Chalk Talk: Dion Jordan's Free Shot Sack

UCLA entered this year's Pac-12 Championship in dire straits; the team was coming off a 50-0 loss to USC, and had just been informed that Rick Neuheisel would be fired after the season. The Bruins practically admitted defeat before the game even started by filing paperwork with the NCAA that would allow them to play in a bowl game with a 6-7 record (which they expected to have after playing Oregon). Matters would only get worse after kickoff.

With 1:55 remaining in the first half and a 28-point deficit looming, Kevin Price lined up his offense in a trips formation with tight end Joseph Fauria slotted out to the right. Price looked to make a quick throw to his left, only to get smoked by an untouched Dion Jordan. Online discussions seemed centered on blaming the right tackle for such an egregious error in pass protection. However, Mike Harris was in the wrong here. If the blame for that sack should be placed on anyone, it should be on Price. Here's why:

The video used in making this post is courtesy of winesfamily.blogspot.com and Fox Sports.

Above is the diagram for the protection UCLA called on this play. Going into halftime against the Ducks with only a 14-point deficit would be a dream come true for most schools. It's 3rd & 6, so, the Bruins are looking to use their 3-step passing game to get a quick first down and keep driving into Oregon territory. Most 3-step protections call for the offensive line to slide one way or the other; this allows the unit to stay together and keep defenders from getting any run-through to knock down a pass.

The only problem is that Price is passing out of an empty set. Above is a spot that marks where the running back should be in order to use this slide protection. The running back's job (if he were in the formation) would have been to pick up Dion Jordan.

This is the blitz scheme Oregon has called. They only have one down lineman, which is typically referred to as a Psycho package. The rest of the stand-up defenders are assigned to cross the offensive line's faces in order to create pass rush lanes. The backer outside the left hash is designed to rush outside Jordan, but he won't get there in time because of the quick throw price will make.

With their protection call, the offensive line is accounting for the four left-most defenders in the box, and leaving Jordan one-on-one with what should be a tight end or running back. Unfortunately for UCLA, this formation doesn't have anyone to account for Jordan.

As you can see from the above view, Fauria is flexed out too far to block Jordan, so without a running back there is a free shot at the quarterback.

Price looks left immediately for one of his receivers to get open, which doesn't happen quickly enough for him to make the throw before Jordan gets there. At the bottom, you can see Fauria open with the safety coming down to cover him. If Price had thrown to Fauria immediately, it would have been an easy 4 or 5-yard gain.

Only UCLA players and coaches really know why this protection was called in an empty set, but I can offer a few theories:

1. If the o-line calls their own protections (as is common, especially in 2-minute situations), they might have called the slide left without knowing that they were in an empty formation.
2. Price didn't know which protection was called, so he didn't know that Jordan would be the hot defender (meaning that Jordan is unaccounted for, so Price would have to make a quicker throw).
3. Price did know which protection was called but didn't expect Jordan to blitz, or thought he would be able to make the throw before Jordan got to him.
4. Rick Neuheisel was on his way out and just wanted to watch his players suffer a little.

I'm going to assume that #4 isn't true, so my best guess is a combination of 1 and 2. It doesn't appear that Price knows Jordan is coming hot off the right side, so he takes at least part of the blame. The problem with running a 2-minute offense (especially when you're down a bunch of points) is that players get flustered while trying to run the plays quickly and efficiently. As a result, communication between the offensive line and the skill players often breaks down. Most likely, the offensive line didn't know the formation was empty and Price didn't know the o-line would be sliding left. 

These situations are exactly what Oregon intended to create by using a fast-paced offense and a complex blitz defense. Any time an All-Pac 12 defensive end comes unblocked, mayhem is the result. Look for Oregon to try and create similar panicked situations for Russell Wilson and Wisconsin's offense in the Rose Bowl.