Did we make a half time adjustment?

[bulls96go]

many have criticized the coaching staff for NOT making adjustments, but

it seems like they did that this game.

this is the year of the COACH.

we have the talent and the schedule...this team will go asfar as the coaches take us.

[BULLfreak]

yeah KU was going to let us have the short passes and we took them and let the speed of the WR make the plays and once the started to sit on the short stuff we started to run the ball well which opened the long ball up.

IMO this was Grothe's best passing game of his carrier. He stayed in the pocket and made the throws.

[Who'sYourData?]

We went to 6 db's and 3 dl's for a lot of the 2nd half

[Don Toro]

Some of the adjustments done at halftime:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigeast/0-1-92/Bulls--defense-turns-it-around.html

Bulls' defense turns it around

September 13, 2008 1:45 AM

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

TAMPA -- South Florida's defense thrives on speed.

But for a half Friday night, that speed was no match for Kansas's offensive tempo. The Bulls' defensive line would make a good push, only to watch quarterback Todd Reesing consistently unload a pass delivery in under two seconds. The Jayhawks lined up four- and five-wide and exploited mismatches with their receivers against linebackers.

Kansas scored on four of its first five drives and led 20-3. Reesing completed 17 of his first 22 passes and never got so much as brushed by a defender.

"I was mad," South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. "They had the pace going, and we weren't disrupting it any."

A few key defensive adjustments turned the game in the Bulls' favor.

They began the game playing a basic Cover 2, relying on their linebackers to cover underneath.

"We saw that wasn't working real fast," safety Nate Allen said. "Their receivers are pretty quick."

Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham scrapped that plan by halftime, going to six defensive backs and rushing only three linemen. Quenton Washington came in as the dime back, and Burnham rotated his three starting linebackers into two spots.

At the same time, those defensive backs and linebackers started getting physical with the Jayhawks wide receivers.

"The main thing was just sitting in the flats and stopping their crossing routes," Allen said. "They were running right to us."

From their last possession of the first half to the end of the third quarter, the Jayhawks had only one first down in five drives, and that came on a pass interference penalty. With the timing of the short routes thrown off, Reesing started feeling more pressure from the D-line. South Florida scored 31 straight points to take a 34-20 lead.

"They didn't have anywhere to throw the ball," Burnham said. "But I probably stayed with it a little too long. I should have gone back to five DBs."

That's because Kansas finally figured things out and made its own adjustment, scoring on its first two possessions of the fourth quarter. The tying touchdown was set up by a 26 yard pass from Reesing to Kerry Meier on 3rd and 20. Burnham said half the defense thought it was in one coverage on that play and the other was playing a different coverage.

But the Bulls' defense won the game. Allen picked off a Reesing pass and returned it 30 yards to get South Florida in field goal range with 30 seconds to go. Reesing is one of the most accurate passers in the country; last year he set the Big 12 record by going 213 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.

He got a little greedy going for the big play at that moment. Allen, guarding a third of the field in a Cover 3 alignment, waited on the high throw and jumped in front of receiver Raymond Brown.

"I saw it floating and my eyes just lit up," Allen said. "I just thought, 'Go get it at its highest point.'"

It was the only turnover of the game, and it was the cap on a big turnaround by the Bulls' defense.

[Compute-a-bull]

Awesome article.

The adjustments made gave me more faith in the coaching after being disappointed the second half of last year and the UCF game this year.

[snarling Bull]

Yes, totally different second half after the adjustments.

[Kyle]

They make adjustments throughout the game. Why is this so hard for some people to imagine?

[USFJDawg21]

The run game by Taylor really opened things up and made huge impact on that amazing 3rd Qtr