Alabama has seemingly always had a tendency for big plays early in games against Arkansas, going back to Shaud Williams in 2002, and that has been especially true under Nick Saban. After Glen Coffee gutted the Hogs in 2008 in Fayetteville, two years ago Alabama jumped out to another early lead over Arkansas thanks in large part to some trickeration on a long pass play out of the Wildcat. When Bobby Petrino and company returned to Tuscaloosa this past weekend, Saban pulled off the trickeration yet again, this time with a shift out of a field goal formation. Let's take a closer look at the film.
Alabama starts the game with two Trent Richardson rushes that net the Crimson Tide 30 yards, and the chains keep moving with a twelve-yard completion to senior wide receiver Marquis Maze. 'Bama looks poised to continue the early offensive success in Arkansas territory, but the drive immediately stalls. Richardson gets blown up in the backfield on second down, and on third and long A.J. McCarron finds discretion to be the better part of valor and tucks the football for a four-yard gain, bringing up fourth down. With the ball at the Arkansas 37-yard line, Nick Saban sends Cade Foster into the game, ostensibly to attempt a 54-yard field goal.
Despite the big leg prep pedigree, however, Foster has been something of a disappointment since arriving in Tuscaloosa, lacking the booming kick-offs many expected and being too inconsistent to beat out Jeremy Shelley for the short-and-intermediate attempts. Through fifteen games at Alabama, the career long for Foster is 49 yards, and the two kicks he has attempted from roughly this distance have landed closer to the back pilons than the goal posts.
Surprisingly though, given the length of the kick and Foster's erratic nature, Arkansas comes out in a field goal block formation with all eleven defenders at least initially feigning some intention of rushing the kick. Bobby Petrino could have played it safe and simply sent his base defense onto the field for the fourth and four, but for whatever reason decided that was not necessary.
Of course, Alabama doesn't stay in the field goal formation for long. Starting quarterback AJ McCarron, who is also the Tide's holder on placekicks, quickly shifts back into the shotgun formation, as tight end Chris Underwood splits out wide and Foster darts out in the slot, both players to the offensive left. McCarron, however, lines up seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, abnormally deep for a quarterback in the shotgun....
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