Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Versatile Bechdel’s Touchdown Trickery Might Earn Him A Spot In Record Books
October 28, 2024 02:58 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – While research is ongoing to determine the last time a West Virginia football team turned a fake field goal into a touchdown, if ever, coach Neal Brown on Monday broke down some of the mechanics of holder Leighton Bechdel's first quarter 14-yard jaunt into the end zone.
Brown, during his weekly news conference with media, indicated the decision to use the fake was made during the week following film study and was in play on the game's opening drive.
However, the 9-yard distance required for Bechdel to get the first down, and the positioning of the ball at the Wildcat 27, made the fake call unrealistic.
"We were going to run that on the first field goal attempt," Brown admitted. "We got a holding penalty on the first drive of the game and at third and 9, so I thought that was too long for the fake and we just kicked that.
"I told our guys on the headsets, 'Hey, I still want to run this fake, and if we get into another (field goal) opportunity, let's use it.'"
That next opportunity arrived when West Virginia had it fourth and 2 at the Arizona 14 with 31 seconds left in the first quarter and WVU leading 3-0.
It was the same fake the Mountaineers ran with Bechdel during last year's Dukes Mayo Bowl victory against North Carolina, and although Bechdel made the first down, he came up 4 yards short of reaching the end zone.
"Leighton Bechdel is a really good football player – he's a good athlete – so you have some confidence in the fact that he's a good athlete, and he's smart," Brown said. "He has the ability to check out of it. If it was a look where they were overloaded, he could have definitely checked out of it.
"But we got a good look; we got hats on hats, and it's basically a very similar run scheme that we use," Brown noted. "We had (tight end) Kole Taylor and (offensive tackle) Xavier Baulsey right at the point of attack, and we pulled Sully Weidman, which is what he does when he plays guard, and the combo block that Kole and Xavier made, they do every single day."
Because those things are so natural to the players executing the blocks, Brown said he had a high level of confidence to call the fake.
Brown said the fake used last December against North Carolina actually didn't go as planned, even though it was successful enough to get a first down.
"We screwed it up against North Carolina because we ended up having to kick another field goal, and that's what I told (Bechdel) during the week, 'Hey, if we're going to do this, you need to score,'" the coach laughed. "So, I was happy for him."
Brown said this particular fake field goal doesn't predate his West Virginia days but rather was designed by veteran associate special teams coordinator Tony Thompson, who works daily with the Mountaineer specialists.
"This is his field goal fake, and it's worked twice now," Brown pointed out.
Bechdel, a backup punter and long snapper from Towson, Maryland, was a two-time lacrosse All-American at Towson High who as chosen to remain in the Mountaineer program since 2019.
Brown said he's grateful Bechdel has opted to stick around during the transfer portal era when many players in his situation don't anymore.
"I think Ollie (Straw) is one of the better punters in the country, and Bechdel has some talent as a punter as well," Brown explained. "He could have easily left the program and went somewhere else. I (jokingly) said after the game, 'He's like our Swiss Army knife.' He was our backup long snapper in the game on Saturday, and he's done that role for two years.
"He's capable of kicking off if we need him to, and he's done a great job holding," he added. "Two plays back-to-back kind of sum him up. He's a great athlete who made a good run on the touchdown and then we had a poor snap on the PAT after he scored his touchdown, and he took it off the ground and held it. I've done that job, so I'm fully aware of how difficult that is."
And who knows, perhaps Bechdel will go down in the WVU history books as the first Mountaineer to score a touchdown on a fake field goal?
Stay tuned.
Brown, during his weekly news conference with media, indicated the decision to use the fake was made during the week following film study and was in play on the game's opening drive.
However, the 9-yard distance required for Bechdel to get the first down, and the positioning of the ball at the Wildcat 27, made the fake call unrealistic.
"We were going to run that on the first field goal attempt," Brown admitted. "We got a holding penalty on the first drive of the game and at third and 9, so I thought that was too long for the fake and we just kicked that.
"I told our guys on the headsets, 'Hey, I still want to run this fake, and if we get into another (field goal) opportunity, let's use it.'"
That next opportunity arrived when West Virginia had it fourth and 2 at the Arizona 14 with 31 seconds left in the first quarter and WVU leading 3-0.
It was the same fake the Mountaineers ran with Bechdel during last year's Dukes Mayo Bowl victory against North Carolina, and although Bechdel made the first down, he came up 4 yards short of reaching the end zone.
"Leighton Bechdel is a really good football player – he's a good athlete – so you have some confidence in the fact that he's a good athlete, and he's smart," Brown said. "He has the ability to check out of it. If it was a look where they were overloaded, he could have definitely checked out of it.
"But we got a good look; we got hats on hats, and it's basically a very similar run scheme that we use," Brown noted. "We had (tight end) Kole Taylor and (offensive tackle) Xavier Baulsey right at the point of attack, and we pulled Sully Weidman, which is what he does when he plays guard, and the combo block that Kole and Xavier made, they do every single day."
Because those things are so natural to the players executing the blocks, Brown said he had a high level of confidence to call the fake.
Brown said the fake used last December against North Carolina actually didn't go as planned, even though it was successful enough to get a first down.
"We screwed it up against North Carolina because we ended up having to kick another field goal, and that's what I told (Bechdel) during the week, 'Hey, if we're going to do this, you need to score,'" the coach laughed. "So, I was happy for him."
Brown said this particular fake field goal doesn't predate his West Virginia days but rather was designed by veteran associate special teams coordinator Tony Thompson, who works daily with the Mountaineer specialists.
"This is his field goal fake, and it's worked twice now," Brown pointed out.
Bechdel, a backup punter and long snapper from Towson, Maryland, was a two-time lacrosse All-American at Towson High who as chosen to remain in the Mountaineer program since 2019.
Brown said he's grateful Bechdel has opted to stick around during the transfer portal era when many players in his situation don't anymore.
"I think Ollie (Straw) is one of the better punters in the country, and Bechdel has some talent as a punter as well," Brown explained. "He could have easily left the program and went somewhere else. I (jokingly) said after the game, 'He's like our Swiss Army knife.' He was our backup long snapper in the game on Saturday, and he's done that role for two years.
"He's capable of kicking off if we need him to, and he's done a great job holding," he added. "Two plays back-to-back kind of sum him up. He's a great athlete who made a good run on the touchdown and then we had a poor snap on the PAT after he scored his touchdown, and he took it off the ground and held it. I've done that job, so I'm fully aware of how difficult that is."
And who knows, perhaps Bechdel will go down in the WVU history books as the first Mountaineer to score a touchdown on a fake field goal?
Stay tuned.
Players Mentioned
P/LS
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