Barrington and Defense Have Work to Do

Linebacker Sam Barrington and the defense have a lot of work to do.

On Saturday night, the USF defense was not as sharp as they would like to be. Overall, they did enough to get a huge win and came away with some big plays, but as coordinator Mark Snyder and junior linebacker Sam Barrington will tell you, they have work to do as they prepare on a short week for the game against Pitt.

USF gave up 224 yards passing in the game to the Miners, out-gaining USF on the night. While they came away with 3 interceptions, a lot of completions were underneath passes that the defense failed to tackle. Several plays had the Miners get short passes and break a tackle and get up field for more yards. Barrington stated they missed several assignments and as a unit did not do their best job out there.

The defense also gave up 129 yards rushing on the ground, something that the front line will have to improve upon heading to Pitt. The Panthers have a talented running back in Ray Graham and will have to shut him down in order to control the ball, so the front line, along with Barrington and the linebackers will have to do a much better job.

A final area that must improve is the special teams unit and their return coverage. UTEP consistently had great field position due to the poor kick-off coverage on special teams. While Kloss continues to kick off well, the coverage team has to do a better job of swarming to the ball carrier, wrapping him up and keeping the opponent back. Pitt has some playmakers and a bad kick-off coverage could give Pitt the momentum at home and put the defense in a bigger hole.

Expect the Bulls to work on these issues, get mentally ready and come out stronger against Pitt.