Luke Kromenhoek	60	0	0	14	4.3
28	Chris Jimerson Jr.	55	1	0	3	18.3
29	Patrick Crayton Jr.	29	0	0	2	14.5
30	Nate Rogers	24	0	0	5	4.8
31	Jordan Magwood	16	0	0	3	5.3
32	Ethan Washington	13	0	0	2	6.5
33	Bryson Luter	12	0	1	4	3.0
34	Dagan Bruno	10	0	0	1	10.0
35	Jeremiah Daoud	6	0	0	4	1.5
36	Jaylen White	5	0	0	5	1.0
37	Brandon Tennison	0	0	0	2	0.0

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Passing yards1,2737th in the American Athletic this season.

Touchdown passes6tied for 9th in the American Athletic this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Pass targets

Rodgers and Porter saw 2 of the 2 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets, caught	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Bryson Rodgers		1	1	42	—	—
Joshua Porter		1	1	38	—	—

Play by play: 2 passes, 2 caught, 80 yards; the box score counts 181 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Teams and coaches

2024Mississippi State2-10HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning

2025LSU7-6HC: Brian Kelly and Frank Wilson · Balanced, slow tempo

2026South Florida6-2HC: Brian Hartline · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 100 (#1 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score percentiles

100All-America level #1 of 145?

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (99th percentile). Concern: pass tds (21st percentile).

Box-score rates (8)

Interceptions#1 / 159 · 99th pct

Completion %#71 / 159 · 56th pct

64.1%

Rush TDs#57 / 159 · 52nd pct

Rush yards#88 / 159 · 45th pct

100

Pass yards#103 / 159 · 36th pct

1273

Yards / att#102 / 159 · 34th pct

7.0

Fumbles lost#80 / 142 · 32nd pct

Pass TDs#123 / 159 · 21st pct

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home5g	161	0.4	6.4	0.0
Road3g	156	1.3	6.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-77g	181	0.9	6.8	0.0
Weeks 8+1g	7.0	0.0	3.5	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brian Hartline

Pass share

42.1%

195 pass / 268 run

Plays / game

57.9

8 games

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

South Florida’s two quarterbacks

Michael Van Buren Jr.	Threw in all 8 games · 116 of 181, 1,273 yds, 6 TD, 0 INT · 7.0 yards an attempt on 181 attempts · ran for 100 yds, 2 TD
Luke Kromenhoek	Threw in 3 of 8 games · 9 of 14, 60 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 4.3 yards an attempt on 14 attempts · ran for 122 yds, 4 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

Starter

181 pass attempts and 52 carries in 8 games, fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

100 · #1 of 145 QBs

Former four-star. Now #1 at the position.

Michael Van Buren Jr.

This week

Worth knowing

His most important play this season

Style of play

Similar players

In the game threads

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The season, game by game

Signature game

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

South Florida’s two quarterbacks

Awards

Starter

Three seasons, three schools

Moves

2024 9 games

2025 7 games

2026 8 games