Play Of The (other) Day: Center-Eligible Gadget Play vs. USC

Continuing a season-long trend, Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki once again went full Willy Wonka with future All-American and Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren last Saturday

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In a football game that was absolutely jam-packed with creative and unorthodox offensive architecture, one play stood out for all viewers as the most aesthetically interesting.

You know the one:

So we’d be fools if we didn’t unpack the schematics and design of Tyler Warren’s touchdown. Time to break down the Center-Eligible-2QB-Double Pass.

PLAY ON PAPER:

First, personnel.

PSU is technically in “21” — 2 RBs, 1 TE, 1 WR…and 2 QBs. This matters because it dictates how USC decides to match their personnel. At first glance, this seems like a run-heavy grouping, especially since Penn State and Andy Kotelnicki tend to keep things ‘non-aerial’ when backup QB 9-Beau Pribula enters the game. Because of this personnel and previous tendencies when Pribula plays, USC wants to limit the amount of DBs that are on the field versus this package.

Prior to the shift, tight end 44-Tyler Warren is at QB, 15-Drew Allar at Wing, 9-Pribula in the slot. Why? No reason, really, other than they’re aligned as randomly as possible to make the defender’s wheels start to turn…or try to turn.

The subtle, but most vital, part of this play comes next. Watch from the end zone.

PLAY ON FILM:

When Warren gives the signal to shift, you have Penn State players moving in every type of direction. It looks like a NYC crosswalk. This is done on purpose – a distraction for the defense. During the chaotic shifting, Warren does an EXCEPTIONAL job of hiding himself behind the offensive line, which is collectively bumping over one spot. Watch again:

Warren crouches over to hide his number and becomes the Center (very James Bond-esque). You see USC players pointing, communicating, trying to find the optimal way to line up against this formation — but you don’t see anyone point out that 44 (the guy who has caught roughly a dozen passes already) is now the center! Oh, and an eligible receiver, too!

Side note before we talk post-snap: Look at this pre-snap image and tell me there isn’t a MASSIVE bubble to run to the left. If this formation comes back, expect Pribula to run some sort of gap scheme behind a puller right off of Warren’s left hip.

Back to business.

At the snap, we’ll start with WR 2-Liam Clifford’s assignment. His only job is to occupy the corner on his side of the field. He is ON the line of scrimmage to make this an eligible formation (due to no one being on the line to the left of Warren). Pribula takes the snap and completes a backward pass to Allar, who has 2 “personal protectors” or bodyguards that try to give him as much time as possible to throw.

I’ll be honest, it’s incredibly difficult to decipher what USC is doing defensively. It ends up playing out like a Middle-Field-Closed zone or Cover-3 variation. With the CB to Allar’s side having no vertical threat, he gets no depth. The centerfielder, confused by the madness that has occurred in the last 10 seconds, realizes as he’s eye-to-eye with Warren that there is a double pass coming. Above all else, this comes down to Tyler Warren winning a jump ball in the end zone. Could they have run something more…vanilla and gotten the same result?

Probably…but where’s the fun in that?