HOUSTON - The greatest defensive units and players that have ever touched the gridiron have had their accomplishments immortalized through time with a nickname.
In the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line was known as the "Steel Curtain". In the 1980s, Texas A&M's defense was termed the "Wrecking Crew". And most recently, the Seattle Seahawks unit was dubbed the "Legion of Boom".
Now, it's time to meet, as dubbed by VYPE, the "M.C. Hammers".
Crosby's McCoy Casey (the "M") and Tyler Cooper (the "C") have been an absolutely dominating combo for the Cougars' defense up front all season long, amassing 240 tackles (76 tackles for loss) and 29 sacks.
"It's ridiculous," Crosby coach Jerry Prieto said. "They just refuse to be blocked."
Start with McCoy.
A three-year starter for Crosby, McCoy was one of the players to watch on the defensive side of the ball. So far, he's lived up to the preseason hype. Casey has tallied 123 tackles (9.5 tackles/game), 37 tackles for loss, 13 sacks and 34 quarterback hurries.
On the other end is Cooper, who is a starter for the first time in his career.
"Tyler has matured a lot from his junior to his senior year," Prieto said. "The work ethic improved, the discipline improved, everything improved and he's starting to see why we've been so hard on him in the past because we saw so much potential with him. Thankfully, he's playing up to that potential and then some.
"It's been a huge help with replacing so many starters on defense to have someone like Tyler Cooper to step up and perform like McCoy Casey."
Cooper is right there with Casey on the stat line. Through 13 games he has racked up 117 tackles, 39 tackles for loss and a team-leading 16 sacks and 35 quarterback hurries.
So, if you're an opposing offensive line coach, who do you try to stop?
"It's difficult because you have two of them on the d-line, you can't just go double-team one of them and leave the other single blocked," Prieto said. "They're both going to make plays, they're both going to be in the backfield."
The final question for Prieto was the obvious one - does the dynamic duo have a nickname?
"No, no nicknames yet," Prieto said with a laugh.
Well, don't worry coach - the "M.C. Hammers" is our choice.
