TAMPA, Fla. — Byrum Brown accounted for five touchdowns and South Florida rolled up more than 600 yards of offense in a 54-26 win over Charlotte on Friday night at Raymond James Stadium.

The Bulls (4-1, 1-0 American) stormed out to a 23-0 first-quarter lead behind Brown’s early touchdown passes to Jeremiah Koger and Mudia Reuben, plus a 37-yard scoring run from Cartevious Norton. Nico Gramatica added a 43-yard field goal before Brown found Chas Nimrod for an 18-yard strike late in the half to make it 33-7 at the break .

Charlotte (1-4, 0-2) struggled to sustain drives early, turning the ball over twice in the opening half. The 49ers finally broke through on a 1-yard plunge by Chauncey Stokes in the second quarter, but still trailed by four scores at halftime.

Brown, who finished 19 of 34 for 211 yards and four touchdowns through the air, also ran for 162 yards and a 13-yard score. South Florida piled up 407 rushing yards overall, with Norton and Nay’Quan Davenport each adding touchdowns on the ground .

Charlotte quarterback Zach Wilcke provided a spark after halftime, completing 14 of 18 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with E. Jai Mason from two yards out and later hit Derrick Eley on a 16-yard score to cut the deficit to 47-26 late in the fourth quarter. But Davenport’s seven-yard touchdown run inside the final minute sealed the Bulls’ third straight win .

South Florida finished with 36 first downs to Charlotte’s 15 and converted 9 of 17 third downs. The Bulls also forced two interceptions and limited the 49ers to just 279 total yards.