Breaking Down Georgia Tech’s Best Play-Action Concepts
In a previous article, we broke down Georgia Tech’s creative use of Counter and the variations they’ve built off it. Along with their Counter game, and their other go-to run scheme, Outside Zone, they’ve done a great job designing play-action concepts to generate explosive plays. In this article, we’re diving into how they scheme up their play-action shot plays and why they work.
Related Content: Breaking Down Georgia Tech’s 2024 Counter Game
Heat
This concept comes straight from the Shanahan/McVay playbook, and Georgia Tech has adapted it well. On several occasions, they’ve had receivers running wide open, but they just didn’t have the trigger man to connect. The core of the concept is simple: a deep curl (typically 15-20 yards), a flat route as a checkdown, and a big post over the top. Since Tech leans heavily on the run, their play-action game naturally pulls linebackers downhill, creating space for the deep curl behind them but in front of the safeties.