Leading South Carolina 10-7 with about 7 minutes to play in the 2nd quarter, Ole Miss was in position to go up two scores and put even more stress on a bad Gamecocks offense.
On 1st and 10 at the South
Carolina 14, with Ole Miss going tempo, Kewan Lacy lost a yard to make it 2nd and 11 on the hashmark nearest the Ole Miss sideline (aka, the boundary). This will be important in a second.
Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. decided to dial up a ball play to use Trinidad Chambliss’ legs. They called the classic Pin and Pull concept, and stuck with the call only after they motioned players into the boundary to see how South Carolina would react.
This is how Ole Miss initially lined up, and Dae’Quan Wright and Lacy motioned to the boundary.
Notice South Carolina walked a safety down to line up with Wright, but the rest of their defensive shape never changed.
This is of note because, at this moment, Kiffin and Weis Jr. know they have a numbers advantage to run the Pin and Pull rather than check to something else. Counting center Brycen Sanders and everyone to his left, Ole Miss has 6 blockers to South Carolina’s 5 defenders.
Also at this moment, Kiffin’s internal monologue is screaming PLS SNAP THE BALL because if Ole Miss blocks it right, this is a touchdown.
How are they supposed to block it, you ask? A great question!
Here’s how the Pin and Pull should work:
- Outside receiver De’Zhaun Stribling goes hunting for a safety (or at least drags the corner out of the play)
- Wright pins down the defensive end
- Left guard Delano Townsend seals off the linebacker
- Center Sanders gets across the face of the defensive tackle (this is a pretty big ask, given the tackle is in a 2 technique well to his left)
- Left tackle Diego Pounds pulls and acts as a lead blocker
- Lacy comes out of the backfield as a second blocker
- Chambliss follows the Pounds and Lacy convoy
You’ll see that Sanders gets beat across his face, but does enough to slow down the defensive tackle, and Chambliss just has to get around him and all is well.
Chambliss does that because he’s an elite runner, and now you can see how screwed South Carolina is. Three Ole Miss blockers to two South Carolina defenders.
Pounds and Wright create an alley, leaving Lacy in the lead to wipe out any defender trying to close down the play. As you can see, Chambliss is 15 yards away from the end zone, and it’s a touchdown.
Kiffin knew it was a touchdown when Chambliss was at the 17.
In fact, Kiffin didn’t even see Chambliss get into the end zone because he turned the other way when his quarterback was six yards away from a touchdown.
Pin and Pull is a wonderful concept, but what made the play possible was motioning strength into the boundary, particularly flipping Lacy from Chambliss’ right to his left. South Carolina thought they could still fit the boundary run gaps, but they got cooked in a numbers game.
A great call from Kiffin and Weis Jr., and near-perfect execution from the players to give Ole Miss control of the game.
