Affecting the quarterback,” is one of the most common phrases that you hear from Nick Saban. Sacks are great, but Saban has made it clear that he at least wants to have some sort of impact on the quarterback on every play.
In 2010, that didn’t happen very often. With so many personnel losses from the 2009 defense, a setback was expected, but the results were a surprise to many. If you look at the sack totals from 2009 to 2010 there isn’t a big difference (31 in 2009, 27 in 2010). However, it was a late season push that brought the total as close as it was to 2009. 16 of the 27 total sacks on the year came in the final four games against Mississippi State, Georgia State, Auburn, and Michigan State.
While the end results were comparable, anyone who watched the Crimson Tide last year knows that “affecting the quarterback” was not a staple of the defense.
The player who was most responsible for the late surge in sacks and quarterback hurries is this year’s x-factor: Courtney Upshaw. The senior jack linebacker tallied six of his seven sacks on the season in his four game tear to end the season. Coming into this season, I believe we’ve seen just a glimpse of what is to come from the Capital One Bowl MVP.
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