A Pivotal Play – East Carolina

[Kgun7]

1st & 10 UCONN at their own 49 with 9:52 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

A very odd thing about this play is that they called the exact same play as the previous play, with a much better result. On 2nd and 4 from their own 43 Shirreffs was pressured and was able to scramble for 6 yards and a first down. However, the coaching staff must have seen a reaction in the ECU defense that they liked and they decided to try the same exact play again.

#1 – UCONN in a 2 TE Left, Single Back, 2 WR right … ECU shows 3-4, 2 Deep, Cover 2 Zone alignment …

 

[Kgun7]

#2 – Myers motions right … SS slides down opposite Thomas … FS slides central revealing Cover 1 at the snap

 

[Kgun7]

#3 – Bloom releases … 2 ECU LB’s Blitz, Myers picks up SAM … PA with Newsome

 

[Kgun7]

#4 – Newsome blocks 216LB MIKE LB … ECU SS appears to take an underneath stance expecting help over the top on Thomas … Mayala picks up steam … Myers releases into the right flat

 

[Kgun7]

#5 – Shirreffs about to get drilled by the SAM LB … shows no signs of happy feet or deer in the headlights … steps into the throw very effectively as he gets hammered

 

[Kgun7]

#6 – The SS peels off Thomas and releases him to the deep FS so he can cover Myers in the flat … Thomas occupying the deep FS

 

[Kgun7]

#7 – Shirreffs threads the needle with a great throw … on the line without too much air so the FS can’t recover

 

[Kgun7]

#8 – Mayala gets drilled

 

[Kgun7]

#9 – Holds on and pops right up!

 

[noeynox]

That was a big time throw. Gives me a great hope for what this offense found evolve to by next year.

 

[Kgun7]

#10 – Shirreffs steps into his throw and exposes his ribs …

 

[Kgun7]

#11 – And needed every ounce of energy on that throw to elude the outstretched fingers of #28 CB Hawkins

 

[Kgun7]

Conclusion – So many good things in this one play from the coaches for their play selection to the players for their execution. The previous play was blown up by Knappe’s inability to contain the DE, but the coaching staff came right back to this play because of the deep FS read on the Thomas post route. Newsome’s block, the OL blocking, Shirreffs throw, and Mayala’s amazing catch. Shirreffs easily could have dumped it off to Myers for a 5 to 8 yard gain. But he held his ground, stepped into his throw in the face of a LB blitz, and delivered a strike to Mayala. Also can’t say enough about Mayala’s ability to hold onto that ball!

Tulane can’t come soon enough!

PS - Does anyone know how to upload GIFs???

 

[CTMike]

I loved everything about this play, glad you picked it. If one of them doesn't do their job well the whole thing falls apart... They really operated well as a unit on this one.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Was this the play where the Tulane player got called for head hunting and was ejected?

 

[huskypantz]

PS - Does anyone know how to upload GIFs???

I believe they've been blocked from the site by a 6'7" 280lb dude.

 

[Santini35]

Was this the play where the Tulane player got called for head hunting and was ejected?

Yes, targeting

 

[jdb50]

Why do we still have 5 blocking 3 at this point in the season? Opposing DC's are given such a gift with this habit our O-line has. In picture 3 Knappe has left a huge hole to his right and it's up to Arkeel to fill the breach while the other rusher now has no one to block him. Better have quick throws planned with this blocking scheme.

 

[minidarren]

Was this the play where the Tulane player got called for head hunting and was ejected?

Yes, the ejection of said player will happen on Saturday the 7th of November.

Contain your enthusiasm Philip, the team was playing ECU.

 

[Dooley]

Great play and awesome job by Mayala to hold on to that ball. If that were me, I would still be laid out on the Rent grass! (And I would have never held onto the ball)

 

[Palatine]

Giving the sam a free route to your QB is not a way to make a living. But it worked.

 

[IMind]

Great play and awesome job by Mayala to hold on to that ball. If that were me, I would still be laid out on the Rent grass! (And I would have never held onto the ball)

If it was me... I'd still be somewhere around the line of scrimmage wondering what was going on and how I got on a football field.