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The Ohio State Buckeyes used the Swinging Gate formation to score two two-point conversions in Saturday’s win over the Buffalo Bulls.
DraftBrowns.com Editor: Brendan Leister
On Saturday afternoon, the Ohio State Buckeyes started off their season with a 40-20 victory over the Buffalo Bulls. Rather than simply kicking an extra point after each of their first two touchdowns, the Buckeyes came out in a “Swinging Gate” formation. The Buckeyes scored an easy four points on the two plays along with giving future opponents an extra wrinkle to prepare for.
After their third touchdown of the first quarter, the Buckeyes came out in a Swinging Gate once again. After seeing how the defense was aligned, backup quarterback and holder Kenny Guiton chose to shift the offense into their field goal formation to kick the extra point.
In the Swinging Gate, the offense typically lines up with the holder as the quarterback and the kicker lined up beside him to the left or right as the halfback. The long snapper lines up in the middle of the field as the rest of the offensive line lines up outside of either hash with a skill player behind them. Depending on the team’s preference, the Swinging Gate also includes one or two other skill players lined up on the opposite side of the field.
As you will be able to see when I analyze the two plays, football is and always has been a numbers game. Because offenses typically line up in the Swinging Gate on extra point attempts, it can be easy to catch the defense off guard. No defensive coordinator wants to waste a timeout on defending a two-point conversion attempt. Therefore, unprepared defenses often see the formation and match up with too few players in one section of the field. This allows the holder/quarterback to quickly read the defense, attack the susceptible section of the defense, and score an easy two points.
With all of this being said, matching up and having the correct number of players in position is only half the battle. For any successful play to be made, players must be put in a position to succeed and have the ability to execute their assignments. For example, it does not matter if a quarterback has plenty of time to throw if he cannot deliver the ball accurately. The same applies to an offense that has more blockers than the defense has players in the box. If the blockers are unable to block the defenders then the numbers game means nothing and the play will have a low success rate.
Swinging Gate #1
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As you can see in the above image, the Buckeyes have come out in their Swinging Gate formation. Quarterback Kenny Guiton (#13) is lined up behind the long snapper (George Makridis, #56) and kicker Drew Basil (#24) is lined up to Guiton’s right as the halfback. To the left, you can see the Buckeyes starting offensive line with halfback Jordan Hall (#7) behind them and tight end J.T. Moore (#8) lined up as the right tight end off the line of scrimmage. You cannot see it due to the camera angle, but tight end Jeff Heuerman (#86) is lined up as the X receiver outside of the right hash.
Before the snap, Guiton’s job is to count the number of defenders in each section of the field and see if there are any mismatches. Because the defense matched up with seven to defend Ohio State’s seven to the outside of the left hash, there is no advantage and therefore, the ball will not be going in that direction. Because the defense matched up with one defender across from Heuerman to the outside of the right hash, the ball will not be going in that direction either.
The mismatch that can easily be exploited is between the long snapper and the right hash. Because Ohio State has three players between the long snapper and the right hash and Buffalo has only matched up with two players in that area of the field, Ohio State has won the numbers game and should have an easy two-point conversion if the players adequately execute their assignments. Makridis (long snapper) must block the nose tackle lined up directly across from him, Basil (halfback) must block the outside linebacker, and Heuerman (X receiver) must block the cornerback lined up directly across from him. The blocks do not need to be kill shots. The key is occupying the defenders long enough for Guiton to run into the end zone.
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Just after Guiton receives the snap, you can already see that the nose tackle has shed Makridis’s block. This means that Guiton must outrun the tackle to the end zone if he wishes to finish the play successfully. So far, Basil has done his job by running up and getting in front of the linebacker. Now he must find a way to occupy the linebacker as Guiton makes his way around behind him. Due to Makridis’s missed block, what looked like an easy two-point conversion looks much more difficult now.
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The impact of Basil’s block forced the linebacker (and Basil) to fall to the ground and now, it is Guiton against the tackle in the open field. To the right, you can see Heuerman doing a great job of blocking the cornerback all the way back into the end zone.
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As you can see, the tackle wrapped up Guiton and tackled him just as he closed in on the goal line. The ball came out of Guiton’s possession on the play, but it occurred after he crossed the goal line and scored the two-point conversion.
Swinging Gate #2
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This time around, the defense has adjusted to Ohio State’s Swinging Gate formation by putting four defenders in the middle of the field, one on the left hash, five to the outside of the left hash, and one to the outside of the right hash. Because Ohio State has a two-man advantage to the outside of the left hash, this is an easy read for Kenny Guiton. If he throws the ball to Jordan Hall on a screen pass and the offensive line executes their blocks, Hall should have a wide open path into the end zone for the two-point conversion.
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At the snap of the ball, Guiton immediately turns his body and loads up to throw the screen pass to Hall.
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Due to the numbers advantage, left guard Andrew Norwell (#78) and center Corey Linsley (#71) have the luxury of being able to double team the defender in the A-gap between them as the rest of the offensive line blocks defenders one on one. Left tackle Jack Mewhort (#74) handles the defensive end to his outside and the right side of the offensive line all block the defenders across from them. The block by Mewhort and the double team by Norwell and Linsley create a huge crease in the left B-gap. If Hall catches the ball (circled) cleanly, he should be able to run into the end zone untouched.
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Hall catches the screen pass and runs through the B-gap untouched to complete the two-point conversion.
Conclusion
Although these two two-point conversions were not the difference in the game, Urban Meyer and the Ohio State coaching staff made the right decision by adding the Swinging Gate to their arsenal for the 2013 season. If the defense is unable to line up correctly, why not take the free point every time? You never know when you will be in a close game and an easy two-point conversion (or two) early on can alleviate some pressure as the game progresses. The Swinging Gate comes with a low risk factor because the offense can shift to their field goal formation and kick the extra point if no mismatches present themselves. On top of all of that, the Swinging Gate forces opposing defensive coordinators to spend ample practice time preparing for the formation.
People will mention sportsmanship as a reason not to use the Swinging Gate, but sportsmanship should not be brought into the equation unless the score is completely out of hand. It takes points to win games and scoring two points will always be better than scoring one. If a team chooses to simply kick the extra point every time and loses by one point, that coaching staff will wish that they had scored an extra point here or there throughout the course of the game. An easy two-point conversion can be the difference between winning and losing.
Plenty of teams have run the Swinging Gate over the years (Oregon comes to mind as a team that uses it quite often.) and I expect many more to begin using it as coaches continue to think outside the box. With Chip Kelly going to the NFL, maybe we will even see the Swinging Gate after some Eagles touchdowns. All in all, I hope that teams at all levels begin to use the Swinging Gate with more regularity because it comes with a low risk factor, two-point conversions typically make games more exciting, and I am all about aggressive football and thinking outside the box.