12/22/24
October 30, 2009
Behind The Back Pass: With the score 13-0, this high school quarterback threw a behind the back pass for a 2 point conversion. Was it hot dogging? Should his coach have sat the kid for showing up his rivals? Answer...Yes and Yes.
I think the whole deal of going for two in the first quarter is a bit much to begin with.
Unless the team didn't have confidence in their kicking game, which is not unheard of at the HS level.
The play itself is not too bad from a sportsmanship standpoint. They obviously practiced it to get it to that level of execution. I think the crowd made more out of it than the team that scored did.
Bucs Bills and Browns QB's, please do not try this on Sunday.
posted by beaverboard at 07:50 PM on October 30, 2009
I don't see anything wrong with this, as it is only high school.
posted by JButton at 08:52 PM on October 30, 2009
I also see nothing wrong with this play considering it was in the first quarter, and the score was 13-0 at that point.
I thought it was cool. When trick plays are executed correctly, I find them some of the most exciting plays in football - at any level.
posted by BoKnows at 09:27 PM on October 30, 2009
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you guys. Had he planted and thrown like a normal human being the ball would have been there 5 seconds earlier, with the same outcome. And even though the score was only 13-0 at that point, everyone there knew the eventual outcome (as they do going into most games in HS football) ... it's not like they were evenly matched. I think because of that, "trick plays" aren't necessary, and 2-point conversions also. The whole thing seems unsportsmanlike to me.
posted by smithnyiu at 09:16 AM on October 31, 2009
A trick play would have been a fake XP pass for a conversion. This just looked like a normal conversion with a showboat pass that was superfluous to say the least. A conventional pass would have gotten to the receiver much faster and been the safer play. I'm sure it was an obvious mismatch and they were having fun with it early and often. Unsportsmanlike for sure.
posted by curlyelk at 10:19 AM on October 31, 2009
What happened to having a little bit of fun while playing the game?
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 10:25 AM on October 31, 2009
I don't think there's much advantage to be gained developing behind-the-back passing skills, but Will Briscoe is like a big ol' kid out there just having fun.
posted by rcade at 11:04 AM on October 31, 2009
Lighten up, Francis.
Oh no - superfluous passing in a high school game?!? Those kids might be having fun! GET EM!!
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 11:15 AM on October 31, 2009
Given that defensive backs are taught to read the quarterback's eyes and adjust, I think this is a brilliant play. If you watch the video, the entire defense is shifting toward the near side of the field, watching Briscoe obviously telegraphing the play.
That allows the backside receiver to slip out completely uncovered and rather than give the defense to adjust by turning to throw in a conventional motion, you get the "WTF?!?" factor of the behind-the-back pass.
There's an added bonus to this. I'm going to assume by the whupping administered by Baton Rouge Central they are a relatively good team, one that could make the playoffs. Don't you think every team they play from here on out is going to have to gameplan for this? Any time BRCHS is in close to the goalline, the opposing coaches will be yelling, "Watch the behind-the-back pass to the weak side!"
That means not only will they possibly be sending coverage to the area where Briscoe is least likely to throw, but the remainder of the defense will have in the back of its mind, "Got to be ready to go back the other direction, just in case!"
Brilliant, brilliant play.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:52 PM on October 31, 2009
If there was any purpose to it other than hotdogging, then they would have tried it during a drive and not on an essentially meaningless two-point conversion.
posted by graymatters at 02:32 PM on October 31, 2009
Yeah, we wouldn't want to hurt those kids' feelings too much. They're so sensitive. However will they rebound from this crushing embarrassment?
A different take on this is that if you can't stop a guy from completing a behind-the-back pass then you kinda suck.
Of course it's hotdogging. He's a high school QB. Pretty much his entire M.O. is to hotdog. They're not running military drills. They're playing a game of football. Basketball players do behind-the-back passes all the time. Cliff Lee non-chalantly grabs a fly without moving nary a muscle AND makes a behind-the-back catch in the same game. Heck, I watch dudes flip backward somersaults on motorcycles on TV. But a kid does something new on a football field and he's the bad guy.
Let's just say that he get's sacked on the same play. His team still wins by something like 54-0. Will the other team really be saved the painful sting of defeat?
posted by THX-1138 at 02:45 PM on October 31, 2009
If there was any purpose to it other than hotdogging, then they would have tried it during a drive and not on an essentially meaningless two-point conversion.
Really? So the other team, if a defensive back had gotten lucky, he could pick it off and run it back for a touchdown? Because high-school rules declare the ball dead on an intercepted conversion attempt, which to me makes it the perfect time to try out a new wrinkle.
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:45 PM on October 31, 2009
wfrazerjr...at least in Texas an intercepted pass can be run back for the two points...not sure of that in every state.
This was a bit of hotdogging to be sure, and probably not called for. Given that it was early in the game he gets away with it.
posted by dviking at 12:32 AM on November 01, 2009
How will victory ever mean a damn thing to these kids if they've never suffered defeat? How will they relish the taste of success if they haven't spent time living off a diet of failure? How can they ever enjoy a win if they think the other team is pandering to their weakness instead of putting it all out there. I applaud the kids that executed the play. I applaud the coach that called it. And I despair of the alleged sports fans who think it was in any way morally objectionable.
Sports have rules, and within the boundary of the letter and spirit of those rules, anything else goes. If you don't like that, don't play/watch/or put your kid in the sport. Or lobby for a new rule that prohibits the hurting of one's opponent's feelings. Who knows? In this litigious world, maybe one of the defensive players could sue the QB for undermining their confidence and ruining their lives.
posted by JJ at 08:28 AM on November 02, 2009
The game wasn't out of reach at that point, given that the coach called for a conversion. This looks less like hotdogging than it looks like a QB keeping the defense off balance. Had this happened in the 2nd half, I'd call it unsportsmanlike...