Alabama pulled out an exciting OT victory against LSU in Death Valley Saturday night. LSU rarely loses in Death Valley, and it appeared LSU was headed for a sure victory, leading with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Alabama got the ball to start OT, and Bama Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin called the perfect play to essentially guarentee an Alabama TD drive. The play involved deception, shifting, and a quick count. Alabama sprinted to the line and came out in an odd formation: Unbalanced. #74, who traditionally plays Tackle, was split out wide and ineligible. On the other side of the formation, a Tight End lined up traditionally where the Tackle would have and actually eligible. Alabama then quickly shifted into an “Empty” formation, where the Quarterback is in the backfield by himself:

Note that #74 is not actually an eligible Receiver on the play, because the Receiver outside of him, #2, is on the line of scrimmage. #2 is “covering” #74, and #74 therefore cannot be illegally down field at the time of the pass. (He is ineligible) However, the Tight End noted in the picture IS eligible, although he is lined up traditionally where a Tackle would be. He is eligible because he is the first “uncovered” player on the line of scrimmage. This means no player outside of him is on the line of scrimmage. Alabama then shifts, with the Running Back moving from the backfield to the outside Receiver spot, and All-American Wide Receiver Amari Cooper moving a few steps toward the sideline. This seems to cause a bit of confusion in the LSU secondary, as they are unsure how to handle the formation:

The LSU defenders communicate how to handle the formation, but nobody appears to notice there is an eligible Tight End.  As you can see from the freeze-frame below, all 11 LSU defenders are accounted for, with nobody paying attention to the Tight End. There are 4 Defensive Lineman to rush the passer, 3 Defensive Back’s and 1 Linebacker focused on the 3 Alabama players at the bottom of the screen (including ineligible #74) (Red Rectangle), and 3 Defensive Backs focused on Cooper and the Running Back who shifted (Red Triangle). Before the LSU coaching staff can intervene, Alabama snaps the ball. Here are the Alabama routes with the focus of the LSU defenders highlighted:

As you can see, out of sheer pre-snap alignment, the LSU defenders are completely out of position to defend the Tight End’s route. Once the ball is snapped, you can see this unfold as LSU double teams Amari Cooper, leaving the middle of the field wide open:

LSU’s #4 has his back completely turned, and the LSU Defensive End is too late to realize the Tight End is eligible. Alabama Quarterback Blake Sims doesn’t even set his feet because the Tight End is so wide open. With only 25 yards to score in OT, this is a backbreaking play for the LSU Defense. Alabama scores a few plays later, and eventually wins the game. The video below shows how the entire play unfolds:

Alabama Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin deserves plenty of credit here. The play was called at the perfect time: the start of overtime, where players are coming from the sideline.  From there, Alabama executed the play quickly. If they had not, the LSU coaching staff would have likely called Timeout, or the LSU defenders would have figured out what Alabama was doing. This is something unique Kiffin brings to Alabama: under previous Alabama coaching staffs, I had not seen anything like what Kiffin called to begin Overtime.