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Run it as designed, darn good chance of a First Down...
From the AJC
What happened on Georgia Tech’s failed fake punt
Sept 15, 2018
PITTSBURGH —
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson isn’t averse to risks, and Saturday he paid the price on a hefty gamble.
Down 7-0 in the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets went with a fake punt on a fourth-and-7 from their own 28-yard line. However, Zach Roberts’ snap to upback Antwan Owens resulted in a two-yard loss and gave the Panthers the ball on Tech’s 26-yard line. The change on downs put Pitt in position to get into the end zone for a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. It was a cushion that proved critical in Tech’s 24-19 loss Saturday at Heinz Field.
Johnson explained that the assistant coach in charge of the punt team advised him that the play would work, but Johnson accepted accountability. On a day when both teams were trying to improve poor special-teams play in their previous games, the Jackets were the ones to make another error in the kicking game.
“That was a bad call,” Johnson said. “I’ll eat that one. That was on me.”
On the play, Roberts snapped to Owens, lined up as a punt protector with Brant Mitchell and Desmond Branch at the 21-yard line, seven yard behind the line of scrimmage. Owens, lined up on the left of Branch and Mitchell, took the snap and ran right. Branch took on a Pitt player charging right up the middle.
Georgia Tech defensive end Antwan Owens (at the 21-yard line) runs with the ball on a fake punt. The design of the fake was apparently to follow linebacker Brant Mitchell (center of the field at the 22-yard line) to the perimeter. (Screen grab of the broadcast by Fox Sports South.)
Owens runs behind Avery Showell's block, which leads him to Pitt's Jim Medure, who was being blocked to the middle of the field by Ajani Kerr. (Screen grab from Fox Sports South broadcast)
Mitchell ran right to the edge of the formation as a lead blocker for Owens. On the right edge, Ajani Kerr blocked Pitt’s Jim Medure and even managed to turn him back to the inside of the play. It appeared that, had Owens followed Mitchell around Kerr’s block, he would have had enough open space in front of him to reach the 35-yard line for a first down and give the Jackets a momentum boost.
However, Owens, while a tight end in high school, is a 265-pound defensive end and not accustomed to running with the ball, particularly in a high-pressure situation. For whatever reason, he did not follow the design of the play around Kerr and behind Mitchell. Instead, perhaps seeing a gap in the line, Owens ran the ball up the middle, and right into Medure, who, having been sealed off by Kerr from reaching the perimeter, was now in position to get off Kerr’s block to make the tackle.
After the game, Johnson said that “I’m not sure it wouldn’t have been easy” for Owens to pick up the first down had he run to the outside, “but that was a bad call. That’s on me.”
From the AJC
What happened on Georgia Tech’s failed fake punt
Sept 15, 2018
PITTSBURGH —
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson isn’t averse to risks, and Saturday he paid the price on a hefty gamble.
Down 7-0 in the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets went with a fake punt on a fourth-and-7 from their own 28-yard line. However, Zach Roberts’ snap to upback Antwan Owens resulted in a two-yard loss and gave the Panthers the ball on Tech’s 26-yard line. The change on downs put Pitt in position to get into the end zone for a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. It was a cushion that proved critical in Tech’s 24-19 loss Saturday at Heinz Field.
Johnson explained that the assistant coach in charge of the punt team advised him that the play would work, but Johnson accepted accountability. On a day when both teams were trying to improve poor special-teams play in their previous games, the Jackets were the ones to make another error in the kicking game.
“That was a bad call,” Johnson said. “I’ll eat that one. That was on me.”
On the play, Roberts snapped to Owens, lined up as a punt protector with Brant Mitchell and Desmond Branch at the 21-yard line, seven yard behind the line of scrimmage. Owens, lined up on the left of Branch and Mitchell, took the snap and ran right. Branch took on a Pitt player charging right up the middle.
Georgia Tech defensive end Antwan Owens (at the 21-yard line) runs with the ball on a fake punt. The design of the fake was apparently to follow linebacker Brant Mitchell (center of the field at the 22-yard line) to the perimeter. (Screen grab of the broadcast by Fox Sports South.)
Owens runs behind Avery Showell's block, which leads him to Pitt's Jim Medure, who was being blocked to the middle of the field by Ajani Kerr. (Screen grab from Fox Sports South broadcast)
Mitchell ran right to the edge of the formation as a lead blocker for Owens. On the right edge, Ajani Kerr blocked Pitt’s Jim Medure and even managed to turn him back to the inside of the play. It appeared that, had Owens followed Mitchell around Kerr’s block, he would have had enough open space in front of him to reach the 35-yard line for a first down and give the Jackets a momentum boost.
However, Owens, while a tight end in high school, is a 265-pound defensive end and not accustomed to running with the ball, particularly in a high-pressure situation. For whatever reason, he did not follow the design of the play around Kerr and behind Mitchell. Instead, perhaps seeing a gap in the line, Owens ran the ball up the middle, and right into Medure, who, having been sealed off by Kerr from reaching the perimeter, was now in position to get off Kerr’s block to make the tackle.
After the game, Johnson said that “I’m not sure it wouldn’t have been easy” for Owens to pick up the first down had he run to the outside, “but that was a bad call. That’s on me.”
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