Cal Football: Winning Is Rarely in the Bag Without Sacks

Bears will struggle to pressure Oregon's Bo Nix, who has been sacked just once.

The Cal and Oregon defenses each have recorded 13 quarterback sacks this season.

It may be easier for the Ducks than the Bears to add to their total Saturday when the teams meet at Memorial Stadium.

While Cal quarterback Jack Plummer has been sacked 23 times, his Oregon counterpart has rarely tasted the turf. Bo Nix has completed better than 71 percent of his 214 pass attempts for 1,809 yards with 17 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

But the number that jumps off the stat sheet is 1.

The transfer from Auburn has been sacked just once for 1 yard through seven games. No quarterback in the country has been so rarely sacked.

Asked how the Ducks have achieved that, Cal coach Justin Wilcox said, “Style of play, the offensive line, the quarterback . . . there’s a lot of reasons.”

The Bears know getting to Nix will be difficult. Besides his ability to avoid being pressured while passing, Nix is an effective runner who has gained a net 382 yards on 48 carries.

“They have some really good protections. Their O-line has meshed pretty well,” nose guard Ricky Correia says in the video above. “And he’s doing a good job — when there is pressure, he can escape pretty well. He’s a good runner.

“We just have to get after him, rush aggressive and make him uncomfortable, as much as possible. We can’t let him sit on a spot and deliver some of those throws he’s been throwing all season.”

Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon said there is always a debate over how to try pressuring a quarterback who has such escapability and running prowess. Nix averages 8.0 yards per rush, has an 80-yard run to his credit and has scored eight touchdowns on the ground — twice as many as any of the Ducks’ running backs.

Asked about rushing vs. containing, Sirmon said, “That’s a huge balancing act. Throughout this conference sometimes you end up talking yourself out of rushing the quarterback when the narrative is, `He can’t escape, he can’t escape, he can’t escape.’ Then ultimately find yourself playing a pocket passer and playing seven-on-seven.”

Cal and Oregon rank in a tie for seventh in the Pac-12 with 1.86 sacks per game. In four conference games, the Bears are sacking the quarterback an average of just 1.5 times per game. USC leads the conference and is eighth nationally at 3.43 per game, while Colorado is last at 0.86.

Cal ranks 116th nationally out of 131 FBS teams in passing yards allowed 275.1), just behind Oregon at 115th (273.4). It’s no coincidence that neither has shown a great pass rush.

“Pass rush plays a vital role in pass defense. It’s not just the cover guys — that’s a misnomer,” Wilcox said. “There’s a reason at the professional level that the pass rushers get paid the most money and at the college level the guys who can affect the quarterback in the pass game get recruited the hardest. Because it’s very difficult for the offense to function in the pass game if the QB is under duress or getting sacked.”

Wilcox says the Bears can do better, although it hasn’t helped that senior Odua Isibor, a transfer from UCLA, has played just two games due to injury. “He was starting early in the season for a reason,” said Wilcox, who identified Isibor’s status as day-to-day.

Xavier Carlton and Myles Jernigan lead the Bears with three sacks apiece.

“We’ve had some guys that have flashed but we’ve had trouble with consistency affecting the quarterback,” Wilcox said. “That’s an area where we can show improvement. The effort’s there, certainly. But you don’t play great pass defense without great rushers.”

The numbers show it is possible to have team success without a great pass rush. It involves having a counterpunch on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

Top-ranked Georgia, for instance, has fewer sacks than Cal, ranking 124th nationally with seven in seven games. But the Bulldogs average 41.7 points, so their margin of error is greater.

Sonny Dykes’ unbeaten TCU team, ranked No. 7 in the country, is 94th in sacks at 1.71 per game but it doesn’t matter because the Horned Frogs are scoring at a 44.7-point clip.

Oregon’s offense is churning out 42.4 points, most in the Pac-12, so the Ducks’ defense doesn’t walk a tightrope.

Wilcox said Tuesday the Bears don’t want to be known as strictly a defensive team. They want to be good in all phases.

But their offense is providing just 23.3 points per game, so what the defense does matters even more.

INJURY UPDATES: Wilcox said wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, who missed the Washington game last week due to injury, is likely to face the Ducks. But cornerback Lu-Magia Hearns III, also sidelined last week, is day-to-day, as is wide receiver Mason Starling, who was injured late in the UW game.

Cover photo of Oregon quarterback Bo Nix by Ben Longergan, Eugene Register-Guard.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo