With 5:19 to go in regulation and Penn State leading 39-24, the Nittany Lion special teams unit trotted out onto the field in punt formation facing a 4th-and-1.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, everyone shifted. The offensive front shifted inwards, the upbacks, ran towards the offensive line pointing at the defense, Jordan Stout ran to his right as if he was going to be part of some trick play.
And Michigan State jumped offsides. Penn State first down.
The entire thing was odd, not quite like any play you’ve probably ever seen before. But it worked, Michigan State’s defenders jumped into the neutral zone and the flag was thrown.
Everyone else – maybe even the referees included – had to say to themselves “what was that?”
According to Penn State coach James Franklin, Penn State works on these sorts of quirky things every single week, and has done so for years, never knowing when the need for a small amount of trickery might pop up.
“So right there in that situation – obviously there are a bunch of things we could have done, we could have gone for it on fourth down, you can run a fake […] or you can try to get them to jump offsides,” Franklin said this week.
“The way that play works, you’re really okay with it either way. They could have called that on us or them very easily. But at the end of the day, if they called it on us it’s a five yard penalty and you punt it away. It’s not the end of the world. So in that situation, the risk is worth the reward.”
That’s one of the more entertaining dynamics of the play itself; it may not have been legal to begin with. As Sunday Night Football rules analyst Terry McAulay mentioned on Twitter, Penn State was lucky not to get flagged with all of the pre snap movement which becomes illegal if it simulates the snap of the ball.
‘It is a false start,’ McAulay said. ‘All of that movement by the offense is quick and simulates action at the snap. Calling a foul on the defense was incorrect.’
And Franklin agrees – sort of.
“I know that their coaches turned it in and complained [to the Big Ten] about us and to be honest with you, I agree. That’s one of those they could call it either way.”
As far as the call itself, Franklin says those sorts of things are talking points throughout a game on the sidelines and tends to be unique only to special teams. The reason; It’s harder to make a split second adjustment on defense before the snap of the ball and there’s no reason not to get the play right the first time on offense.
“On special teams, we’re usually talking about these things on third down,” Franklin added. ”[Special teams coordinator Joe Lorig] usually either is talking to me on the headset, or it comes in stands right next to me. And we’re having these discussions.”
And while former Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio might not be on the sidelines for the Spartans anymore, the king of tricky special teams plays, may have been watching somewhere, nodding with approval.
