MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer Related Content • Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — Chris Orr doesn't need any additional stimulant to get excited about playing defense. But there's an understandable adrenaline rush for the Wisconsin inside linebacker whenever he gets his number called as a blitzer. At that point, he's more mindful than ever of keeping a poker face.

"I definitely start smiling and I have to calm myself down a little bit," said Orr, a fifth-year senior who's rarely seen without a Texas-sized smile. "I used to give it away when I was younger. I was just so anxious to get back there. But you've got no chance at all if you let them know you're coming."

Orr stressed that there's more than meets the eye as far as what it takes to "get home" on a blitz. "There's a lot of film study," he said, "and it's based on timing and understanding where everyone else is going to be and then it's finding what pass-rush move works for you and perfecting it."

Snapping his fingers for emphasis, he said, "It's fast (snap) … it's thinking on the run (snap) and recognizing the blocking scheme and there are a lot of different ways to pass block … the secret is speed (snap, snap) … you have to beat the O-lineman or the running back, whatever the case is."

Orr has two sacks in each of the last two games against Northwestern and Kent State. He also has five quarterback hurries through five games. Prior to this season, he had 2.5 sacks in 36 career games. "I really didn't have a pass-rush move until I got here and developed one," he said.

Whereas Orr did a "good amount" of blitzing at DeSoto (Texas) High School, Eric Burrell was more of a "post safety guy" and didn't blitz much at the McDonough School in Owings Mills, Maryland. But he has been learning the nuances of being an effective blitzer since his freshman year.

"You have to know the blitz path," Burrell said, "and where your help is."

In the third quarter of the Northwestern game, Burrell got a running start on a blitz by timing it up to the cadence of quarterback Hunter Johnson, who never saw him coming. Burrell forced a fumble that was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown by defensive end Matt Henningsen.

"I feel like you have to be crafty," said Burrell. "It's all about timing and trying to figure out when you can go. You don't want to jump offsides and you don't want to tip it off. If you show the pressure too early, the quarterback will check out of it or shift a lineman the way you're coming."

Blitzers must be aware of offensive personnel, personality and their own moving parts.

"When you know it's your turn to blitz, you have to realize the timing of it," Burrell said. "You can't expect to just run in there and get the sack or whatever. Where do you want to go? Where's your help? Where can you get hurt? It's a lot harder than what you think it is. Sacks don't come easy."

Cornerback Faion Hicks rarely blitzed at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

"It was different for me when I first came in here, but it was something that I always wanted to do, so I was embracing it," said Hicks, a redshirt sophomore. "Whenever you get that call, you think, 'OK, this is my chance' and you don't get it often to get a sack. But you have to make sure it's not obvious."

Whether it's a run blitz, or a pass blitz, it's part of a defense's makeup and arsenal. When that pressure is generated by different players from different angles — nine players have at least one quarterback sack — it can enhance an edge rusher like Zack Baun, who has a team-high six sacks.

As a defense, the Badgers have 21 sacks — two more than they had last season — including nine sacks against Kent State, the most that they've had in a game in nearly 25 years.

"Right now, I've got a good feeling of what this team is, what the personnel and talent is," said defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. "It's fun as a coordinator when you know that you're going to get guys in positions to make plays consistently. You just let them go, sit back and watch them work."

Leonhard can count on one hand how many times he was called on to blitz as a three-time All-America safety at Wisconsin. His index finger would actually suffice.

"I got a sack against Northwestern," recalled Leonhard, who dropped quarterback Brett Basanez for an 8-yard loss in 2003. "It might have been one of the only times I blitzed in my career."

During his 10 years in the National Football League, Leonhard was credited with 4.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits. But the numbers don't necessarily reflect his usage as a blitzer.

"There's a lot more flexibility, a lot more defensive back pressures in the NFL than college," he pointed out. "I was in some systems where it was heavy as far as a lot of pressure packages. Like I said, I really didn't have any experience doing it until I got to the NFL, so it took some time to develop the skill."

Leonhard played for highly-regarded, defensive-minded coaches like Mike Pettine and Rex Ryan.

"The NFL is such a scheme league and there's so much you have to think about in just learning how to see the game the way the coach would see it," he said. "You're not just learning the game as a safety or a corner … You have to learn the game from a lot of different perspectives."

Asked what it takes to be a successful blitzer, Leonhard said, "You have to play with conviction. You have to make up your mind fast. You have to play fast. If you get halfway into your blitz and you're still not sure what you're going to do, it's kind of hard to make plays and be aggressive enough.

"Our guys right now are doing a good job of getting off the ball and timing things up well and then making a decision and living with it."

Scheme? Or skill? What has the bigger impact on a blitz?

"The scheme is going to allow you to do it or not," he said. "But you're obviously more apt to call it as a coordinator if you've got guys that are good at it. Not everybody is. It's definitely a skill that you have to coach. It's a skill that guys have to work on just like they would at coverage or tackling.

"It's not something where you just say, 'Hey, you're blitzing off the edge' and you just assume that guys are good at it. You've got to coach it. You've got to teach it. It's something that you've got to talk a lot about. It's a lot of repetition, something we emphasize with our guys.

"You've got to get them to understand what they need to see. For me, it all starts with getting off the ball and your eyes. What angles are you blitzing on? Did you give yourself a good enough angle to be aggressive because a lot of times if you don't take the right angle, it eliminates your choices."

A savvy, seasoned quarterback like Michigan State's Brian Lewerke, who will turn 23 later this month, can make a defense pay for its mistakes with a quick release and his ability to escape the pocket.

As a sophomore (2017), the 6-foot-3, 216-pound Lewerke became the first QB in Spartans history to throw for over 2,500 yards (2,793) and rush for over 500 (559) in the same season.

In Michigan State's win over Indiana (Sept. 28), he threw for 300 yards and ran for 78.

"He's making great decisions," Leonhard said. "In the pass game, he's efficient. He gets the ball out of his hand and doesn't take a whole lot of hits. And he's athletic enough in the run game to hurt you — you have to account for the quarterback position in a lot of their run schemes."

Orr, Burrell and Hicks each underlined the importance of gaining experience in the blitz scheme.

That's also true of the defensive play-caller.

"You get more reps as a coach and you're able to maybe get to certain things faster than I could my first year or two," said Leonhard, the fourth-year secondary coach and third-year defensive coordinator. "Obviously experience is huge if you learn from the past and understand your team."

And you can tell that he likes this team. A lot.