Last night, about halfway through the game, the color commentator mentioned what kind of defense Illinois was playing. The Fighting Illini haven’t been a good defensive team this year, and I was stunned at how effectively they were shutting down the Scarlet Knights. The system is called the pack line defense, and effectively, it’s this year’s Rutgers team’s worst nightmare.
The pack line defense was developed by Dick Bennett at Washington State and passed down to his son, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, who’s perfected it.
The pack line defense is also known as a sagging defense, where four defenders sag off their men and play closer to the key.