The sport of football is no stranger to trick plays, or to crafty calls to surprise the opposition. While football is somewhat formulated, every once in a while a coach pulls something out of their back pocket and adds a little flair to the game.
When these plays work, they’re praised for cleverness. When they don’t work, you can basically hear the collective face palm from the fan base. WHY did we have to try that.
West Virginia was hosting Kansas when they found themselves trying to defend a 3rd and 15 from the Jayhawks. While this is a fairly common situation for a team to find themselves in, the Mountaineers made a very uncommon play call.
They decided screw the run defence, we’re dropping EVERYONE into pass coverage.
Sometimes you may see limited pass rushers if a team is defending against the Hail Mary, but the Mountaineers lined up as though they were going to run a standard play. When the ball was snapped, it became clear that the formation was a bluff, and you see massive O-lineman dropping back into what looked like a very confused state of zone defence.
Unfazed by the strange happening, Jayhawks quarterback Peyton Bender tosses it down field into single man coverage, leading to a humiliating 1st down given up by the pass defending Mountaineers.
Luckily for West Virginia fans, the team was predominantly making the right calls on Saturday, and the Mountaineers walked away with the victory 38-22.
(H/T Twitter/Jordan Heck)
