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Mississippi State football: re-living the 2014 Auburn game

By Josh Barnhill

Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs running back Josh Robinson (13) celebrates with the Mississippi State Bulldogs fans after the game at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Auburn Tigers 38-23. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs running back Josh Robinson (13) celebrates with the Mississippi State Bulldogs fans after the game at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Auburn Tigers 38-23. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott (15) passing against the Auburn Tigers during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State defeated Auburn 38-23. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott (15) passing against the Auburn Tigers during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State defeated Auburn 38-23. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

14-0 was a great start – unbelievable really – but then Dak Prescott and the boys really flexed some muscle on the next drive: 71 yards on 7 plays in 2:24.

The drive ended on a two yard touchdown run by Prescott, but earlier in the drive there was a 15 yard reception to Robert Johnson that we’d like to take a closer look at….

Play action, pull guard….

Pulling the guard is done to bait the defense into committing to the run even more than they would be with a standard fake hand-off. If you can get a safety to take a step or two up it could be all you need for a wide receiver to get open.

The following are two plays which utilize play-action and pull the guard. MSU is lined up in different formations, but the receiver’s routes Dak Prescott throws the ball to are the same in each play. Let’s take a look (click image to enlarge any shot)…

As you can see on this first shot, MSU is lined up with four wide. Robert Johnson is wide to the left with Malcolm Johnson in the slot. On the right side Bear Wilson is wide with Gabe Myles in the slot. While there are two WR on either side of the line, the ball is on the right hash leaving the Johnson’s with the biggest area to work.

play action 1
play action 1 /

Now you can see the play action. Dak Prescott fakes the hand-off to Josh Robinson, and Ben Beckwith pulls to the left side to block the defensive end who is crashing down. It’s good defense though – Auburn’s safety doesn’t bite (you can see him back-peddling).

play action 2
play action 2 /

As Prescott surveys the field he sees Bear Wilson in tight coverage on the bottom of the screen and and same for Robert Johnson at the top. The safety is still the key – will he pick up RoJo or MoJo? If he picks up MoJo then the option will likely be Gabe Myles on the underneath route, but he stays with RoJo, and why Malcolm makes his break he shakes the  defender out of his shoes to get open.

Also you can’t see it on this shot, but that crashing DE has a full head of steam and Ben Beckwith wasn’t able to hold it for long, but Josh Robinson helped him out to give Prescott enough time.

play action 3
play action 3 /

Dak hits Malcolm Johnson for the first down.

play action 4
play action 4 /

Next: The Rain and the Turnovers

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