Play Of The (other) Day: Tempo Bomb vs. Minnesota
If Penn State WR Omari Evans was any more open he’d be a 7-11, but that separation didn’t occur by accident.
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“JUST CHUCK IT DEEEEP,” right?
I mean, clearly, the simple premise has been effective when involving Penn State WR 5-Omari Evans. 2022 vs. Ohio when Drew Allar entered the ballgame. 2023 vs. Michigan State at Ford Field. 2024 vs. West Virginia in the first half’s dying breaths. Now, add 2024 vs. Minnesota on the pile.
But guess what? This heave was calculated and nuanced, especially when you realize the decision to dial it up happened the play before. WTF do I mean? Let’s unpack this:
THE PLAY BEFORE THE PLAY:
It’s 1st & 10 with 11 minutes and change left in the 2nd Quarter. PSU comes out in 12 personnel and calls a simple counter run, as they’ve done hundreds of times over the last few years. While this may seem like nothing crazier than a 0-yard waste of a down, Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki was in the booth using it as an intel gathering play.
He recognized Minnesota was in a 2-high shell playing a “non-traditional Tampa-2” scheme. Essentially, “traditional Tampa-2” has the two high safeties responsible for halves of the field while a linebacker runs the “pole” or intermediate middle. “NON-Traditional Tampa-2”, however, is the same coverage, but the defenders responsible for the halves are not the safeties, they’re the corners. In other words, Minnesota got cute defensively for the sake of being cute…and Kotelnicki pounced.
I’m guessing that all week, The Big Zamboni had these 2 plays next to one another on the call sheet. “IF we get this coverage on the counter run, we’ll use a one-word tempo call to get everyone lined up ASAP to throw the shot.”
Sure enough…
CHUCK IT DEEP ON PAPER:
CHUCK IT DEEP ON TAPE (notice the hurry-up tempo):
Kotelnicki knew Minnesota’s defense didn’t have the infrastructure to change the coverage in this hyper-specific scenario (down and distance, spot on the field, personnel, etc). Once Kotelnicki’s voice came buzzing into Allar’s helmet, the Gophers were dead to rights.
Why though? Let’s take another look at the TD before we answer:
This is a simple but potent route concept against this scheme. One receiver, 6-Harrison Wallace, threatens his CB vertically juuuust enough to occupy him before sitting it down, while the other WR, 5-Omari Evans (who already has leverage on his CB), attacks him vertically, as well, before breaking across the field to the vacated space. Six points.
To summarize the two-down sequence for clarity:
• Kotelnicki calls base run concept in hopes of identifying a specific coverage
• Once confirmed, he uses a predetermined “tempo call” that signals everyone to line up ASAP and run a predetermined play
• After that, send out the extra point team.
