TAMPA — For all of its maddening inconsistency in the 2023 regular season, for all its porous efforts that fans had difficulty digesting, USF’s defense left its loyalists with a surprisingly pleasant aftertaste.
That 45-0 Boca Raton Bowl rout of a diminished Syracuse offense showed a national audience what Bulls fans had seen only in spurts in the preceding months. A noble effort against Alabama was offset by an egregious one against Alabama-Birmingham. Sturdiness at Connecticut was followed by slapstick at Memphis.
By year’s end, a unit that ranked 47th nationally against the run (143.7 yards per game) ranked 129th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams against the pass (288.8 ypg). The Bulls ultimately surrendered 432.5 yards per game and 6.07 yards per play, which ranked 115th and 110th in the country, respectively.
Or disrespectfully.
“I feel like we flashed, we showed we had a great defense at times, and I feel like sometimes we just kind of got lax,” veteran defensive lineman Rashad Cheney said. “But just coming off that last game (against Syracuse), I feel like the defense is going to take a real big step this year. It’s going to be totally different.”
If the sound bites emanating Tuesday from USF’s indoor facility are any sign, the Bulls defense will transition from suspect to stout in 2024. Players and coaches insist the unit is deeper, stronger and perhaps even closer than last season’s.
The challenge is for that depth, strength and cohesion to manifest itself on the field.
“The one thing you know is, there’s competition at spots, where I don’t know if a year ago you could say that truly at every spot,” second-year coach Alex Golesh said. “So any time there’s competition, you’re going to get the best out of guys. There’s true competition now. How they come together, how they respond to adversity I think will be really, really interesting.”
That response will be gauged starting Wednesday morning, when the Bulls’ preseason camp commences. Nine of the 11 defensive players who started the Boca Raton Bowl are back. And some key components were added via recruiting (the nation’s highest-ranked Group of Five class) and the transfer portal (including three Power Five transfers).
“We’ve done a really nice job in the transfer portal. … I said this before in the spring, I think we hit on every one of them,” second-year defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said.
“So when you actually look at the way that they got through spring football, most of them were (first- or second-teamers). We get out of the summertime and they were the same way, and it should be incredible competition. That’s ultimately how you get people to elevate, is to get people who can take their job, and that’s what we feel like we have right now in comparison to when we first got here.”
Prevailing sentiment is, the most noticeable upgrade — at least through the calendar year’s first seven months — occurred in the secondary, the most beleaguered Bulls unit in 2023.
At least three starters — including preseason All-American Athletic Conference pick Aamaris Brown-Bunkley — return, and they are joined by former SEC cornerbacks Kajuan Banks (South Carolina) and De’Shawn Rucker (Tennessee). Additionally, graduate student Ben Knox, arguably the most physically gifted cornerback (6-foot-2, 205 pounds), is back at full strength after missing the 2023 season with a torn left ACL.
“I feel like the back end, they really brought energy this whole offseason,” Cheney said. “The back end pushed everybody. This is the first time since I’ve been here personally seeing a back end come together like that and compete with each other but still bring the whole defense along with them.”
Now comes the tough part — translating that energy, chemistry and fresh talent into consistency this fall.
“I think the jump can be huge if that group comes together,” Golesh said. “I think every coach in the country that’s recruited specifically through the portal would tell you the same thing. The key is, can those guys come together and play unified football?”
Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.
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Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.
