CHARLOTTE— Mike Jackson still remembers the first time he played Georgia Tech.
“The old Georgia Tech,” he quickly clarified.
Ok, so yes, the pre-Geoff Collins and now Brent Key Georgia Tech had a different identity than the current iteration, because everything pre-2019 was predicated on one thing: running the ball down an opponent’s throat via the triple option.
“If it’s 50 snaps, you got to get 45 runs and five passes,” the Miami Hurricane alum recalled.
It was enough that when Jackson went to dinner that night, he felt every tackle.
“I remember trying to sit down at the table at Buffalo Wild Wings, and it hurt to sit down.”
The matchup had a profound impact though on the current Carolina Panthers corner. Now in his sixth season, he still thinks about it whenever he’s about to face a bruising offense.
The Los Angeles Chargers, who will be in Charlotte this weekend, will be the next test Jackson, and this entire Panthers defense, faces. It’s a run game will try to lull the defenders to sleep, as evidenced by their performance versus the Raiders on Sunday.
“It never really lulls me to sleep because they’re going to come down hill,” Jackson countered. “I don’t really get lulled to sleep just based off of playing Tech back in college.”
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh’s unit will try to sing a lullaby though. Against the Raiders, the Los Angeles run game averaged 2.2 yards per rush. In the second half, they averaged 8.67, aided largely by two explosive plays: one of 46-yards and another of 61-yards. A game-long rushing line of 25 carries for 69 yards might not look impressive (their total minus the big runs), but 27 for 176 does, and that’s what intent looks like.
“I think that’s just the story right there,” defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero pointed out, of the two big runs. “Something we’re walking in, we know they’re going to stay committed to it and, even though the early success is not there, they’re going to stay committed to the run game.”
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…