It's early in the first quarter on third and goal from the 15 yard line. Notre Dame has three down linemen shaded to the strongside of the field and are in a nickel package.
As the ball is snapped, Notre Dame rushes the four players on the line of scrimmage.
A moment later, the offensive line engages the rushers. It is a little hard to see here, but Notre Dame defensive end Stephon Tuitt gets his hands inside of Schofield (highlighted).
Now that Tuitt has leverage on Schofield, he will bull rush him and deposit him in Denard's lap...
....
... and Schofield can't even take a penalty to stop Tuitt from getting the sack, though he tries his best.
Down goes Denard with Schofield running behind his assignment.
Video
The Takeaway
I'm already tired of watching Schofield staring down at Denard after a sack. You can make excuses for the level of competition--Tuitt already has six sacks this season--but Schofield's inability to hold up against top-level competition is a huge problem. On this play, he was matched up one-on-one with a defensive end who simply ran through him. If he doesn't possess the speed to pass protect against speed rushers and gets blown off the line against bull rushes, teams will continue to attack him throughout the season. This is going to be a major point of concern all year.
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