There has been a lot of chatter about how our DL, and specifically Trey Moore, do not have enough sacks and have generally been underwhelming in the pass rush. I don’t think people realize just how few true sack opportunities there have been so far this season. Opposing offenses, because of a combination of lack of passing ability and the sound defensive play of our back 7, are avoiding lengthy drop backs and instead scheming up quick passes or rollouts that do not give our line traditional sack opportunities.
Looking at Trey Moore’s snaps in the ULM game as an example, there was arguably just one play where he could have been in position to make a sack or a pressure (2:00 left in second quarter). On all other passing plays: he was double teamed (1 time on the A. Hill sack), the pocket rolled or QB scrambled away from his side (3), the pass was out in <1 sec (3), or he was in coverage responsibility and not rushing (2 times). Everything else was a run play.
I don’t think we can truly gauge our pass rush ability until probably the OU game. That said, Simmons and Vasek do look far more dynamic in the pass rush than Moore in a limited sample size.