University of North Carolina Athletics
"Sucker" Hits Its Target On Fake Screen
October 11, 2004 | Football
Oct. 11, 2004
by Lee Pace, Extra Points
Carolina's offensive staff knew that N.C. State's fast, aggressive defense would blow up some plays Saturday night in Kenan Stadium. The coaches also knew there were some opportunities within that blitzkrieg of bringing five and six and seven players on every snap.
"You can have two or three really ugly plays against them but then you can hit them for a couple of big ones," receivers coach Gunter Brewer said. "We absolutely have to break some big plays."
"They blitz almost every snap," coordinator Gary Tranquill said. "And they're not always blitzing to pressure the quarterback. It's part of their run defense as well. We'll have to do some three-step drops, some slants and screens to get rid of the ball in a hurry."
In four games of compiling a total defense figure that ranked them second in the nation at 193.8 yards allowed per game, the Wolfpack had shown a particular ferocity against the screen game. The screen had worked well for the Tar Heels last year in Raleigh, even more reason for State to be poised to play it well this year. And as Saturday's game opened, the coaches could hear from the sideline some of the Wolfpack linebackers and secondary players barking out warnings to their teammates to "Watch the screen, watch the screen!"
So with the Tar Heels facing third-and-six at the State 23 with five minutes to play in the first half, Tranquill figured it was time to show the screen -- a bubble-screen pass to Jarwarski Pollock in the left flat. Pollock lined up to the right and then went in motion to the left, and receivers Jesse Holley (9) and Derrele Mitchell (1) took off to block their assigned players in the State secondary.
QB Darian Durant took the snap in the shotgun, looked to Pollock, aimed and fired.
Or so the Wolfpack thought.
What Tranquill had actually called was a play named "Sucker."
Did it ever.
"They jumped all over it," Brewer said. "It was like throwing chum to the sharks."
Durant's motion toward Pollock was actually a pump-fake. State's secondary charged toward Pollock. Holley and Mitchell had released from their bogus blocks -- Holley streaking down the boundary and Mitchell down the hash mark. Durant could chose either one. There wasn't a State player within 15 yards of Holley. He collected the throw, waltzed into the end zone, placed the ball at his feet, crossed his arms and looked into a sea of delirious Carolina students in the southwest corner of Kenan Stadium.
"We knew those guys were really aggressive," Holley said. "They want to go down and make a play on every snap. A lot of times that can hurt you. So we ran a little trickery -- and it was a wide-open touchdown."
That play followed another gadget play just two snaps before -- a flea-flicker with Durant handing off to Jacque Lewis, who turned and lateralled back to Durant, who then threw deep to Mike Mason. The receiver was well-covered and the ball was overthrown by a hair.
"We were going to take two shots at them," Tranquill said. "One was the flea-flicker, which didn't work. Then we had this one. It came off just like you draw it up."
Send your questions about Tar Heel football to Lee Pace at lpace@nc.rr.com . Please include your first and last names and hometown. His Q&A column will appear each Friday during the season.
