Entering Saturday’s contest at Penn State, Randy Edsall knew his defense would be facing a stiff test against Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg.
In the week leading up to the game at Beaver Stadium, the Terrapins football coach praised the sophomore signal-caller as the best passer and leader his squad would face so far this season. However, while watching film, Edsall and his staff discovered a glaring weakness that, if exploited properly, could significantly limit Hackenberg: the Nittany Lions offensive line.
So on Saturday, the Terps defense blitzed early and blitzed often. That forced Hackenberg, who isn’t the most mobile quarterback, to move outside the pocket and outside his comfort zone.
The sophomore finished 18 of 42 passing (42.9 percent) for 177 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while the Terps’ front seven put together a five-sack performance. The relentless pressure keyed a 20-19 victory for the Terps, one that clinched bowl eligibility for the program for the second straight season.
“I definitely feel that we was very disruptive,” defensive end Andre Monroe said. “That was the game plan. And what happens is, when you execute a game plan, great results come from it.”
Monroe dropped Hackenberg for a loss of 9 yards early in the second quarter. Defensive end Keith Bowers and outside linebackers Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil and Yannick Ngakoue also added sacks in the contest.
The other sack came when Hackenberg lost control of the ball while cocking his arm for a throw with one minute remaining in the first half. Inside linebacker L.A. Goree pounced on the fumble for one of his two recoveries of the day.
In total, the Terps defense had 10 tackles for loss for 52 yards.
“Our defense played outstanding,” Edsall said. “They’ve been maligned the last couple weeks, but they raised up another level today.”
With his performance on Saturday, Monroe continues to prove himself as one of the Big Ten’s top pass-rushers. His 7.5 sacks on the season rank third in the conference.
And the senior said having the defensive game plan depend on pressuring Hackenberg gave extra incentive to the Terps defensive linemen and linebackers.
“There was an emphasis of just go, it’s time to go get them,” Monroe said. “We always looking to pressure the quarterback and be disruptive, but when you hear it’s time go, that’s like candy to us. We took advantage of it.”
The Terps’ consistent pass rush against the Nittany Lions offensive line was aided by the absence of starting left tackle Donovan Smith, who sat out Saturday’s contest because of injury and was replaced by redshirt freshman Andrew Nelson.
At the same time, though, Edsall’s defense was also dealing with injuries, particularly in the secondary. Senior cornerback Jeremiah Johnson was forced into the starting lineup after Alvin Hill suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the season. But Johnson suffered a hamstring injury and didn’t practice all week. He was only expected to play in emergency situations.
So Edsall moved Sean Davis from safety to cornerback to fill the hole left by Johnson, while Zach Dancel, a backup safety who’d missed three straight games before Saturday because of a lower-body injury, started in Davis’ place.
Despite the shake-up in the secondary, the Terps rendered the Nittany Lions’ passing game ineffective.
And it was largely because of a relentless pass rush from the front seven.
“To have some of those things happen and to play the way we did against one of the best quarterbacks in the country, in my opinion, says a lot about the players and the coaches,” Edsall said.
