PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON

Johnson C. Smith receiver Eugene Holmes is using spring practice to move up the rotation when fall drills open in August.

Johnson C. Smith’s offense is trying to pull its weight.

The Golden Bulls, who averaged 20.7 points and 210.2 yards per game last year, are looking to improve productivity, especially at quarterback. An opportunistic defense that led the CIAA with 31 takeaways helped JCSU to a 4-6 record, but the offensive players want to make their own mark.

“Our defense was already a standout last year,” receiver Eugene Holmes said at the close of spring drills Saturday. “They saved us a lot of games, but this year I feel like we’ll be able to do a lot more on the offensive side. When you bring the offense and defense together, we’ll be a pretty good team.”

There’s still no clear-cut starter at quarterback, with freshmen Jordan Lane and Harold Herbin splitting plays through the spring.  The Golden Bulls had the benefit of working with offensive coordinator Tory Woodbury on the nuances of the pro-style offense, something they didn’t have in 2015.

“They had on-the-job training last year, so the experience factor is there,” head coach Kermit Blount said. “It’s just a matter of us figuring out a way to polish them off and getting them a lot better than they were coming out of the ’15 season. “We’re going to add a couple of guys to the mix at that position, so we’ll create some competition in August when we come to camp.”

Going through offseason drills was beneficial not only to Lane and Herbin, but underclassmen moving up the depth chart and walk-ons trying to make the squad.

“Spring ball was kind of slow at first getting back into to the groove on offense,” said Lane, who completed 76-of-159 passes for 918 yards and six scores last year. “You’ve got new players who are trying to earn their spot and re-teaching the offense so everybody can get back into the groove. Eventually, everybody got accustomed to the offense, we sped up, the game came faster and more comfortable to people.”

The defense is undergoing changes, too. The front seven is losing three starters, including All-America linebacker Austin Jacques, the CIAA defensive player of the year. Free safety Carlo Thomas, who led all college divisions with 12 interceptions, sat out the spring to recover from shoulder surgery.

“Starting off in spring ball was little rough,” said defensive end Brice Smith, who tallied 24 tackles, six quarterback hurries and a sack in 2015. “We were trying to get back into the action of hitting and everything and losing a lot of great players, including losing our middle linebacker Austin Jacques, who was the leader of our defense. But we’ve got a lot of guys stepping up, a lot of freshmen and sophomores coming in, just ready to work.”

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