USF safety Johnson leads overachieving defense into BCS National Championship Game vs. Alabama
Anthony Washington -- The Tampa Bay Chronicles
USF sophomore safety Dan Johnson -- then a true freshman -- had to watch from the sidelines with a cast on his foot as fellow recruiting class-mate out of his home state of Georgia, Franklin Sapp and Zac White, earned Freshman All-American honors and became fan favorites.
Johnson was part of the talented class that included Sapp and White and started as a true freshman as well before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. Johnson was still getting into the groove of things as a college player and his first game was a shellacking at the hands of the Stanford Cardinal.
"You don't want to overreact to one game," said USF defensive coordinator Marty English, "But it was sort of watershed moment of us as a staff, as a defense to just take a step back and figure out and say to ourselves 'this isn't working, how do we fix it?' And that question started with D.J. [Johnson]."
English had opted to use Johnson, one of the fastest players on the team, as a single high safety throughout the 2016 season and in the opener against Stanford. English and the rest of the defensive staff re-watched some of Johnson's tape as a high school senior and realized that the sophomore was better utilized closer to the line of scrimmage. USF started playing safety Leonard Lilly more as the single high safety and instead deployed Johnson closer to the box. Within a few weeks, Johnson stopped having an assigned role and instead became a heat-seeking missile.
"I sort of line up where I think I should be," says Johnson of his freedom, "We have schemes and we try to stick to those and their principles but if I see something I don't like, I have the freedom to maybe flip sides or come down or bail on a blitz. Coach [English] trusts me to make that decision."
The unpredictability of Johnson and by extension the defense will be important for the Bulls in their BCS National Championship Game match-up against the Alabama Crimson Tide. They haven't faced a quarterback like Robert Mueller with legit sub 4.4-speed and Johnson's run support will be needed against Tyren Jones, who has rushed for 1337 yards.
The Bulls go into the game as huge underdogs, the biggest in national championship history but that's nothing new for a defense that came into the year with many predicting them to be one of the country's worst.
Alabama Crimson Tide Starting Lineup
QB Robert Mueller, Rs Junior :: 95 ovr, 93 spd, 88 thp, 92 tha
HB Tyren Jones, Rs Senior :: 99 ovr, 90 spd, 99 acc, 94 car
WR Mark Sanders, Junior :: 89 ovr, 88 spd, 92 acc, 94 cth
WR Tyson Smith, Rs Senior :: 88 ovr, 92 spd, 95 acc, 91 cth
WR Steven Roberts, Junior :: 87 ovr, 86 spd, 96 acc, 92 cth
TE O.J. Howard, Rs Senior :: 99 ovr, 89 spd, 93 acc, 95 cth, 82 rbk
LT Leo Lloyd, Rs Junior :: 90 ovr, 90 pbk, 91 rbk, 92 str
LG Grant Hill, Rs Senior :: 96 ovr, 85 pbk, 99 rbk, 96 str
C Michael Moore, Sophomore :: 72 ovr, 75 pbk, 80 rbk, 82 str
RG John Everson, Senior :: 94 ovr, 91 pbk, 94 rbk, 95 str
RT Cliff Seymour, Junior :: 90 ovr, 91 pbk, 89 rbk, 90 str
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DE Dee Liner, Rs Senior :: 97 ovr, 82 spd, 90 str, 83 bsh
DE Dusty Jacobs, Rs Sophomore :: 80 ovr, 72 spd, 81 str, 84 bsh
DT Anthony Harris, Rs Sophomore :: 88 ovr, 71 spd, 86 str, 78 bsh
OLB Trevor Bradley, Rs Junior :: 91 ovr, 88 spd, 99 acc, 84 tkl, 87 bsh
ILB Carlos Darby, Senior :: 94 ovr, 79 spd, 92 acc, 90 tkl, 85 zcv
ILB Kody Collins, Rs Junior :: 94 ovr, 83 spd, 87 acc, 91 tkl, 82 zcv
OLB Tim Williams, Rs Senior :: 91 ovr, 84 spd, 95 acc, 87 tkl, 94 bsh
CB Cole Hall, Senior :: 93 ovr, 99 spd, 96 acc, 95 mcv, 95 zcv
CB Maurice Smith, Rs Senior :: 92 ovr, 97 spd, 94 acc, 96 mcv, 91 zcv
S Alex Nash, Rs Junior :: 90 ovr, 94 spd, 94 acc, 89 tkl, 77 mcv, 79 zcv
S Tony Doty, Sophomore :: 83 ovr, 81 spd, 94 acc, 79 tkl, 75 mcv, 91 zcv
