With the way he has ravaged defenses lately, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach couldn't help but think how much national attention defensive end Brandon Sharpe would be receiving if he had gotten off to a fast start this season.
Sharpe wasn't having much of an impact until he collected three sacks against Kansas State and four sacks against Nebraska in back-to-back games during weeks six and seven of this season. Prior to those two games, Sharpe had just one sack.
And now Sharpe, a 6-3, 254-pound senior from Lyons, Ga., has 10 sacks after picking up two more during the Oct. 31 win over Kansas. In other words, Sharpe had one sack in the first five games this season and nine in the last four games.
"He had a slow start,'' Leach said. "You wonder how good a season (he would have had) if he would have gotten out of the blocks in the beginning.
"He keeps playing well and he needs to keep playing well. I think he's starting to realize the potential of how good he is.''
The only players in the nation with more sacks than Sharpe are Texas A&M's Von Miller (15), Georgia Tech's Derrick Morgan (11) and Army's Joshua McNary (11). And just think, Sharpe didn't have any sacks in five of Tech's nine games.
In a way, Leach believes Sharpe is totally oblivious to how talented he is and how effective he can become if he just stays consistent.
"I think he's a little better than you've seen so far,'' Leach said. "There is a level of timing, and as you have success you see it and it's reinforced in your mind a little bit. You keep rolling along and it gets better and better.
"I think that's what's happening now with the timing and visualization of what can happen if you do this technique and that technique really fast. I think as he gets rewarded more, then he will improve more.''
_ Dwain Price
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