Swinging Gate Plays Football

Football swinging gate plays aren't used very much in any level of football anymore. Occasionally high schools will use this play but it’s rarely seen in college and is all but extinct at the pro level.

The football swinging gate plays are run by the entire football offensive line, except the center, lining-up on one side of the field and the center, quarterback, and a running back lining up on another end of the field. The defense is forced to make an unusual decision on how to defense the play. However, as long as the defense is somewhat experienced and/or has had a time to prepare for it, they should be able to line-up to properly defense the play. That’s why swinging gate plays football are rarely – if ever – used.

However, there are a couple plays that can be run that might work during a game.

Most commonly the swinging gate plays are used in college football. In fact, a few years ago the Syracuse Orange started every extra point with a swinging gate formation. Then they would adjust the formation to a regular football formation before they actually kicked the extra point. However, by beginning with the swinging gate they got to see how the defense would play and then they could choose to run a 2 point try if they thought it’d work.

That’s one use for a swinging gate football play. Some teams will use the formation to try to score a 2 point conversion. Usually the offense will give the ball to the one running back and hope he can earn the couple of yards to score. The offense may also choose to run an option to the short side of the field.

Teams will also occasionally try to run one of the swinging gate plays football on a regular down. They will try to take the defense by surprise and quickly snap the ball. Usually the offense will quickly snap the ball and the quarterback will immediately throw the ball to a receiver who is waiting behind the other four offensive linemen. That receiver will have plenty of blocking in front of him and, if the defense didn’t line-up correctly, that receiver could gain major yardage.

This play was actually run a couple years ago when the Nebraska Cornhuskers played the Colorado Buffaloes. It actually worked very well. That’s because it was a surprise. However, a surprise will only work once every ten years or so because defenses will make sure they prepare for it.

Swinging gate plays have become rare because defenses have become smarter and quicker over the past several years. However, while it’s never run in the NFL, it is still tried sometimes in college football and football programs lower than college. The swinging gate tries to get the defense to line-up wrong so that there is a mismatch for the offense on one side of the formation – either where the center, quarterback, and running back are or where the rest of the players are. If the defense doesn’t line-up correctly then the offense could get a big play.