Nice piece by Emerson here on the marriage of Coach Pruitt's scheme and the load of talent Coach Sherrer has at outside linebacker.
Georgia has 11 sacks this year, tied for 30th nationally for sacks per game and tied for fourth in the SEC. But that’s only part of the story. The NCAA doesn’t track quarterback pressures, but Georgia credits itself with 52 this season, easily on pace to eclipse last year’s total of 109.
Jenkins (nine) and Floyd (seven) lead the way, but perhaps most tantalizing is that Carter has six in more limited playing time.
That's quite a wrecking crew, and it's no wonder Pruitt tries to get them on the field at the same time. Speed rushers with long arms and bad intentions.
Those pressures are almost as good as a sack. Jenkins opined that defenders need to be about a yard away from the quarterback to effect the throw.
“Getting him to where he’s not able to step through his throws. That’s a minimum thing we want to accomplish,” Jenkins said. “But really affecting the quarterback, we want to mess with his head, is getting him on the ground. Because if I were a quarterback, I know I’d hate getting up play after play after play.”
Against Tennessee, Jenkins was credited with six pressures but just one sack.
“I think I counted five hits on the quarterback where he threw the ball at the last second,” Jenkins said. “And really after the first time that’s when I said, ‘All right I’m gonna punish him for throwing that ball.’ ”
And they're all licking their chops thinking about getting after Vandy's young quarterback this Saturday.
