It won’t take long for the South Florida defense to get a significant test this season, as the Bulls are set to travel to Raleigh, NC for a battle against the unique rushing attack North Carolina State employs.
The Wolfpack boasts a dynamic duo at the running back position headlined by sophomore Zonovan Knight and junior Ricky Person Jr.
The pair combined for 1,507 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns on 290 carries in 2020, with the carry share essentially split evenly. Through the air, both players collected 136 receiving yards apiece.
What makes NC State’s offense different, however, is the fact that the physical nature of its running backs is accompanied by a spread offense that stretches the defense across the field.
Doing this allows a physical back to meet defensive players one on one and potentially shrug off their tackle attempts, as opposed to lining up in a more compact formation which allows for additional defensive players to set up in the box and around the line of scrimmage.
“When we can get in trouble is, [NC State has] a big physical running back, [but] this team spreads you out,” defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer said Thursday. “It's not very often [they] get in a telephone booth with you and run their offense. Now they spread you out where, again, they can throw and catch pretty good when you have to defend the quick game, the three-step, to defend route combinations to try to get help for guys in the passing game.
“All of a sudden you have a good running back [with] a spread running game, it just creates space, it creates space.”
A change-up that NC State may throw out sometimes, however, includes packages where the offensive players line up closer to one another and add some tight ends to the field in exchange for wide receivers.
That switch up forces defenders to change their mentality, Spencer said.
“All of a sudden they bring in two physical tight ends … Now it’s just a mentality change [and you have to tell the players], ‘Alright guys, you better get your pads low, they've decided to go physical on us.’ When you recognize that it's almost like a toughness check, it's a mentality check.”
In addition to the ground attack, the Wolfpack is also welcoming back its starting quarterback, Devin Leary, to the fold after he suffered a broken fibula Oct. 18 against Duke.
Before being sidelined, Leary was 66-of-110 passing the ball in 2020 for 890 yards and eight touchdowns to go along with just two interceptions.
To take down the Wolfpack, the Bulls must listen to the coaching staff and absorb their teachings up until game time, according to redshirt sophomore defensive back TJ Robinson, who recently transferred to USF from Rutgers this offseason.
“I feel like just being able to do what our coaches tell us, being able to execute the plan that they put forth, and just listening to the coaching that our coaches give us throughout the practices until game time, I feel like we’ll be able to go in and beat NC State,” Robinson said.
The Bulls open the season against NC State on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
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