Every defensive coordinator in America wants to get pressure on the quarterback with their front four and drop seven into coverage. It allows so much more freedom on the back end in terms of coverage responsibilities and relieves on the secondary to cover a seemingly endless amount of green grass with the spacing concepts offenses use in this era.
Bud Foster took that one step further, dropping a defensive lineman into coverage on about 60 percent of the defensive snaps against Duke. Considering the loss of Trevon Hill, the team’s most talented pass rusher, it was a bold strategy when facing a quarterback who has played fairly well against the Hokies in his career.