Harding's revamped defense getting up to speed

— Football practice at Harding apparently wasn't a ton of fun Tuesday.

Bisons Coach Ronnie Huckeba was still irate about the 527 yards Harding gave up Saturday in a 48-10 loss at Delta State. Huckeba spent part of Monday with his son, Jordan, celebrating the birth of Jordan'sson, Weston Lane. But not even the joys of becoming a grandpa for the first time could keep Huckeba from fuming over what happened a few days earlier.

"We felt like we could go down there and compete with those guys," Huckeba said. "We did some really dumb things coveragewise in that ballgame, took some really bad angles. We did some really dumb stuff in underneath coverage."

In short, Huckeba felt his defense played below its ability, which couldn't be said about last year's team.

Out of the 148 teams that played Division II football last season, only West Georgia did worse than the 536 yards per game given up by the Bisons. Harding, which finished 2-9, also allowed 62 touchdowns and 5,891 yards.

And that, Huckeba said, was by a defense that typically gave maximum effort from start to finish.

"When we looked at our defensive speed, we knew that in most of our games we were not going to be able to match up," Huckeba said. "They never, ever quit, but that makes it almost more discouraging when you know your kids are giving everything they've got."

Not surprisingly, last season's problems led to an overhaul in both scheme and personnel. The Bisons abandoned the three-man front they used last season and brought in a load of new players. Of Harding's top five tacklers, only junior linebacker Jason Thomasson played last season.

Other than in the Delta State game, Huckeba has liked what he's seen. The Bisons opened the season by holding Missouri Southern to 15 points and held on to beat a potent Southwest Baptist team 49-41 in three overtimes.

Harding's numbers - 34.2 points per game, 485.5 yards per game - aren't great, but unlike last season they should be good enough for the Bisons to remain competitive in the pass-dominated Gulf South Conference.

"This is a completely different defensive football team," Huckeba said. "We are playing a lot of young, inexperienced kids, but we're playing kids that can run. That gives you an opportunity."

The new faces of the Bisons defense took different paths to the starting lineup. Senior defensive back Josh Jones, Harding's leader in tackles with 36, previously played at Minnesota-Moorhead, where he led Division II with 10 interceptions in 2007.

The Bisons found another capable pass defender in senior Pete Richardson, who played in 20 games for Texas Tech before transferring to Harding in January.

High-profile transfers typically look for schools where they can play immediately. They don't typically look for programs that were one of the worst in the nation in a major category like total defense.

"When I talked to Coach Huck, he mentioned that the defense struggled, but he also mentioned a lot about transfers and people coming in," Jones said. "It seemed like it was on the up-and-up, and I figured I wanted to be a part of it."

Another newcomer, sortof, is junior linebacker Jermaine Blanchard. Blanchard started nine games in 2007 but sat out last season because of disciplinary issues. Now Blanchard has 32 tackles, including a team-best five tackles for a loss.

Blanchard shares with Huckeba an admiration for the effort of last year's defense. One difference, Blanchard said, is a more vocal attitude on the part of this year's defenders, even if the leadership comes from a mix of transfers, veterans and first-time starters.

"It's changing the atmosphere of the defense," Blanchard said. "There are a lot of guys more vocal. The team is getting a lot more comfortable. The more time we spend with each other, we get more comfortable and show a lot of intensity and enthusiasm."

If the new attitude holds up, the Bisons should be expected to avoid the national basement. They'll likely keep their coach's mood on the sunny side as well.

"We had most of the kids that are playing this year with us in the spring," Huckeba said. "That gives you a chance for your team to jell and your leadership to emerge."

Sports, Pages 30 on 09/25/2009

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