One question: Are we going to have a better defense than last season?

[Bull Dozer]

I think the combination of the losses in leadership, production, and talent will cause some regression early in the season.   I think by the end of the season the defense could be just as good as last season but I think there will be some early struggles in September/October as leaders step up and coaches figure out the proper rotations on the DL, LB etc.   

[NewEnglandBull]

9 minutes ago, Bull Dozer said:

I think the combination of the losses in leadership, production, and talent will cause some regression early in the season.   I think by the end of the season the defense could be just as good as last season but I think there will be some early struggles in September/October as leaders step up and coaches figure out the proper rotations on the DL, LB etc.   

...and that is when we really need to be at our best as the end of the season schedule gets pretty difficult relative to the conference.

[Bull Dozer]

23 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

...and that is when we really need to be at our best as the end of the season schedule gets pretty difficult relative to the conference.

Yup, the thing that makes this particularly tough will be the offense will be doing the same thing.  If both units have a "growing pains" type game against say Uconn (Edsall knows how to win ugly), or Tulsa we could easily find ourselves behind the 8-ball in conference early.   I think the Houston game will tell us exactly who this team is.   

[Gatorbull325]

4 hours ago, Bobby said:

I love the idea of putting more speed on the field (with McGee at LB) since so many teams we play run some version of the spread.

I am a little worried about Georgia Tech though. A team that's gonna line up and run it 90 times with that option. I'm hoping we're not too under sized and get it ran down our throat all game. Especially since that is our biggest OOC game this year, and at home...A poor showing in that game would drain a lot of hope and optimism from the rest of the season.

Our Defensive Coordinator was a linebacker coach at GT for like 4-5 years. I'm sure he is well versed on stopping that offense and should have our defense ready. 

[GaUSFBull]

GT hasn't really ever been strong on defense during the Paul Johnson era.  I definitely think if we can get our backs 3-4 yards a carry, 30-40 times in the game, we have a great chance of winning that game.

[Bull Dozer]

32 minutes ago, Gatorbull325 said:

Our Defensive Coordinator was a linebacker coach at GT for like 4-5 years. I'm sure he is well versed on stopping that offense and should have our defense ready. 

Every team that plays GT, Navy etc is "well versed on stopping the option" actually doing it is a whole different animal.   The formula is pretty **** simple when you don't have all the potential ball carriers moving around and the offensive line cut blocking you all day.   This is exactly why it's still a viable offense, especially for team's who have to recruit athletes who may have athletic limitations.   

Edited August 6, 2018 by Bull Dozer

[DELdaBull]

Our defense better be much better than last year because I feel the offense will take steps back towards average. 

[IBulleve]

If we can get anything out of the Duke transfers the D will be better this year. I love Auggie and will miss the chants this year, but he was simply a sound football player. Let’s not act like we lost a 1st round draft pick.

Upfront there is plenty of depth to rotate guys in without missing a beat. 

McGee & Sawtelle give us a lot of range at the next level. KJ got a lot of experience last year and I believe Farrar was moved to LB to provide some depth. 

The secondary shouldn’t miss a beat with Hampton, Mazzi and Hoggins & Jayson and Naytron playing deep. There’s questions about depth at the CB but I like the young kids Sanders & Roberts to come in if needed. 

2nd year in the system and plenty of talent on the field. There’s zero reason to believe this defense shouldn’t be as good, if not better than last year. Let’s just hope we can stay relatively healthy 

[Dave_Glaser]

One kid we haven't heard a peep out of yet that surprises me is DE Darrien Grant. He's a redshirt freshman now and has great size and mobility. I didn't see him play football at Bradenton Southeast, but I did see him dominate as a wrestler. Would love to see him make a move.

[USF Bulls Football]

We beat up on some really bad offenses last year to pad our stats on D. Any offense with a pulse gave us trouble. Our ‘numbers’ may not be as good this year, but I think our D may actually be better.