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The Penn State Nittany Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars both over-performed expectations this year. Penn State was not ranked to start the season, while pretty much nobody had the Jags as the future AFC South champions.
But, Penn State recently finished off a stellar 11-2 season with a 35-21 Rose Bowl victory over Utah and finished as the 7th-ranked team in the country. The Jacksonville Jaguars went 9-8 and won a win-or-go-home game against the Tennessee Titans in week 18 that gave them the NFL South title.
And, frequently in football, ideas trickle up instead of down, especially on offense. Much of the innovation in the sport actually takes place at the high school and college levels. Then, it will make its way to the NFL after some time. The spread offense is a great example. It was being run in earnest in high school, decades before those concepts became mainstream in the NFL.
Penn State used some interesting schemes in their run game this year under head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. It worked, as freshman running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton combined for over 1900 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. One of their money formations was the T-formation. It involved quarterback Sean Clifford under center, with three backs in the backfield, lined up next to each other. In the middle would be a tight end, usually Brenton Strange. The two running backs would be flanking him.
Penn State just scored in the Rose Bowl out of the old school “T” formation.
It’s 2023. 😍 pic.twitter.com/frcHYQbIa2
— PrepsReps (@PrepsReps) January 2, 2023
Penn State creating more magic out of the “T” formation
pic.twitter.com/4a2jtwYgg3— Logan Bourandas (@LoganBourandas) November 19, 2022
Nick Singleton ran through the ENTIRE STATE OF MARYLAND 😤😤😤pic.twitter.com/aAvSMd9bct
— The Transfer Portal CFB (@TPortalCFB) November 12, 2022
And, last night, the Jags came out in something similar for their game-clinching play.
After trailing 27-0, Jacksonville rallied and made it 30-28 late in the game. But, they faced a fourth and one with the season on the line. This play will look pretty familiar.
What a second-half comeback for Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne.
Holy cow, though, what a play-call.
— Paul Strelow (@PaulStrelowTI) January 15, 2023
Instantly, fans made the connection to Penn State.
Jags stole that from Penn State
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 15, 2023
Penn State fans watching the Jags win with the T formation pic.twitter.com/IbYSBUpX9u
— Johnny McGonigal (@jmcgonigal9) January 15, 2023
Jacksonville went on to kick the game-winning field goal to win 31-30 and advance to the divisional round next week.