Alton Robinson burst from his crouched stance and propelled his upper body into Western Michigan’s Jaylon Moore, bullying the right tackle backward in his stance.

Two seconds later, Robinson had driven Moore parallel to WMU quarterback Jon Wassink in the pocket. While fending off his blocker with his left hand, Robinson knocked the ball from Wassink with his right, earning a sack in the process.

“And you get the ball back,” said defensive tackle Josh Black. “You just have to poke the ball out.”

Syracuse (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) wants to predicate its defense on an effective pass rush – like it did in 2018 — and that doesn’t always require sacking the quarterback. NFL pass rushers are focusing more on fumbles and SU’s defensive line is following that trend, prioritizing disruption over everything else. In lieu of consistent four-man pressures, the Orange have turned to more blitzes and emphasized ways to effect plays without getting sacks on the defensive line. Instead, they focus on batting down passes, moving the quarterback from his spot and forcing fumbles.

“You kind of have to work with what you’ve got,” Black said.

SU generated 43 sacks in 2018, more than the previous two seasons combined, and Kendall Coleman and Robinson had 10 sacks each. Through four games this season, SU is on pace for seven fewer sacks than last year and just 13.5 combined from Coleman and Robinson.

With smaller, speedier interior linemen playing in the middle now, SU cannot get consistent pressure like it did last season as Coleman and Robinson draw more attention and quarterbacks release the ball faster.

“Because if you know who the good guys are,” head coach Dino Babers said about opponents scheming to stop Robinson and Coleman, “you know who to put the extra protection to, get the extra blocker to — to keep those guys neutralized.”

Anecdotally, players and Babers concur that SU brings additional blitzers or creative four-man rushes more than it has before. Particularly early in games, in an effort to make opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable from the start, SU has brought extra pressure. The Orange didn’t register a sack on Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence despite blitzing Lakiem Williams from his linebacker position, but forced Lawrence to make quicker decisions in the pocket.

But there are two ways to get a sack, Babers said at his Monday press conference. One is by blitzing, the second is good coverage that gives a four-man rush enough time to get home.

“You give those guys, those defensive ends and tackles, a little bit more time to pass rush,” Babers said. “We put some games and some twists up front, you can get home that way as well. Very seldom is it that one guy just beats another guy.”

Outside of the Liberty game, when SU twice got a sack with a three-man rush, the Orange had limited success this way. While Chris Slayton drew double teams, creating one-on-ones for Robinson and Coleman outside last season, the paradigm has reversed this season. The interior linemen are working on one-on-ones inside. So far, SU’s struggled to get pressure when schemed against as such, and Babers even noted that “what [Syracuse] needs to do is get a little more push up the middle” to reset the pocket and move the quarterback.

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It took Robinson two seconds to reach Wassink on his sack-fumble. When Maryland and Clemson, in particular, featured two-second-or-fewer plays, and SU’s defensive line never had a chance to make a play. Against RPOs, it had to read the backfield while engaging with run-blocking offensive linemen, examining if the quarterback will pull the ball.

SU’s linemen are taught to mirror the quarterbacks’ throwing hand. If a pass rusher isn’t going to beat his block and sees the quarterback cocking back his arm to throw, Syracuse’s defensive linemen raise their opposite hand to block the throwing lane. This was effective against Clemson, when Williams blitzed, forcing Lawrence into a quick throw to his right that Robinson knocked down. SU’s front seven currently has four passes broken up, already half of what 2018’s front seven produced.

“We have a specific gap we’re supposed to be in,” Robinson said, “being in that gap and if we know we’re not going to get there, get our hands up. Try to deflect a pass.”

While batting passes helps, the most effective play SU’s defensive line can make is the sack fumble. It doesn’t actually require hitting the quarterback clean or even tackling him — Robinson got his on Wassink with just one free arm.

Robinson, Coleman and Syracuse’s other linemen practice dispossessing the quarterback from behind with a drill in practice. A mock quarterback holds the ball while standing in a hula hoop. The ends run around the edge, leaning inward and reaching to knock the ball free. They don’t have to hit the quarterback, just be close enough to reach a hand out.

“As soon as the quarterback puts his arm up,” Black said, “we’re taught to secure the tackle with the inside hand and swat their outside to kind of force that out.”

SU’s pass rush keyed its immense defensive turnaround in 2018 on applying constant pressure. But with different personnel and facing different schemes, the Orange have had to adjust how they attack an offense up front. The three-sack performance against Western Michigan is a realistic expectation going forward, but sacks don’t always have to come for it to be a success up front.

Published on September 25, 2019 at 11:03 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham