I never see one of these that I am not reminded of the play that sealed the USC win over Bama in 1978. The only blemish on that NC team. Pass was underthrown by at least five yards. Would have been incomplete if there had been no Bama defender. Play went for 40 yards and a TD.You know what's kind of interesting to me. This same kind of play happened at the end of Nebraska-Northwestern, and then a couple of times on one Sunday in the NFL a couple of weeks ago. In every case more than one defender tried to intercept rather than simply knocking the ball down.
What hasn't been mentioned much though is the biggest fundamental flaw that all the defenders made, which is---When you're playing a prevent defense you keep everything in front of you and you never, ever let the receiver(s) get behind you. Tackle him if you have to, take the 15 yard penalty, whatever--anything is better than what can happen if they get behind you. So to me, what Richt and his DC should have emphasized during the time out is "Back up and make them throw it in front of you".
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