Birmingham, Ala. - Scott Lutrus wasn't exactly in denial, but even he still can't believe how much UConn has struggled as a defensive football team this season.

"We definitely thought we'd be as good (as last year)," the junior linebacker said Thursday following a morning practice at nearby Hoover High School. "With the coaching staff we have and with the kids we had coming back, I felt we had a lot of depth and experience all over the field."

Instead, a defense that ranked No. 1 in the Big East and No. 6 nationally a year ago, finished dead last in the conference this season (and No. 72 nationally), allowing 382.4 yards per game.

"We've struggled a lot this year," Lutrus said. "But we've got one more chance to bounce back and gain momentum heading into next year."

That chance will come Saturday when the Huskies face South Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl at Legion Field (2 p.m., ESPN).

"We've been scheming, plotting and getting ready for a month," senior cornerback Robert McClain said. "We're ready to show that we're still a strong defense."

Maybe it was unrealistic to think the Huskies would duplicate their 2008 defensive success, when they allowed only 278.6 yards per game. Remember, three graduated starters are in the NFL - ends Cody Brown (Arizona) and Julius Williams (Jacksonville) and cornerback Darius Butler (New England) - and a fourth, safety Dahna Deleston, spent time on the practice squad in Chicago.

Then to compound matters, Lutrus missed five games with a neck injury and cornerback Jasper Howard died following a stabbing incident after the Huskies' sixth game. Both were replaced by redshirt freshmen.

"I definitely think it would have been better with Scott healthy and Jazz still here," said junior linebacker Lawrence Wilson, an All-Big East first-team selection. "But that's what's nice about this (bowl) game. I feel like we can come out, put some pieces in place and play very well."

This is a prideful unit with great expectations … and they weren't met, even though UConn went 7-5 and earned its third consecutive bowl berth.

"The offense has done a great job this season and we have confidence they're going to do a great job again on Saturday," Lutrus said. "That's our goal, too. It's our 13th game, but we've probably been around here for 18 weeks, and we're still trying to get better.

"We want to have a great defense on Saturday. We want to play a solid game for all four quarters."

That's been a problem for the Huskies, who have continually allowed big plays at the most inopportune time. UConn's five losses have come by a combined 15 points and the Huskies held late leads in four of those games only to get burned late.

"We've shown spurts and have done well in long stretches of games," UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "It's just certain times that things have come up. We've just got to play consistent for the entire time, like getting off the field on third down, and if we do that we'll be OK."

Lutrus agrees.

"It's the big plays - little mistakes that blew open games for us," he said. "If you look at the games we lost and take the big plays we gave away, if you eliminate that and it takes 80 yards off their offense and seven points off the board. That's the difference in the game right there."

c.banning@theday.com