Anatomy Of A Play:
The Ticats defence lines up in a blitz look here on first down, with Ticats LB Otis Floyd lining up along the line of scrimmage with the rest of the D-line. With Floyd joining the front four, it puts the Ticats in a rare 5-2 look.
Defensive tackles Jermaine Reid and Demonte’ Bolden run a twist on the inside, confusing the interior of BC’s offensive line and allowing holes to open up for Hamilton’s defenders to come through.
With nowhere to throw the ball right away, Lions QB Travis Lulay is forced to take his eyes off of his receivers and focus on the pass-rush. With Floyd sealing the outside and Justin Hickman coming free, Lulay’s only choice is to try and step up away from the pressure. Unfortunately for him, Jermaine Reid has beaten his man and is coming up the middle unblocked.
Lulay is left without options and is swallowed up by Jermaine Reid for his first sack of the day.
This play came towards the end of the fourth quarter and has Hamilton in it’s base look with four defensive linemen.
Defensive ends Justin Hickman and Garrett McIntyre get a good jump off the ball and start to drive their linemen backwards. Garrett McIntyre in particular gets good leverage on the outside shoulder of BC’s right tackle and makes Lulay take his eyes off of his receivers.
As he is prone to doing, once Lulay feels the pressure from the outside he tries to step up and scramble up the middle away from the rush. You can see that only Jermaine Reid stands between him and the open field. Reid gets perfect position on his man and allows himself to see where the play is going. By not committing to one side or the other of the offensive lineman, Reid is in position to make a play, no matter which side Lulay tries to run.
Reid makes Lulay commit to a side, and then wraps him up for his third sack of the afternoon. Even though the pressure from the edge spooked Lulay into taking off, it was Reid that held his ground and stayed honest to his gap which allowed the sack to happen.
