First Arkansas. Then the Miami Dolphins. Now UCLA.
The latest fad in the ever-evolving sport of football is the “direct-snap” formation: Line up the tailback in the shotgun and snap the ball to him as if he were the quarterback.
Although this has been displayed in some form or another for years in football, Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, a trick-play wizard himself, popularized the formation with former star running back Darren McFadden in 2006.
Recently, Ronnie Brown set the NFL afire after scorching the Patriots with the direct-snap offense, gashing New England on the ground, and throwing a touchdown pass to boot. He scored again from the formation yesterday as Miami baffled San Diego with the direct-snap option.
Some simply regard these as gadget plays. Gimmicks. Trickeration, if you will.
Whatever you call it, it’s carried westward to UCLA, adding another dimension to the Bruin offense. Rick Neuheisel calls it “a weapon.”
Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow have added a direct-snap formation for running back Kahlil Bell, with Bell in the shotgun receiving the ball and quarterback Kevin Craft spread out as a wide receiver.
We caught a glimpse of this last week against Fresno State, but Saturday night UCLA expanded the set in its convincing 28-3 victory over Washington State. It wasn’t the trickery that produced the result, but it injected an element of excitement against a weak foe.
In the second quarter, Bell took the snap and handed it off to receiver Terence Austin, who went in motion and presented Bell a hand-off option.
In the second half, Bell kept the ball instead, and in a new wrinkle, he later ran the option play with backup tailback Derrick Coleman.
Two tailbacks running the option together? And who says the option offense is dead?
Neuheisel offers a simple explanation for why the play is so powerful. Instead of the quarterback handing the ball off and no longer contributing to the play, he occupies a blocker.
This means that instead of nine blockers, an idle QB, and the ball carrier, there are 10 blockers creating seams for Bell. So simple, yet so powerful.
I asked Neuheisel after the game if he plans to expand the formation.
He said, “You know, we’d love to.”
According to Neuheisel, the next step for the Bruins is to pass from the set.
Or, at the least, present the threat of a pass to keep defenses like Washington State’s from overloading on the run.
“What they did is they came off the edges tonight, because they just assumed we couldn’t throw. So we’ve got to expand it a little bit so we can have more options.”
The direct-snap isn’t the end of the Bruins creative play-calling streak. UCLA has lined up mammoth defensive tackle Brian Price as a blocking fullback. Shades of William “The Fridge” Perry in Westwood.
Defensive linemen on offense. Running backs taking snaps. Quarterbacks at wide receiver. What’s next, punters scoring touchdowns?
Trickeration is abound in UCLA football. It hasn’t resulted in any big plays, yet.
In the meantime, it sure is entertaining.
If you have a favorite trick play, e-mail Taylor at btaylor@media.ucla.edu.