FILM ROOM: Oklahoma's offense tore apart Nebraska's defense apart. Can Kansas State slow down the Sooners? alec_busse breaks it down:
Gabriel opts to pull the ball from his running back's grasp to hit a wide receiver on a curl route for a gain of 10-yards to get the Sooners into Nebraska territory. Run-pass-options have become really prevalent in college football because they allow the quarterback to make a play depending on what their eyes tell them to do. Because Gabriel has such a deep understanding of what makes the Sooner offense tick, he's really successful at leading it.
Not only is this scheme really difficult to defend for defenses, but Oklahoma is one of the 10 most talented teams in the country, so it becomes even more difficult to bring down playmakers, and as you can see on this play the Nebraska linebacker has one heck of time struggling to make the tackle before the line to gain., but the Sooners are able to draw a pass interference penalty on the Nebraska defensive back.
This double-pass play is a beautiful design from Lebby. Usually, when you see a double-pass play the second pass goes across the field or it's a drastic misdirection play, think of the"Philly Special" the Eagles ran in the Super Bowl. Under Riley, Oklahoma's running attack was a gap scheme based on the ability of guards and tackles pulling. Gap rushing schemes design plays for tailbacks to run through specific holes in order to gain yards.
There are two safeties back on this rushing play to Gray, which means Oklahoma is in a favorable situation to block would-be tacklers.