Huskers aim to top 50 with sack attack
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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
What a thrill. What a way to get the crowd roaring.
What a rush. What a way to crush an opponent’s momentum, not to mention its quarterback.
To be sure, there exists a visceral element in the reaction to a quarterback sack. Indeed, the emotional aspect of a punishing sack, the sheer brute force of it, the finality — it’s why you sometimes see defenders pound their chests in a crazed manner or perform impromptu celebratory dances or maybe just glare down at their fallen prey.
A sack tends to stir you.
Nebraska led the nation with 50 sacks last year, the team’s second-highest single-season total in at least a quarter-century, trailing only the 1999 Huskers’ 53 sacks.
Nebraska defenders expect to exceed 50 this year.
“We felt last year we could have had 60 to 70 sacks,” Husker defensive end Jay Moore said. “We left some out there on the field. I personally left about six out there myself.”
Said linebacker Stewart Bradley: “We could’ve been scary with the amount of sacks we had last year if we would’ve converted all of our opportunities.”
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan asks players to “finish.” Finish sprints. Finish pass routes. Finish weight-lifting sessions. Finish plays. Always finish strong.
Husker defenders today will try to finish off sack opportunities. They will zero in on Louisiana Tech first-year starting quarterback Zac Champion, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior who has thrown just eight passes in college.
“We’re going to try to get to him early, and rattle him up in the beginning,” said Nebraska nose tackle Ola Dagunduro.
The Huskers return five starters from last year’s front seven on defense, led by 6-6, 295-pound senior defensive end Adam Carriker. He led the team last season with 9½ sacks, followed by middle linebacker Corey McKeon with seven and defensive end Barry Turner and tackle Le Kevin Smith with six apiece. Only Smith completed his eligibility.
In the five years preceding last year’s sack uprising, Nebraska averaged 29.6 sacks per season. The Huskers managed only 25 sacks in 2004, when they finished with a 5-6 record while struggling to adapt to a new coaching staff’s methods.
“It was just a matter of executing the defensive calls,” linebacker Lance Brandenburgh said of last year’s overall improvement. “Our linebackers are fast. We’re getting to the ball and being aggressive on our blitzes. And we have a real good D-line. Our defensive ends probably are the best in the nation.
“They’re so big — they’re monsters. They’re strong. That helps.”
Each of Nebraska’s defensive linemen has his own way of getting to the quarterback.
The 6-4, 280-pound Moore thinks of himself as a “speed-power guy.” He favors an inside spin move.
“If I can, I’ll get you with speed,” the senior said. “But I can turn right to power and take you over.”
Carriker said he favors a bull rush and variations of it.
“I’m working on other stuff, but the bull rush is probably my main one,” he said.
Turner, a 6-3, 250-pound sophomore end who plays mostly in passing situations, is more of a speed guy, Moore said.
“He can show a little power, but he’s pretty much an around-the-edge guy,” Moore said.
The 6-2, 300-pound Dagunduro said he uses the swim move.
“It’s fake left, then swim over the man to the right,” he said. “I think my first step is quicker than the average O-lineman.”
Barry Cryer, a 6-2, 280-pound tackle, said he uses a spin move in traffic.
After playing backup roles in 2005, seniors Dagunduro and Cryer are poised to excel, Carriker said.
“They’re going to step up and play just as well if not better than Le Kevin Smith and Titus Adams did,” Carriker said. “Barry is very fast for a defensive tackle. And Ola has had a great camp. Honestly, in my opinion, he’s dominated the guys he’s gone against.”
That may not bode well for Champion and other quarterbacks on Nebraska’s schedule.
“For a D-lineman, there’s nothing better than getting a sack, just because that’s the main stat everyone looks at — your sacks and tackles for loss,” Moore said.
Of Nebraska’s top nine sacks leaders last season, eight were either defensive linemen or linebackers. Safety Blake Tiedtke, a senior last year, tied with departed defensive end Wali Muhammad for fifth on the squad with four sacks apiece. Moore and Bradley recorded three apiece, and linebacker Bo Ruud added 2½.
Nebraska this season might need to lean on its front seven as a relatively inexperienced secondary rounds into form. Whatever. The Husker front seven would focus on sacks even if Deion Sanders and Dick “Night Train” Lane were playing the corner positions.
“If you’re a D-lineman, that’s what you do — you have to get after the quarterback,” Moore said. “That’s what you’re there for, especially on passing downs.”
Of course, many sacks occur in blitz situations. Of the Husker linebackers, the middle man probably blitzes the most, followed by the strongside linebacker, then the weakside guy, Brandenburgh said.
On many blitzes, Moore drops into pass coverage. Of course, he said, he would prefer to go after the quarterback. Because for defensive linemen waging unrelenting battles in the trenches, a sack makes all of the bruising and grunting and pounding suddenly worthwhile. It becomes their big moment. It’s the payoff, figuratively and perhaps literally.
For instance, defensive end Mario Williams went to Houston as the first pick overall last April in the NFL Draft. The former North Carolina State standout signed a six-year, $54 million contract.
“Sacks mean a lot to NFL scouts,” Moore said in something of an understatement.
So don’t be surprised today if Moore unleashes his bull-torque move on a backpedaling offensive lineman.
“You get him going up-field with speed, and all of a sudden you go directly into him with power, and just try to knock the crap out of him,” Moore said.
Hey, whatever’s required to finish the job.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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