Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Lane Kiffin pulled a bit of play calling magic out of his hat on the first play in overtime, a play the team practiced several times but had previously never used in a game.
So how did converted offensive tackle to reserve tight end Brandon Greene get so wide open in the middle of LSU's defense to help set up the game-winning touchdown?
Simple. With a designed formation that confused the LSU defense.
Coming out of the huddle Alabama sprinted to the line, sending seven guys to the offensive line (from left to right: Amari Cooper, Brandon Greene, Air Kouandjio, Ryan Kelly, Leon Brown, Austin Shepherd and Jalston Fowler) with Derrick Henry in the backfield behind quarterback Blake Sims and with Cameron Robinson in the slot to the right with DeAndrew Whit split wide right.
Then Cooper and Henry shifted left, both off the line of scrimmage, and Fowler shifted to the right to the left of Robinson.
All the shifts made Robinson, who was on the line, an ineligible receiver and Greene, who appeared to be the left tackle, an eligible receiver.
That was enough to confuse LSU defensive end Danielle Hunter, who let Greene get a free release and wide open for Sims to hit him for a 24-yard gain to the LSU 1.
That play eventually led to the game-winning 6-yard touchdown pass to White.
Sims said he was surprised when the call came in from Kiffin and more surprised that LSU gave them the coverage that led to the play being so wide open.
"We practiced it over and over during practice," Sims said. "(Kiffin said) 'This is how it's going to be' and you just hear coach say that and be like 'Man, we can't imagine it being that good.' We broke the huddle, we shift a little bit, I looked and I thought 'Man, this play's about to really work.'"
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1702686#sthash.H7gnrkex.dpuf
TideSports.com Senior Writer
Lane Kiffin pulled a bit of play calling magic out of his hat on the first play in overtime, a play the team practiced several times but had previously never used in a game.
So how did converted offensive tackle to reserve tight end Brandon Greene get so wide open in the middle of LSU's defense to help set up the game-winning touchdown?
Simple. With a designed formation that confused the LSU defense.
Coming out of the huddle Alabama sprinted to the line, sending seven guys to the offensive line (from left to right: Amari Cooper, Brandon Greene, Air Kouandjio, Ryan Kelly, Leon Brown, Austin Shepherd and Jalston Fowler) with Derrick Henry in the backfield behind quarterback Blake Sims and with Cameron Robinson in the slot to the right with DeAndrew Whit split wide right.
Then Cooper and Henry shifted left, both off the line of scrimmage, and Fowler shifted to the right to the left of Robinson.
All the shifts made Robinson, who was on the line, an ineligible receiver and Greene, who appeared to be the left tackle, an eligible receiver.
That was enough to confuse LSU defensive end Danielle Hunter, who let Greene get a free release and wide open for Sims to hit him for a 24-yard gain to the LSU 1.
That play eventually led to the game-winning 6-yard touchdown pass to White.
Sims said he was surprised when the call came in from Kiffin and more surprised that LSU gave them the coverage that led to the play being so wide open.
"We practiced it over and over during practice," Sims said. "(Kiffin said) 'This is how it's going to be' and you just hear coach say that and be like 'Man, we can't imagine it being that good.' We broke the huddle, we shift a little bit, I looked and I thought 'Man, this play's about to really work.'"
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1702686#sthash.H7gnrkex.dpuf
