TBT: Top Five Plays from the 2019 Rutgers Football season
It's Thursday, which means it's time for a throwback Thursday. This week TKR takes a look at the top five offensive plays from the Rutgers Football team this past season.
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Johnny Langan touchdown pass to Wide Receiver Isaiah Washington in the third quarter versus Liberty.
THE SKINNY: In the third quarter with the score is tied 21- 21, Rutgers has the ball at midfield and come out in a 20 personnel grouping (2 running back’s and 3 wide receivers) versus Liberty’s 4-3 defense (4 defensive lineman, 3 linebackers, and 4 defensive backs) with a cover 2 look in the secondary and the middle of field open. Rutgers has a double’s set to the boundary and a single receiver lined up to the field, which is a 2 by 1 set. Both running backs are lined up in a split formation in the backfield. Running back Isaiah Pacheco runs a swing route while the single receiver Isaiah Washington runs a slant route. This combination of routes put’s the outside linebacker in a bind because his first responsibility is to cover the flats. The swing route pulls him out of the play and allows quarterback Johnny Langan to make an easy read to Washington. Washington does the rest by turning a 5-yard catch into a 51-yard touchdown. The freshman Washington was able to show off his breakaway speed after the catch.
Rutgers Quarterback Johnny Langan pass to Running Back Aaron Young versus Penn State.
THE SKINNY: The Scarlet Knights’ offense comes out in its 11 personnel grouping (1 running back, 1 tight end, and 3 wide receivers) versus Penn State’s 3-4 defense (3 defensive lineman, and 4 linebackers) The Penn State secondary is in a Cover 2 zone look with the middle of the field open. Rutgers has a doubles set across the board with the Y (tight end) lined up in the backfield. Quarterback Johnny Langan motions running back Aaron Young from left to right of the formation and hands off the ball to him. Young then hands it off to slot receiver Christian Dremel on the reverse in which Dremel flips it to back Langan. Langan looks then down the field to see identify the coverage and finds Young down the sideline who ran a wheel route. Young secures the catch for a huge gain to get Rutgers into the red zone. It was great timing to run the double reverse pass early in the game to catch the defense off guard. Langan delivered an accurate football on time so Young can make a play after the catch.
Artur Sitkowski touchdown pass to Running Back Raheem Blackshear in the first quarter versus Boston College.
THE SKINNY: In the middle of the 1st quarter, Rutgers is faced with a third-and-4 in which it comes out in an 11 personnel grouping (1 running back, 1 tight end, and 3 wide receivers) versus Boston College’s 3-3-5 defense (3 defensive lineman, 3 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs). In this particular play, Boston College has 6 defenders in the box. In the secondary, the Eagles defense is running Cover 2 man with the middle of the field open. As soon as Artur Sitkowski is about to snap the football, you see the defensive coverage roll with the strong safety coming inside the box and the coverage now turning into Cover 1 across the board due to the full house blitz. The Scarlet Knights identify the pressure by running 3 verticals with the Y (tight end) on the boundary side of the field running a drag left to right. Running Back Raheem Blackshear chips the defensive end and immediately runs a seam route. The inside linebacker on Boston College misses his assignment in covering the running back. Sitkowski identifys the pressure and finds Blackshear for the score. This was a great play design to exploit a linebacker in the open field.
Running Back Isiah Pacheco rushing touchdown in the first quarter versus Ohio State.
THE SKINNY: Late in the first quarter Rutgers was looking to get something going from an offensive standpoint, the Scarlet Knights came out in an 11 personnel grouping (1 running back, 1 tight end, and 3 wide receivers) versus the Ohio State’s 4-4 defense (4 defensive linemen, and 4 linebackers) with a Cover 1 look from the secondary and the middle of the field close. Rutgers motions over the slot receiver from the back side of the field to the front side of the field in which he lines up offset the right tackle along with the outside receiver. On the backside of the field,’the Y (tight end) is lined up offset the left tackle along with the outside receiver. Running Back Isiah Pacheco is lined up directly behind the quarterback in the shotgun which would be called a pistol formation set. The entire offensive line blocks down left while the Y from the back side comes across the formation to pick up the front side defensive end that was unblocked. The center and right tackle chip the man that’s within their gap and find the next man that crosses their face in the second level of the defense. Rutgers dials up a zone run against Ohio State’s defense and the Rutgers offensive line did a great job picking up their blocks so Pacheco could find a crease in the Buckeyes’ defense. Pacheco was able to show off his vision, strength, and second level burst for the touchdown.
Rutgers Quarterback Johnny Langan pass to Wide Receiver Bo Melton versus Penn State.
THE SKINNY: Rutgers has an 11 personnel grouping (1 running back, 1 tight end and 3 wide receivers) versus Penn State’s 3-3-5 defense (3 defensive lineman, 3 linebackers, and 5 defensive backs) with a cover 2 look in the secondary with the middle of the field open. Rutgers has a doubles set to the field with the Y (tight end) and single receiver lined up to the boundary. Facing a third down, 3 Rutgers calls a RPO (Run, Pass, Option) play depending on how Penn State’s defense defends it. When it comes to an RPO play the offensive line will block as if it’s a run play no matter if the quarterback gives the ball to the running back or pulls t to throw the football. RPOs are great to pull the front of the defense to the line of scrimmage to find passing lanes when getting to the second level of a defense. On this specific RPO, it’s a zone run in which Langan is reading either the inside linebacker or strong safety by the boundary. Langan notices that the linebacker blitzes and that the strong safety comes into the box to replace the linebacker. Langan pulls the football and throws a strike right down the seam to Wide Receiver Bo Melton for a nice gain. Although it was a tight window Langan was able to use the RPO to his advantage to pull both the linebacker and safety out of the play.
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