the trick play...
I'll do my best to explain why "The Play" didn't work so well. Part was the difficulty of the behind the back, no look pitch, but a big part was also very poor execution, especially from the tight end and right tackle.
K-State scored in Miami last year in a nearly identical situation, 3rd and goal from inside the 5. However, the formation was 3 receivers split out and only 1 back in the backfield. This year we had double tight ends, 2 backs, and only Harper in at receiver. Miami's defense is tight to the formation, and Harper's motion across the formation removes the corner leaving only the outside linebacker to beat if the reverse was executed.
There are several keys besides the pitch to the execution of the play. First, the tight end must get a release (short line) behind the linebackers to sell the jump pass. Second, the offensive front must not allow penetration to make the pitch easier for Klein to execute. 3rd, Hubert must get to the edge (long line) and seal the outside linebacker.
Harper times out his turn pretty well to get the timing for the pitch (left circle). However, the tight end is manhandled by the defensive end and is unable to get a release for the quick route. I'm sure that is what Miami's defensive end was coached to do in this situation after we ran the jump pass successfully last year, but the tight end still should be able to get off into his route quicker than he did.
Making matters worse, as Klein steps up into his jump fake the right tackle has gotten absolutely blown into the backfield (large circle) by Miami's defensive tackle. IMO this disrupted Klein's pitch just enough to make it impossible for Harper to catch. You can also see the tight end is still engaged with the defensive end (small circle) so the jump pass fake is non existent to pull in the outside linebacker inside. Hubert appears to have the outside shoulder blocked of the outside linebacker, so the play still probably scores if the pitch is executed.
Its not until Harper is scrambling for the ball that the tight end finally gets his release. In hindsight its easy to say that Harper should've just fallen on the ball as soon as possible and possibly saved as many as 5 yards, but he reacted and tried to make something happen.
Again, just the pitch part of the play was going to be difficult to execute on its own, but the major mistakes by both the tight end and tackle made execution nearly impossible. I will still contend while difficult and unconventional, the overall design was sound. It just got blown up in large part because Miami's defensive end and tackle made good plays at the point of attack.
