USF’s defense is deeper and stronger. But will it be better?

TAMPA — For all of its maddening inconsistency in the 2023 regular season, for all its porous efforts that fans had difficulty digesting, USF’s defense left its loyalists with a surprisingly pleasant aftertaste.

That 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl rout of a diminished Syracuse offense showed a national audience what Bulls fans had seen only in spurts in the preceding months. A noble effort against Alabama was offset by an egregious one against Alabama-Birmingham. Sturdiness at Connecticut was followed by slapstick at Memphis.

By year’s end, a unit that ranked 47th nationally against the run (143.7 yards per game) ranked 129th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams against the pass (288.8 ypg). The Bulls ultimately surrendered 432.5 yards per game and 6.07 yards per play, which ranked 115th and 110th in the country, respectively.

Or disrespectfully.

“I feel like we flashed, we showed we had a great defense at times, and I feel like sometimes we just kind of got lax,” veteran defensive lineman Rashad Cheney said. “But just coming off that last game (against Syracuse), I feel like the defense is going to take a real big step this year. It’s going to be totally different.”

If the sound bites emanating Tuesday from USF’s indoor facility are any sign, the Bulls defense will transition from suspect to stout in 2024. Players and coaches insist the unit is deeper, stronger and perhaps even closer than last season’s.

The challenge is for that depth, strength and cohesion to manifest itself on the field.

“The one thing you know is, there’s competition at spots, where I don’t know if a year ago you could say that truly at every spot,” second-year coach Alex Golesh said. “So any time there’s competition, you’re going to get the best out of guys. There’s true competition now. How they come together, how…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usf-defense-deeper-stronger-better-192700636.html

Author : Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Publish date : 2024-07-30 19:27:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.