Bears run the most Harbaughish play of all time and it worked
How did Jim not think of this. All lineman on the field. Not a single skill player.
December 10th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
This made me laugh.
+1
December 10th, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
Saw that while watching the game last night and was pretty sure Harbaugh would see this and perhaps build his own version. JBB goes out with a TD catch at the Peach Bowl.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:01 PM ^
Linemen are ineligible to catch forward passes in college football. There's no such thing as "reporting as eligible." No chance for Bushell-Beatty unless a defender touches the ball first (like Jareth Glanda in Sugar Bowl vs. Virginia Tech) or unless it's a lateral.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
Isn’t that why they have an eligle jersey number for a lineman to put on, when needed?
December 10th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
Usually they don't that within a single game. They'll do that with a backup lineman, who will wear an eligible jersey number throughout that particular game. IIRC, we did that with Tom Strobel a couple years ago.
December 10th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
i seem to remember a 350 lb lineman for baylor catching a td pass against sparty in a bowl game a few years ago.
December 10th, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^
i was wrong on a couple counts here. first, he was 410 lbs. next, he in fact put on jersey #80 for that play.
December 10th, 2018 at 7:51 PM ^
Must have taken a full quarter to change him back k into his regular jersey.
December 10th, 2018 at 7:03 PM ^
Michigan has had players switch jerseys mid-game several times in the Harbaugh era. I think it was JBB (but maybe I am thinking of Strobel?), who wore #96 as a sixth OL in some of the tackle-over packages. The referee comes on and makes an announcement like "Michigan player #75 is now wearing #96" or whatever the case may have been.
I remember looking up the rules afterward to see why that had been done. :)
Any player can catch a backwards pass. I don't actually see any rule that restricts a college team from fielding 11 players with lineman numbers, except that no forward passes would be legal, so it might not be particularly effective.
Well, it might be a good way to get the opposition to burn a timeout. :)
December 10th, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
Or if he changes his number and someone else plays RT.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
How does that work exactly? Like, the number determines eligibility not where on the field they are? If we line up JBB in the outside receiver slot, or Runyan at running back, could they not catch a pass? I get you can't declare a like, in line OL eligible but how exactly does eligibility work?
December 10th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^
In college you must a) wear an eligible number (1-49, 80-99) AND b) line up in the backfield or on the end of the line of scrimmage. So your number matters, and so does your alignment on the field.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:14 PM ^
If it is deflected off an offensive player and never touches a defender, is a lineman still ineligible to catch that ball in college?
December 10th, 2018 at 7:07 PM ^
Yes. If a defensive player touches the ball, all offensive players become eligible. However, having a second offensive player touch the ball does not confer eligibility to any heretofore ineligible receivers.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
Yes, remember the shit show of the sugar bowl where we tried a fake field goal, Virginia Tech dropped the pick, and a lineman for us caught it for a first down?
December 10th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
better than a fullback dive with a tight end that's for sure
December 10th, 2018 at 2:52 PM ^
Gutsy call, seeing that the score was 8-6 Bears at that point and a turnover there is a definite risk when you have several players not accustomed to playing those offensive positions.
December 10th, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
Loved it. A highlight in a weird, (mostly) ugly game.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
December 11th, 2018 at 1:35 AM ^
Your preferences are custom designed for Michigan football lol
December 10th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^
Too much passing.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^
Boo to Deadspin. I was expecting a lineman at QB in the wildcat. I think Trubisky counts as a skill position player.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
Hey guys, I have an idea. Let's run a play with ONLY skill position players and no linemen! WCGW??
December 10th, 2018 at 3:21 PM ^
I'm not sure Trubisky counts as a skilled player. Oh, you meant something else. Nevermind.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
This could be a way to get Chase his touchdown.
But instead we'll probably get another choo choo formation, leading to a fullback dive with a tight end and/or a buttfumble.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
This is one of those plays that a guy is a genius for when it works, but the same exact play that impacts the defense the same exact way but for whatever reason doesn't get executed and a coach is an idiot.
End results matter, but fans should be smarter when evaluating coaching.
By the way, love the single wing, so I'm all for the play
December 10th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
"but for whatever reason doesn't get executed and a coach is an idiot."
Purdue, 1996
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-11-10-9611100378-story.html
December 10th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
"The Bears scored a touchdown out of similar formation last week by letting Hicks do a William “The Refrigerator” Perry impression, and it looked like they were lining up to do the same thing last night. But head coach Matt Nagy added a new wrinkle, using a play fake to Hicks to clear out airspace in the end zone for Sowell."
Not sure I approve of this concept of adding wrinkles to something you've done before so that you're a bit less predictable. Isn't that unmanly? Or at least unsportsmanlike?
December 10th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
in the late 90s was living abroad and heard the Lions were moving back downtown. I scrambled online to hope to find if it would be an OUTDOOR stadium... Was so disappointed when it wasn't. Its a pleasure to eatch a team like the Bears play in cold, with a stout D... I like watching them, TRUBISKY is pretty good.... Cohen does have a few Barry attributes (i said only a few, relax).... Wish the Lions played outdoors...it kills the soul that a blue collar team plays inside.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^
Dome teams are 4-23 in the playoffs when they’re outdoors and it’s 35 degrees or colder.
The record of warm weather and dome teams in outside cold weather locations in the playoffs is pretty miserable overall.
The Lions voluntarily gave up an advantage against warmer weather teams by moving to a dome. I can't see them ever getting to the Super Bowl unless they have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, or by pure luck get a playoff schedule that has them playing in other domes or warm weather locations.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:10 PM ^
rehab the silverdome for outdoor games!
last i saw it was being overgrown by vegetation.
does anyone know if the sale went through and the space is being redeveloped?
December 10th, 2018 at 4:45 PM ^
Apparently, the Silverdome has been blown up (twice), cleared, and was being used as a VW recall graveyard as recently as April of this year.
Silverdome Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Silverdome
VW Story: https://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2018/04/vw_storing_nearly_300k_cheatin.html
December 10th, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^
Spot on Alumnus 93 ...
December 10th, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^
The QB is not a skill player? Burn....
December 10th, 2018 at 4:02 PM ^
Get your 11 biggest/strongest guys on the field. Bunch them up. Hike the ball and slowly push forward.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:40 PM ^
Isn't that called rugby? With four additional players, of course.
December 10th, 2018 at 6:02 PM ^
I thought it was going to be playaction on 3rd and long deep in your own territory.
December 10th, 2018 at 6:48 PM ^
You cannot call it a Harbaughish play if it worked.
December 10th, 2018 at 7:23 PM ^
The key words in your post are "and it worked"
December 10th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
I’m a bears fan in Chicago I love this new coach we have he has the it factor and a ton of balls. He does not fear anything and writes in a new goofy play every week.