Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham scored the all-important game-tying touchdown with 47 seconds remaining against Tennessee on Saturday. It was a brilliant play call that ultimately allowed the Tigers to go on to win by a score of 51-48 in four overtimes. So who was responsible for drawing it up?
According to Mizzou quarterback James Franklin, Green-Beckham came up with the play himself and pretended to draw it on his hand in the huddle — the same way most of us have done in our backyards at some point during our childhood.
“It was pretty funny because right before that, he told me — the defense probably could have seen what he was doing — he put his hand up and he was doing this, this and that,” Franklin said after the game according to the Associated Press. “It was funny because that’s what he did, and it worked.”
Typically we have headsets, playbooks and signals for this type of thing, but sometimes it pays to go on instinct.
“Once we got out there and lined up, I saw how far the safety was playing up so I was (thinking) I can beat this guy and get behind him on a fade route,” Green-Beckham explained.
He was right, and the touch football-style play call resulted in one of the most crucial wins of the year for Missouri. Considering all the hype that came along with Green-Beckham when he committed to Mizzou, it’s no surprise he knows how to read a defense. Perhaps coaching is in the freshman’s distant future when he’s done hauling in passes.
Photo credit: Jim Brown-US PRESSWIRE
