Folks want photos of him. QBs want him far away. Rousseau closing in on NCAA sack leader
These days, Miami defensive end Greg Rousseau can’t visit many places in Miami-Dade County without being recognized.
“A couple more people know me, I guess,’’ Rousseau said in an obvious understatement. “ I’ll be, like, at the mall or something and somebody will be looking at me and they’ll just be looking at me a lot, just trying to see if I’m me or whatever. They always come ask to take a picture. But it’s funny when they’re just looking at me, you know?
“I say ‘Of course. Of course.’ I’m a real friendly dude.’’
College quarterbacks don’t have to look very hard. Rousseau is the extremely large, long-limbed dude coming at them like a runaway freight train. The 6-6, 254-pound baby-faced redshirt freshman now is fourth in the nation with 12 sacks — two shy of the nation-leading 14 by Oregon State’s Hamilcar Rashed Jr.
The Canes (6-4, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) play FIU (5-5, 3-4 Conference USA) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Marlins Park, and Rousseau has a chance to build on his already historic season.
“Oh, Greg can do that. Greg can do what he wants to do. I wouldn’t be surprised,’’ UM linebacker Shaq Quarterman said Wednesday when asked if Rousseau has a chance to finish as the nation’s sack champion of 2019. “Greg is immaculate... He does it all. And he does it at a high level. He’s just unwavering.
“I’ve never seen him flinch or fold, and that’s different for a young guy.”
Rousseau, 19, grew up in Coconut Creek and graduated from Hialeah Champagnat Catholic. He came to UM as a 17-year-old early enrollee weighing 215 pounds. He broke his right ankle in his second college game last season against Savannah State, underwent surgery and sat out the rest of the season.
Despite not getting his first of five starts until Oct. 11 against Virginia, Rousseau leads the team with 15 1/2 tackles for loss and is one of just nine players in the FBS with more than 15 tackles for loss. He also has five quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Rousseau’s 12 sacks are tied for fourth most in a single season in Miami history, with three games remaining. Dan Stubbs holds UM’s single-season record with 17 sacks in 1986. Currently, Rousseau is one of only five freshmen among the top 79 in sacks for 2019.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,’’ Rousseau said, when asked if he reflects on what he has accomplished in his first full season playing college ball. “It’s pretty cool. It’s a blessing. I really appreciate it. But honestly it’s just a testament to our whole defense. The DBs in the back end, the other D-linemen, the linebackers, all of them, it’s a group effort. I get the stats sometimes, but it’s really all them boy and I’m just so grateful to have them.”
If there were a statistic for “almost sacks,’’ how many would Rousseau have?
“Definitely a few more,’’ he said, “probably six more or seven more for sure.’’
He said his next step is to continue improving his technique and “fine-tuning’’ his craft “and working hard every day. That’s going to get me to where I need to be.’’
Despite continually adjusting his goals as he goes through the season, Rousseau said he isn’t focusing on being the nation’s sack leader.
“Nah, really I just go out there and play,’’ he said. “Things like that, they come to you when you do your assignments and give effort. If I lead the nation in sacks, I do. If I don’t, I don’t. But that’s not really something I’m putting pressure on myself to get.“
▪ Coach Manny Diaz still isn’t ready to make a commitment to star tight end Brevin Jordan’s status for Saturday. Jordan sat out the Hurricanes’ 52-27 win against the Louisville Cardinals on Nov. 9, but was back on the practice field in a limited capacity Tuesday.
Diaz said the sophomore’s status will be a “game-time decision” at Marlins Park.
“Brevin’s still a game-time decision, you know what I mean?” Diaz said. “He’s certainly better than he was a week ago. We’ve just got to see what role he’d play on Saturday.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 3:01 PM.
