For a defense that’s shown flashes of talent, but has mostly been mired in mediocrity, first-year USF defensive coordinator Tom Allen and the defense are brimming with confidence as the Bulls’ season opener Saturday night against Florida A&M draws closer.
Senior safety Jamie Byrd said the defense had one of their best practices of the offseason Wednesday morning.
“I think we stepped our game up today,” Byrd said. “We got five takeaways and our goal is three at times, so we’re looking pretty good, I know we’re ready for game day.”
With the Bulls shifting defensive schemes for the second time in two seasons, the players have had to go through an adjustment period, but Allen said the defense has now gotten used to the new playing style.
“(They’ve improved the most) in their confidence of execution,” Allen said. “You come through spring and you lay a foundation and then you try to review that over the summer with what they can do on their own. And then you get into fall camp and you go to progression of install and you try to get the majority of your package in. So at this point, you want to be able to run it well and get the checks and adjustments and just play with confidence. And I think that’s the biggest difference you see right now.”
The 4-2-5 is the base defense for the Bulls, but they will shift defensive alignments at times to adjust to the opponent’s skill set.
This versatility will allow players such as Byrd to maximize their athleticism in space and he said this is something that fits his skills.
“I get to fly around and do things that suit my attributes, things that I’m best at,” Byrd said. “So it’ll show my ability. I think I’m going to make more explosive plays this year, more big-time plays.”
That athleticism is what Allen said he believes is the strength of his defense heading into Week 1, as they make up for their lack of size with speed.
“Our strength is our athleticism in terms of being able to play in space and burst to the ball,” Allen said. “We’re not overly big in some spots, but I do think there’s a toughness to these guys, a quickness to them that they have the ability to burst to the ball and we have to maximize that and that’s what our system is designed to take advantage of.”
New-look D-line
Former linebacker Zach Bullock made the switch to the “Bull” defensive end position this offseason and Allen said having a player like him on the line adds versatility to the defense.
“He has long arms so he can get great separation right away,” Allen said. “He’s a tough guy and he’s physical and if a kid isn’t physical, he can play great in space, but he’ll struggle with a guy who’s on him right away. You don’t really know sometimes when you do that with a guy and I believed he could do it, but the spring showed that.”
In Allen’s defense, a player such as Bullock fits in perfectly at the Bull position.
“The position he’s playing as our Bull end is a critical one for us and I think it fits his skill set well, his length and athleticism,” Allen said. “He’s bought into it, he’s played extremely hard and we’re able to use his athletic ability to it utmost and I think in our system, we turn that guy loose. He’s a little light and that kind of negates that.”
Another player who could make a big impact on the defensive line is sophomore defensive end Mike Love. After getting sidelined from an injury in the spring, he’s worked his way back to playing shape and has teammates and coaches raving about his performance.
“That’s somebody that you should watch out for,” safety Tajee Fullwood said. “Mike Love has really been showing in practice that he can play this year. He’s been improving ever since last year. He’s done a lot better this year, I feel like he’s going to be a major impact for our defense.”
Love wasn’t guaranteed a full recovery in time for the season opener upon initial prognosis of the injury, but he’s ahead of schedule and looks ready to make play a big role early on.
“It was a pretty serious injury and one of those where they went through and basically said that the recovery would be pretty lengthy and hopefully he would come back at full speed, but they weren’t sure,” Allen said. “So he had to do a great job of rehabbing. And he was having such a great spring, it was so devastating for him and for us to lose him, but it’s been great getting him back. He’s still not totally 100 percent yet, but he’s getting close.”
Quote of the day: “Our coaches were looking for someone to step up to do it because Hassan Childs was the star of that and he got injured so someone had to step up and do it. I feel great about taking the chance, I’m doing it for the team.” - Tajee Fullwood on stepping in to take over punt returning duties.
Senior safety Jamie Byrd said the defense had one of their best practices of the offseason Wednesday morning.
“I think we stepped our game up today,” Byrd said. “We got five takeaways and our goal is three at times, so we’re looking pretty good, I know we’re ready for game day.”
With the Bulls shifting defensive schemes for the second time in two seasons, the players have had to go through an adjustment period, but Allen said the defense has now gotten used to the new playing style.
“(They’ve improved the most) in their confidence of execution,” Allen said. “You come through spring and you lay a foundation and then you try to review that over the summer with what they can do on their own. And then you get into fall camp and you go to progression of install and you try to get the majority of your package in. So at this point, you want to be able to run it well and get the checks and adjustments and just play with confidence. And I think that’s the biggest difference you see right now.”
The 4-2-5 is the base defense for the Bulls, but they will shift defensive alignments at times to adjust to the opponent’s skill set.
This versatility will allow players such as Byrd to maximize their athleticism in space and he said this is something that fits his skills.
“I get to fly around and do things that suit my attributes, things that I’m best at,” Byrd said. “So it’ll show my ability. I think I’m going to make more explosive plays this year, more big-time plays.”
That athleticism is what Allen said he believes is the strength of his defense heading into Week 1, as they make up for their lack of size with speed.
“Our strength is our athleticism in terms of being able to play in space and burst to the ball,” Allen said. “We’re not overly big in some spots, but I do think there’s a toughness to these guys, a quickness to them that they have the ability to burst to the ball and we have to maximize that and that’s what our system is designed to take advantage of.”
New-look D-line
Former linebacker Zach Bullock made the switch to the “Bull” defensive end position this offseason and Allen said having a player like him on the line adds versatility to the defense.
“He has long arms so he can get great separation right away,” Allen said. “He’s a tough guy and he’s physical and if a kid isn’t physical, he can play great in space, but he’ll struggle with a guy who’s on him right away. You don’t really know sometimes when you do that with a guy and I believed he could do it, but the spring showed that.”
In Allen’s defense, a player such as Bullock fits in perfectly at the Bull position.
“The position he’s playing as our Bull end is a critical one for us and I think it fits his skill set well, his length and athleticism,” Allen said. “He’s bought into it, he’s played extremely hard and we’re able to use his athletic ability to it utmost and I think in our system, we turn that guy loose. He’s a little light and that kind of negates that.”
Another player who could make a big impact on the defensive line is sophomore defensive end Mike Love. After getting sidelined from an injury in the spring, he’s worked his way back to playing shape and has teammates and coaches raving about his performance.
“That’s somebody that you should watch out for,” safety Tajee Fullwood said. “Mike Love has really been showing in practice that he can play this year. He’s been improving ever since last year. He’s done a lot better this year, I feel like he’s going to be a major impact for our defense.”
Love wasn’t guaranteed a full recovery in time for the season opener upon initial prognosis of the injury, but he’s ahead of schedule and looks ready to make play a big role early on.
“It was a pretty serious injury and one of those where they went through and basically said that the recovery would be pretty lengthy and hopefully he would come back at full speed, but they weren’t sure,” Allen said. “So he had to do a great job of rehabbing. And he was having such a great spring, it was so devastating for him and for us to lose him, but it’s been great getting him back. He’s still not totally 100 percent yet, but he’s getting close.”
Quote of the day: “Our coaches were looking for someone to step up to do it because Hassan Childs was the star of that and he got injured so someone had to step up and do it. I feel great about taking the chance, I’m doing it for the team.” - Tajee Fullwood on stepping in to take over punt returning duties.
