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| The Bulls have some corrections to make in their defense. (Picture: www.gousfbulls.com) |
The win was impressive against Notre Dame and the defense forced 5 turnovers, including the big strip by Jerrell Young (defensive player of the week) and the big return by Kayvon Webster to put the Bulls on the board to start the game.
Yet despite the great turnovers, the Bulls defense gave up over 500 yards of total offense and did not look that sharp during many drives the Irish had. So is this something we will have to see the rest of the season or is this just a game where ND had the play makers and USF will find a way to fix the holes that opened up?
The first issue on the day was the running attack of Cierre Wood, getting 94 yards against the Bulls, making big players (thank goodness the Irish started to throw the ball more late in the game). Wood was getting big gains early in the game, carving up the defensive line. The defensive tackles didn't seem to get any kind of push and were not able to block the gaps, forcing the linebackers to come up and make the stop. The defensive ends were able to get plenty of rush off the ends and getting to the quarterback, causing some pressure and bad throws, but they were not that consistent.
The passing game killed the secondary (sorry Team No Fly Zone). Tommy Rees was able to get a lot of passing yards against the Bulls. Michael Floyd had a huge day, getting over 150 yards including a touchdown that simply beat JaQuez Jenkins who rotated over to cover him. Often the linebackers had to play deep, including Sam Barrington getting down field at times to help cover receivers. While Washington and Webster both played well in the secondary, making the stops they needed, they still gave up a lot of yards.
The defense will probably play this way all season, bend but don't break. While this is not the best method at times, it does mean they will make the stops when needed, force turnovers and keep the opponent off the scoreboard which they did against ND. I am sure Snyder understands the big numbers they gave up and will work to resolve these issues. They have the skill and speed to deal with these issues and will start making their corrections this Saturday against Ball State.
HUH? Did you check out the interviews when Coach said they played this defense just for this game? We didn't run our base 5-2 set and spent most of the time in a 3-3. They did it to not let Floyd beat them.. coaches words not mine. So no, this will not be the defense we play all season and by the time we get to BE in four games we will have more continuity.
ReplyDeleteA 3-3? I didn't see that in the tape and that is really not the standard for a defense, especially when we were getting run over like that. Floyd burned Jenkins on his touchdown grab too, got behind him in the endzone, Jenkins was out of position and had to make a dive to try to deflect the ball.
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