.... at face value.
I was reading some posts on social media and ran across an accusation by a fan toward UT's use of an onside kick in the first quarter of the Kent State game.
it was already in the bag, even that early.. so .... why?
a: Kent State lined up wrong. they left a hole in the return coverage. The kicker saw it, and knew what it meant. CJH didn't make the call, the kicking squad did- either the kicker or one of the players on the field. It was a heads up play and a good call by the player(s).... should it have been executed? ... that's another story and one I won't address here.
it got me to a little bit of thinking and watching games with a little different angle, and how an individual player has margin to make on the spot decisions, and decisions that may break a scheme. i think it's most apparent on coverages and by DB's- mostly deciding to break on the ball instead of laminating a receiver- it sometimes works out... it sometimes doesn't. it's apparent with LB's who sell out on where they 'think' the ball is going... again, it works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. the QB has the most latitude, obviously, and often times makes a great play- but for those at the game who aren't limited to camera angle- that 'great pass' could have been to the other side of the field and to a wide open receiver with nothing but space between himself and paint.
last night in the UT/OU game, there were a couple times by both teams where a direction was changed by the RB and after the exchange that 'could' have gone the distance had they not turned directly into walls of opposing jersey's.
every player on the field has a job to do and must do it within the space the scheme dictates. this is common sense... but what isn't is when a kicker sees a break in placement and makes a snap decision to drop the kick over the front line and into that space.
and this is why I love this game so- there are wrinkles left and right in how it's prepared for, how it's planned, how it's executed.... and it's dang rare any of those turn out the way they're expected.
the single biggest example of what I'm talking about that i can recall is when ND was playing UM i think it was, back when Brady Quinn was the QB and the coach was that overplayed arrogant ass from the Pats with the most dumbass name for a system likely ever... though i can't recall the name he gave it... this 'thing' happened on the goal line, and involved a couple linemen giving the ball carrier a heavy push, and scoring because of... that was a heads up play, and though technically against the rules- it had been so long since it had been used it was new again and the refs didn't know what to do about it... i see it fairly often, now, and don't ever recall seeing it called.
does this make any sense to y'all and if so what examples can you provide of 'breaking way out of role and either effing up badly or having mad success'?
