“Sack Daddy” is now the granddaddy of them all.
Louisiana Tech defensive end Jaylon Ferguson capped off a career to remember by dropping Hawaii quarterbacks 2.5 times in the SoFi Hawaii Bowl, surpassing Terrell Suggs to become the FBS all-time sack leader with an even 45. He etched his name in local lore, too, as the Bulldogs hounded Hawaii throughout a 31-14 victory on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.
“Let me get your chair for you,” Bulldogs coach Skip Holtz said to Ferguson as the fifth-year senior approached the postgame interview table, a lei draped around his neck and a polished paddle — given to the game’s most valuable player — in his hand. “This guy is one of the best players in the country.”
The 6-foot-5, 262-pound man’s pressure, and that of his teammates, meant comfort in the pocket was a fleeting thought for Hawaii’s Cole McDonald and Chevan Cordeiro. The Bulldogs’ nine team sacks — six on Cordeiro, three on McDonald — were a Hawaii Bowl record.
But Suggs’ mark loomed largest. Ferguson spoke before the game of his emulation of Suggs, a seven-time Pro Bowler who set the previous sack mark of 44 at Arizona State in 2002.
“Coming into the game, that wasn’t my goal,” said Ferguson, who has a #SackDaddy campaign on social media. “My goal was winning the game by any means.
“We came here for one job, and I feel like tonight we completed that job.”
Ferguson finished as one of three players in the past 20 years to have 40 career sacks. He finished with an NCAA-high 17.5 this season alone.
Louisiana Tech never won in five previous visits to Halawa, including four meetings in the WAC, until Saturday night. The Bulldogs had concerns about treating the trip as a vacation as recently as the night before the game. Holtz blistered his team about its lackadaisical attitude.
That caused Ferguson to meet with teammate Willie Baker, his backup, late into the night at the team hotel as they went over the game plan.
Baker responded, too. He had four sacks, another record for the bowl.
“I think that’s the best defensive front we’ve seen,” UH coach Nick Rolovich said. “They’re an extremely talented group, and I think they were motivated today.”
The constant pressure made things easier for the Bulldogs secondary, which came down with three interceptions against a UH receiver unit that did not include star John Ursua (hamstring).
“The game plan coming in was not pressure,” Holtz said. “That’s what this game went to because of how effectively they were running their offense in zone. Those were adjustments that were made right after that first touchdown (a 24-yarder from Cordeiro to Jason-Matthew Sharsh for a 7-3 first-quarter UH lead).”
Louisiana Tech hadn’t allowed 300 yards passing in a game this season. It held UH’s run-and-shoot offense to 168.
“We ran some man pressures, we ran some zone pressures,” Holtz said. “We brought two from a side, two from the other side. We brought middle. I think we brought every blitz into this game.”
Amik Robertson picked off McDonald twice, tying the Hawaii Bowl record held by Tulsa’s Curnelius Arnick (2010) and Fresno State’s Sean Alston (2012).
But Ferguson was clearly the star for this day. And his star is quite bright as he prepares to play in the NFL. Sitting out the bowl game, an increasingly popular practice for prominent players, was never a thought for him.
“That’s the whole reason for coming back,” Ferguson said. “I never pass up a chance to be with these guys.”
