Derrick Morgan vs. the Iowa OL

BirdGT — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:30:28 -0000

Booyah. Sacked. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Iowa's offensive line has 8 guys with solid experience. They've accounted for over 148 starts. Derrick Morgan has started in 26 games on the Flats and earned AP All America status this season. Three Iowa lineman have started in more games than Morgan: Junior Bryan Buluga (27) and seniors Kyle Calloway (36) and Rafael Eubanks (36).

Iowa is notorious for poor pass protection. They've allowed almost 30 sacks/season over the last three seasons. Reese Morgan is the offensive line coach and has been for the last 10 years.

Morgan has racked up 19.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss in his three seasons at Tech. He saw little action his freshman year as he was behind current NFLers Michael Johnson and Darrell Robertson. Last year, Morgan built up his stats and MJ was the focus of opposing OL coaches and their double teams. This season, despite constant double teams, Derrick has continued to improve. What makes him such a force is his strength, speed, and motor (see 2:59 mark). The reason his NFL Draft stock is so high is because he plays hard on every play.

I've already pointed out the fact that Iowa is prone to pass on 3rd down and this tendency has led to a majority of their sacks. Tech fans are generally excited when they look at this match up on paper. If Iowa wants to succeed at all in the passing game, it'll require a heckuvan effort from their freshmen running backs chipping the Beast from Coatesville.

I'm assuming Bulaga, Eubanks, and Calloway are starting alongside Julian Vandervelde and Riley Reiff, the relative weak links. Reiff is a redshirt freshmen with only 12 games of experience. Reiff moved over from defensive end to play guard for the Hawkeyes. Vandervelde is a seasoned junior who's seen a bit of action but never quite had the talent to break into the starting role until attrition slid him in. Look for Morgan to pick up weaknesses in the game film and exploit them.

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Derrick Morgan vs. the Iowa OL

What do you expect from Derrick Morgan against the Iowa OL?