It took 6 sticks to beat Alabama
and a guy named Johnny Football
In the late fall of 2012, the new team in the SEC came to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to take on the reigning national champions.
With an Air Raid attack and a quarterback named Johnny Football, the Texas A&M Aggies went up to a quick 20-0 lead in the first quarter and held on to win 29-24.
That game was monumental because not only did Alabama lose (which is a monumental event only because of its rarity), but because the Aggies didn’t do anything “complex.”
Now the meaning of complex and simple are subjective, but I am going to demonstrate the simplicity of the Aggies attack by looking at one play they ran six times, each with success.
So here is Stick, the play that took down the Tide:
From a Trips formation, the read starts with a look at the go route to the three receiver side before the snap, but Manziel never seemed to take a look or throw it in the game.
Instead, he slipped the ball to the H receiver on the stick route all night long (well, four out of the six times).
Here’s the second play of the game:
Number 25 for the Aggies, Ryan Swope, simply runs in between Alabama’s Star and Money linebacker and turns to face the quarterback. Manziel sees it and sticks it on him. That’s pretty simple.
Here’s just four plays later:
Same play, same result.
Now the Aggies hop in an “Empty” formation (no running back in the backfield) and run Stick again:
The Tide just can’t handle it. And I’m not showing you just the completions — these are all the stick plays so far.
Finally the Tide takes the stick route away, but a good quick out still gets the job done:
And then the Aggies ran a variation of the play without the quick out. Alabama blitzed, rolled down the safety right on top of the stick, and the Ags still completed the pass.
Just watch:
And then for good measure, the Aggies let the Tide off the hook in the passing game and ran a draw with Stick action by the receivers:
I show you all of these not to analyze the play from an Xs and Os perspective, but to make a simple point: when something works, double down.
The Stick play is an Air Raid staple. The Aggies were an Air Raid team in 2012. And when they went to play on the biggest stage of college football, they stayed with their bread and butter.
Now, of course the Aggies also had the sensation in Johnny Manziel, but as you just saw, those plays were not successful because of what Manziel is known for: wildly running around and making a big play.
Those plays were successful because the Aggies had repped them a million times so the wide receivers knew how to find the space in the zone and the quarterback had great timing.
The big plays are what “win” the games, but the simple, monotony that in those reps the Aggies took running stick all season in practice are what set up the opportunities for those big plays.
Personally, I love to see things like this because it’s a great reminder to focus on winning strategies.
When things get messy, and they often do in football, we have to separate that which is working and that which isn’t and then double down on what works, working to make it better.
Until next time,
-Emory