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The play before Jerome Baker's INT for TD.

+30 HS
Buckeye_Wizard's picture
September 20, 2016 at 3:00pm
35 Comments

Well...some of you seem to like these little film breakdowns and I seem to have lots of time these days.  Do you remember the saying...'it's better to be lucky than good'? Sometimes that is very true.

You may fondly remember when Jerome Baker intercepted Baker Mayfield's tipped pass and returned it for a TD last Saturday night.  Not much in life tastes as sweet as a game changing play in the enemy's lair.  But Baker's interception almost never happened.  Let's take a look at the previous play.

It was 3rd and three on the Ohio State 33 yard line.  The Buckeyes lead 7-0 but the Sooners have been moving the ball consistently in the first quarter.  It seems as if it is only a matter of time until they score.

Here is the formation.

Oklahoma has three receivers to the right of the formation...two WR's and a TE.  The middle receiver is #81 Mark Andrews.  He is 6'5" and 250lbs. 

The Buckeyes are essentially in their base 4-3 defense with press man coverage on the outside receivers.  Just out of the picture above, aligned on Andrews, is Malik Hooker.  Malik measures in at 6'2" and 205lbs and is a size mismatch against Andrews. The mismatch favors the Sooners.  If I were the coach of the Sooners, I would try to take advantage of this size difference.

The play unfolds as follows:

  1. On the snap, the Sooners execute a run fake left.  Notice all of the linemen and the running back move left.  This will cause the seven Buckeyes closest to the line of scrimmage to follow them in order to defend against the run.  I wouldn't be surprised if this play is a run/pass option for Mayfield and he decided to pull the ball.
  2. Andrews (#81) runs a dirty, dirty, dirty route...he pushes upfield to close a bit of the distance between him and the defender.  Andrews then fakes to the outside (like he is running an out) but then quickly turns back to the middle of the field.  The route is so good because of the way he uses his head. He makes sure to turn it completely to the outside and really sells the out. Malik is definitely fooled. Be sure to check out how good the route was...it was truly outstanding.
  3. Hooker completely falls for Andrew's fake to the outside and initially rushes to defend the out.  When Andrews breaks back to the middle of the field, Hooker is badly beaten in coverage.
  4. You can also see #7 Damon Webb running from the opposite side of the field to help on the play.  But, in my opinion, his course is a little off.  If/when Andrews catches the ball, Webb will not be in a position to make a tackle and save a TD.
  5. Luckily for the Buckeyes, Mayfield throws a bad pass.  The pass is slightly behind the receiver.  Since the ball is not on target, Malik is able to recover and seems to tip the ball or maybe the ball hits Andrews in the lower leg.  I cannot tell which is true.  Had this pass been on target, it is my opinion Andrews scores easily and ties the game.  

Would this have changed the outcome of the game?  Probably not.  But isn't it nice when the ball bounces your way?  The next play Baker has his INT and TD and no one remembers this play.

 

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