ALAMEDA, Calif. -- You just know Houston Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney began salivating the moment the Oakland Raiders announced rookie quarterback Connor Cook would be making his first career start in Saturday’s AFC wild card.

"I hope we blitz him all game," Clowney said this week. "I don’t know, that’s up to the coaches. We just have to put a lot of pressure on him, make him throw some bad balls, force some turnovers and try to get our offense in good field position."

But should Clowney be so willing to blitz Cook?

It makes sense, given that Cook will be the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to make his first start in the postseason. It also means that the Raiders' offensive line will have to step up mightily, especially if left tackle Donald Penn is out with a knee injury suffered in the regular-season finale in Denver.

And the offensive line has been a strength for the Raiders, who went 12-4 for their first winning record and playoff appearance since 2002.

Consider: Per ESPN Stats & Information, Oakland’s offensive line allowed opponents to pressure the quarterback on 18.5 percent of all dropbacks, which ranked second in the NFL. And the line allowed its quarterback to be sacked on only 2.9 percent of all dropbacks, the best rate in the league.

Beyond that, Oakland was also good at protecting its quarterbacks against the blitz, allowing them to be pressured on 27.2 percent of dropbacks against the blitz, which ranked third in the league, and to be sacked on 3.7 percent of dropbacks against the blitz, which was fourth in the NFL.

"Our philosophy here is that we want to be strong and tough in the trenches on the offensive and defensive lines," Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. "To me, that’s what the good teams can do."

Yet, starting quarterback Derek Carr was lost to a broken right leg on a play in which he scrambled back into the grasp of the Colts' Trent Cole, and Raiders backup quarterback Matt McGloin was knocked out with a left shoulder injury on a late hit by the Broncos' Jared Crick.

Cook, despite not dressing for a game until Sunday in Denver when he replaced McGloin late in the first half, has a record of success against the blitz ... albeit in college.

At Michigan State, Cook completed 51.8 percent of his passes against the blitz in three seasons as the Spartans' starter. That number ranked just 62nd among 80 Power 5 quarterbacks who played at least 20 games from 2013 through 2015.

But, as ESPN Stats & Info points out, the relatively low completion percentage against the blitz could show he made good decisions to throw the ball away rather than make "forced, inaccurate throws. He threw minimal interceptions and did extensive damage with his completed passes."

Another point to consider: From 2013 to 2015, 76.5 percent of Cook’s completions against the blitz resulted in a touchdown or first down, the fourth-best percentage among Power 5 quarterbacks.

Cook also threw 32 touchdown passes in that span against the blitz, tied for the third most among Power 5 quarterbacks, and he threw 125 passes against the blitz that resulted in a first down, the second most among Power 5 quarterbacks.

And despite throwing 328 passes against the blitz from 2013 through 2015, the third-most pass attempts among Power 5 quarterbacks, Cook threw just three interceptions.

Here's a deeper look at how Cook's 328 college pass attempts against the blitz compare to those of 80 Power 5 quarterbacks to play at least 20 games from 2013 to 2015: third in touchdown percentage (10.7 percent), ninth in yards per completion (15.7 yards), 10th in interception percentage (0.9 percent), 13th in first-down percentage (38.1 percent) and 16th in yards per attempt (8.1 yards).

Again, the Big Ten is not the NFL, but at least we have an inkling as to what he can do against a blitz, right?

"Obviously, playing at Michigan State, we played in some big-time games there," Cook said. "We were fortunate enough to do that. So, I’m going to try and take whatever I did there, use it, put it to use out there Saturday."