South Dakota State didn’t end up beating five-time defending national champion North Dakota State in the FCS Playoffs, but this trickeration gave the Jackrabbits an early lead.
Look at South Dakota State get sweet payback with this schoolyard trick play
Bringing the playground to the FCS Playoffs.
A 5’10 Brady Mengarelli sneaks in, setting SDSU up with a chance to shock the Bison for the second time this season, after a win in the regular season. But the plot thickens when you realize that not only was it crafty, it was a lovely spot of revenge. North Dakota State ran a similar play against the Jackrabbits in 2012.
The concept here is simple. First, you hide a little guy behind a bunch of big guys, and you make the big guys look like they’re still setting pre-snap protection calls. Then you get two guys going the opposite way to distract the defenders and get their eyes and/or their bodies flowing in the wrong direction. And finally, you send the ball carrier the other direction with a small convoy of blockers who are unengaged.
Perhaps the most underrated aspect of the play: The eventual ball carrier doesn’t fully kneel down. It would be quite the gaffe if the play couldn’t even get off of the ground from the start, and it would lead to a very fun booth review.
If you think you’ve seen this play before at the college level, you’re right. Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn has this play in the toolbox. He called it as offensive coordinator at Arkansas.
He sprung it on an unsuspecting Texas A&M team last season, as well.
Kliff Kingsbury has called it with his Texas Tech team, too.
Here’s another:
I very much support little guys doing big things on the football field — and doing so by any means.
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