[Goose]

Yes, indeed. At the beginning of that season Ostrander got sacked four times by UCLA, once by San Jose State, three times by Oregon, SEVEN times by Arizona State, and then the seizure in between that beating and USC. In the Greatest Upset Ever Pritchard got sacked four times. We went a long time without being able to keep a QB clean. Then in 2008 the Tunnel Workers Union started to show up and we got sacked 1.75 times per game. In 2009 we had arrived. In Luck's first year starting: eight sacks in 13 games. The worst team at protecting the QB in America from 2004-2007 had become #2 (#1 in Power Five) behind only Boise State.

2008 was far from a "clean" year though. Against TCU Pritchard carried the ball 9 times for -21 yards. Possibly one of those was a planned run, the others were not. He did gain 14 yards on one run. Sacks are one statistic, but running for your life is another. On top of that, the number of times he got hit while throwing were non-trivial. Undoubtedly this one game contributed mightily to the 1.75 sacks/game. One of his passes literally went straight up in the air. Having a Toby Gerhart and an improving line was a great synergy. Gerhart's running ability made a big contribution to the small number of sacks in 2009.

[Goose]

Yes, indeed. At the beginning of that season Ostrander got sacked four times by UCLA, once by San Jose State, three times by Oregon, SEVEN times by Arizona State, and then the seizure in between that beating and USC. In the Greatest Upset Ever Pritchard got sacked four times. We went a long time without being able to keep a QB clean. Then in 2008 the Tunnel Workers Union started to show up and we got sacked 1.75 times per game. In 2009 we had arrived. In Luck's first year starting: eight sacks in 13 games. The worst team at protecting the QB in America from 2004-2007 had become #2 (#1 in Power Five) behind only Boise State.

2008 was far from a "clean" year though. Against TCU Pritchard carried the ball 9 times for -21 yards. Possibly one of those was a planned run, the others were not. He did gain 14 yards on one run. Sacks are one statistic, but running for your life is another. On top of that, the number of times he got hit while throwing were non-trivial. Undoubtedly this one game contributed mightily to the 1.75 sacks/game. One of his passes literally went straight up in the air. Having a Toby Gerhart and an improving line was a great synergy. Gerhart's running ability made a big contribution to the small number of sacks in 2009.