Football Zebold: Seasoned Secondary Making Plays in New Scheme

[Brad]

Seasoned Secondary Making Plays in New Scheme

 

 

By TOM ZEBOLD

 

USF Senior Writer

 

TAMPA, AUG. 9, 2015 – USF’s defense produced several “wow” moments through the first four days of fall camp and many show-stopping plays have taken place in the secondary.

 

Junior Hassan Childs made a nifty interception during the Bulls’ second full-squad practice Sunday morning and the defensive backs plan on making a habit of it.

 

“We want more turnovers,” junior cornerback Johnny Ward said.

 

USF did a solid job of that last season with 20 takeaways and the new defensive scheme could help the Bulls blow the total out of the water. Prior to the spring, USF switched to the 4-2-5 (four linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs) to take full advantage of its strong secondary and the personnel has been enjoying increased opportunities to make plays.

 

“It benefits us better in coverages and allows us to get faster people on the field to chase down these fast receivers,” sophomore safety Devin Abraham said.

 

There will be no shortage of speed in the secondary, or trust either, because of what USF has built on the back end of the defense. Seven returners started games last season, including last year’s defensive MVP, Jamie Byrd, and safety Nate Godwin, who made 121 stops in his first two seasons as a Bull. Ward and fellow cornerback Lamar Robbins have combined for five interceptions and 14 starts. Abraham, cornerback Deatrick Nichols and safety Tajee Fullwood became valuable pieces to the defense in their debuts last season. 

 

“Most of us are older guys that played last year and played in the spring,” said Abraham, who made six starts last season. “We’re all coming together and we’re all just trying to pull in the younger guys.”

 

USF’s 2015 recruiting class included five defensive backs and new talent has helped the Bulls look even more dangerous on defense this fall. One player that’s grabbed defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s attention is freshman cornerback Nate Ferguson, a Tampa native out of Sickles High School.

 

“He jumps out,” Allen said. “He’s just got that chip on his shoulder – something to prove – and there’s nothing you can do to replace something like that. He has that edge about him.”

 

Ferguson's aggressive style of play should fit well in a secondary that wants to make opposing quarterbacks pay for mistakes.

 

“It’s a balance between being an attack-style mentality and being able to have some vision. A lot of times teams are either or, but I think you have to get a little bit of both,” Allen said. “… We want to sell a certain look and then we want to be in something totally different. To the offense, it can look like a number of different things.”

 

Kicking Up the Tempo

 

The switch to the 4-2-5 defense will help the Bulls match up with the growing number of spread offenses in the American Athletic Conference and beyond.

 

New defensive coordinator Tom Allen, a former Bay Area high school coach, knows quite a bit about facing spread offenses after spending the past three seasons in the SEC. Allen coached the linebackers at Ole Miss, which led the nation in scoring defense with 13.8 points allowed per game last season.

 

USF will combine spread and power elements in its new up-tempo offense that is preparing Allen's defense each day in practice.

 

“Us going to an up-tempo offense helps us so much on defense because it accelerates the learning process,” Allen said. "I learned that by being with Coach (Hugh) Freeze for several years and going against his offense. That allowed us to get better as a defense quicker because you don’t have a choice. You have to make quick decisions and you have to be able to react.”

 

Bulls Bits

 

- Allen continued to provide the defense with energy after Sunday's practice by shouting, “The harder it gets, the better we play!” as he joined the group for a lengthy running session. “As a coach you’re always looking forward opportunities to do what we just did and it’s powerful,” Allen said.

 

- Emilio Nadelman continues to impress as USF’s new placekicker. The sophomore from Miami made all of his kicks during field goal drills and ended Sunday’s practice in clutch fashion. The entire team surrounded Nadelman in a kick-to-win-it situation and the three-time All-Dade honoree handled the pressure by splitting the uprights from 43 yards out.

 

- Monday will mark USF’s first full-padded practice of the fall and Allen is anxious to see which Bulls bring the toughness. “Shells are one thing, but full pads are another. We’ll find out who the guys are that really make the plays. Some guys elevate in that setting and other guys, they kind of start falling back.”

 

Join the Bulls at Practice

 

The first week of fall practice is open the public and fans have three more chances to catch the Bulls in action.

 

Monday’s full-padded practice takes place from 3-6 p.m. at the Morsani Complex on campus. Fans can park in the lot on Sycamore Drive, located behind the Morsani Complex fields and Corbett Stadium on the east end of campus near 50th Street.

 

Remaining Schedule for First Week of Practice (sessions open to the public)

 

Mon., Aug. 10 @ 3-6 p.m.  – FULL PADS (full team)

 

Tues., Aug. 11 @ 6:30-8:30 p.m.  – FULL PADS (full team) – First Two-A-Day

 

Wed., Aug. 12 @ 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – FULL PADS (full team)

 

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[Who'sYourData?]

As great as Kloss was for us, could Nadelman be even better?  I've always been under the impression his leg was just as strong, getting the impression he may be a bit more consistent.