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| Friday, November 26 | |||||
Special to ESPN.com | ||||||
About the play: Doug Flutie is great with play action. He knows how important it is to making a play work. This play, "22 gut pass" is a great goal-line or first-down call. The goal line has everyone bunched up, so it takes some good hand work to deceive the defense. Keys to this play: Flutie will reverse pivot and get deep to make this look like a run. He will stick the ball in the running back's gut and pull it out. This makes everything look real and look like a run. The running back will dive into the pile behind the fullback's block to give the defense someone to tackle. The play happens so fast the defense must react. Tight end Jay Riemersma will grab his corner guy (the strong safety) and show block, then he will shed off the strong safety and run his corner route to the back pylon of the end zone. After the fake, Flutie will get his head around and make the easy touchdown pass to Riemersma, while Flutie drifts slightly to the play side for a better throwing angle. Critical player: The key to this is great faking by the quarterback, fullback and tailback. If the fake is great, the play can't be defended because everyone will converge on the running back. It is critical that Riemersma stay low and engage the strong safety. If he stands up immediately, the strong safety knows it is a pass, and Riemersma will be covered. It is also critical that the H back blocks hard and then gets out late just in case the tight end is covered. Defense's key: Discipline. The strong safety can stop this play if he prevents the release on the tight end and does not bite on the fake. | ALSO SEE Playbook: Drew Bledsoe's pick-a-side route
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