Virginia Tech's (rightfully) vaunted DL got zero sacks against the Buckeyes this time after racking up seven sacks in last year's contest (they finished 2nd nationally in total sacks in 2014). As discussed at the excellent VT blog, The Key Play, the most obvious reason why VT had "A Big Goose Egg" in the sack department is that Cardale is a bear to tackle.
One solution he [Foster] offered was Cardale Jones' ability to elude would-be rushers through his combination of brute strength and balance, neatly mimicking Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.
"We got some good pressure on him early, and kind of like he has with everybody else he's played, he slung some guys off of him and just a big, dynamic kid," Foster said.
That's backed up by the numbers. Although the Hokies couldn't manage a QB takedown, they were able to hit Jones four times, and ESPN's David Hale was even able to show that they were among the best teams in the country at pressuring the passer.
Highest rate of pressure P5 vs. P5 teams in Week 1: Auburn - 42.2% Notre Dame - 40.6% VaTech - 38.1% UCLA - 36.8% Nwestern - 35.9%
— David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) September 8, 201
On the other hand, when Cardale got past the front seven on designed run plays, VT's DBs did a good job of tackling him low and thus limiting the damage, which led to the perverse situation where VT's 170/180 lb guys could tackle Cardale but their "big" 230/240 DEs could not.
So, my question: Why wouldn't VT's DLmen concede that they had no chance tackling Cardale high? Do you think it was because of pride, i.e. tough DEs feeling like they should be able to "light up" any QB and not have to do the unmanly thing of grabbing him around the ankles and holding on for dear life? Or would DL be taught not to do that because it would give Cardale an extra second to dump off the ball (we've all seen how well the rocket-armed Cardale can throw the ball without having to use his legs)? Will we see DLmen for the remainder of this season trying to hogtie Cardale rather than hit him high?
