Solutions to our pass rush problem??

[InTheZone]

First of all I'll just welcome myself back to the site, I've had an incredibly busy work schedule and have had hardly any time for fun and play, but things are cooling off now so I'm glad I can get back here and do one of my favorite things, discuss our MAC Champion Zips.But to the topic at hand, the thing I've noticed most after watching the first three games on television (unfortunately couldn't make it out to Penn St., even though I had tickets), is that we have absolutely no pass rush whatsoever. I think we have one sack all year, and that was by a linebacker, if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure others of you have noticed this, but I would bet money that no one on our D-line even has a QB pressure. You can't win football games like that, especially once we start facing more open attack teams (Miami, Toledo, Western).I've been extremely disappointed with Jermaine Reid. I understand he had a knee injury over the summer, but he seems like he's really fallen off from a great year last year. He looks slow out there. Kiki Gonzales has done a great job stuffing the run, which is his what he does, and you can't expect much of a pass rush from a nose in a 3 man front (double and triple teams all day). Cechetti seems like a tough kid and he plays hard, but doesn't look to really have the athletic ability to be much of a passing threat.What do you guys suppose we do to help this problem?? Maybe go to a four man front on passing downs?? If I were the coach I would take Reid and Cechetti out on passing downs and try to get some quicker guys in there. Bottom line is we've got to do more to get pressure on the QB or we're going to be hurting in MAC play.

[GoZips]

Agreed. Your points are well made. I saw zero pass rush at the CMU game and somespotty attempts at NC State.I see no problem with the front three not pass rushing. Frankly, in this scheme, thatis not their job. In the 3-3-5 scheme most pass rushes would have to come from the five DB's. Problem is, that leaves you wide open to get burned deep.The solution would seem to be more of a 3-4-4 alignment and russ the linebackers.Either pair inside or outside depending on the opponent's offensive alignment can work.I totally agree that a strong pass rush is badly needed as we enter conference play.The MAC is a pass happy conference. Last Saturday the lack of a pass rush hurt usbadly. This must be fixed if we are to have a successful year.We have quality linebackers and good depth. Let's turn them loose.

[Captain Kangaroo]

While I'd like to see a heavier pass rush, I think that's being pretty picky. Our defense has been very solid. The sack #'s are low, but overall whatever they're doing seems to be working well.

[UADavid]

I like our defense too, but they need to put more pressure on the QB and not give him so much time to pass or run. Makes things harder for the db's.

[Buckzip]

In a 3-4 you need to blitz the LB's some. We don't seem to do much of that. I think we are more worried about pass coverage.

[GP1]

Welcome back InTheZone! I was about to put a call out to you on the board.The solution to the pass rush problem is a good question (assuming there is a problem). I think Akron has optioned out of a huge pass rush for coverage. We seemed to rush more people against PSU and by sacrificing the LBs, we gave up a lot of yardage on short intermediate crossing patterns for 5-15 yard gains really hurting our ability to stop them on third and long. The key may not be the pass rush, but better coverage creating the always fun for a TV announcer to say "Coverage Sack".While I don't really like the 3-3-5 defense because it makes a team too small and depends on some level of guessing, I can't at the same time say we don't have a solid defense. Coach Flemming really seems to be in a groove calling the defense and all is going well. If we execute better on offense, the pass rush will not be a big concern.