Same formation, new play

[StatTiger 3,153]

One of Coach Gus Malzahn’s keys to success is his ability to design plays that place his playmakers in space or to overload the point of attack with more bodies than the opposing defense can account for. We have seen this in the running game, when Auburn pulls a guard or sometimes both guards to one side, which often gives the Tigers an advantage in terms of the defense attempting to put a helmet on a helmet. Here is an example of Auburn overloading one side of the field with an extra receiver that Ole Miss is not prepared to account for.

The play…

  Auburn comes out in their wildcat formation, which includes the unbalanced line. If you will recall, Auburn ran from this formation the majority of time in 2009 but have passed more often in 2010. From this formation, Auburn has scored on a deep pass play to Emory Blake, when he ran a deep post route against Louisiana Monroe. The Tigers have also passed to Philip Lutzenkirchen on a deep crossing route or a quick release into the end zone. Auburn has also passed to Mario Fannin slipping out of the backfield into the flat. These are all passing routes the Rebels would have studied for in preparation for this formation.

  Gus Malzahn adds a new pass route to this formation, catching Ole Miss with only 3 defenders guarding the wide side of the field. At the snap, Cameron Newton will play-action on the speed-sweep option and will roll out to his right. Ole Miss has 2 CB’s and a safety on the wide side of the field but Auburn will flood that side with 4 passing options. Mario Fannin will release into the flat, Lutzenkirchen will run a deep crossing route and Kodi Burns will run a deep post route. The safety on that side will pick up the TE and the two CB’s will cover Burns going vertical and Fannin coming out in the flat.

  The confusion in the Ole Miss secondary will leave Emory Blake uncovered as he basically runs a sideline route from his slot position (new route not seen before). Cameron Newton basically has 3 pass options as he rolls out and Blake is the obvious primary route because he is left uncovered as expected. The play results in a 25-yard gain, setting up Auburn’s first touchdown of the game. Auburn is now 3/4 of the way into the regular season and opposing teams will be keying on formations and subsequent plays previously executed. These slight adjustments to the same formations will counter the tendencies Auburn has previously shown.

[auwrx 0]

malzahn is one of the best tinkerers in the college game right now. i love the give and take setups he does on defenses. that play action weakside pitch in the first quarter was a brilliant call. it all comes down to execution, but when you let the defense run themselves out of position by telegrahing a play, you are in tune with the flow of the game. i wonder if most of these tweaks are from malzahn himself or if the players and  position coaches have alot to do with him designing and calling them. may be a question that can't be truely answered by us on te outside looking in, but there is no doubt it's effective all the same.

great job, as always stat.

[AUBwins 9,528]

Malzahn is outdoing himself this year.  I believe he learned a lot last year as he wasn't sure how much teams would catch on to his tendencies last year as the season progressed.  He may even be using that to his advantage this year.  He is showing a little bit every week.  This is fun!  I hope AU wins the MNC this year so the sting will be less when he deservedly gets a head coaching job in the future.  DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT SAYING MALZAHN IS LEAVING AFTER THIS YEAR.  I just didnt want that can of worms opened.  Have fun and enjoy it guys!!

[AubieIsMyHero 0]

I think Malzahn is getting better at self-scouting.  When you can recognize your own tendencies and then play off those tendencies good things happen more often than not.

[caleb1633 1,418]

Stat. Did you notice that Darvin's TD was the EXACT same play that he scored on them with last year? I love how Malzahn seems to toy with teams sometimes. Throwing in things just to screw with their heads.

[macus23 24]

I believe Cam's pre-snap read (and the receivers have to have the same pre-snap read) on this is to use the jet sweep motion to help identify zone coverage.

If they see zone coverage, they will run the play as Stat diagrammed.  The flood routes will cause 1 defender to cover to people.  If they identify man coverage, this will probably mean a run blitz call on the defense, and therefore the give on the jet sweep would be the proper read.

Def coordinators are starting to use the run blitz as an automatic call against us when they see the wildcat formation.  When you have such a dynamic offense like ours, you can change the play an instant before the ball is snapped, not just with a pre-snap audible.

Now, I say all of this in speculation.  Obviously, I'm not on the team so there is no way to be certain. It could very well be just a called play with no pre-snap read.  I good indicator would be to see this play ran again against a run blitz.  The dead give away would be the run blocking or pass blocking the o-line does on the play.