College football Tuesdays don’t have the same sheer volume as Saturdays do, but when MAC teams get together, the fun basically never stops. Take, for example, this nifty little touchdown in Tuesday night’s Ohio vs. Akron showdown.
One of the more beautifully executed 3-yard plays you'll ever see. pic.twitter.com/VE8oD1Mmnl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 15, 2017
The Bobcats, inside the red zone in the first quarter and down by three (not exactly dire straits, so the stakes were low) decided to break out a two-layered gadget play. Let’s break it down real quick:
First, the quarterback leaves the center and has the running back take an unexpectedly sudden direct snap. The Akron defense understandably thinks this is the main misdirection of the play, and Ohio was just trying to catch them off guard.And then, as the running back trots to the left behind a stacked line, he laterals the ball to a wideout, who rolls to the right and looks for that quarterback — remember him? Akron didn’t — who is wide open in the flat.
Touchdown, Ohio. Great play!
If this seems kind of familiar, it’s because Navy use the exact same play against Temple just 12 days ago for a third quarter touchdown.
cool TD play by Navy here. QB Zach Abey fakes like he's making adjustments at the line and then slips out as a receiver pic.twitter.com/gD1fA3TRvt
— Dr. Saturday (@YahooDrSaturday) November 3, 2017
The stakes were a bit higher in Navy’s case: trailing by 18 after 40 minutes isn’t ideal, so the Midshipmen broke out the razzle dazzle and scored a key touchdown.
Whatever the situation, this is a great play, and now that it’s happened twice, teams are going to have to be on high alert to make sure they’re not on the wrong end of the next highlight.
