IN MANY CASES, the climax to your 2-minute defense will be defending the “Hail Mary” desperation pass or “Big Ben” play. It’s a complete disaster to lose a hard-fought football game on the last play of the game.

It Can Happen To You
Miracles do happen. You can play good defense for an entire game, but a fluke play or mental lapse in the closing seconds can render all your team’s hard work for naught.

Remember Boston College versus the University of Miami in 1984? Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary pass connected with Gerald Phelan on the last play of the game, allowing BC to pull out a dramatic win over the Hurricanes. Flutie labels his 65-yard (officially 48) tipped pass to then roommate Phelan “the signature play of his career.”

Or Kordell Stewart of the University of Colorado in 1994 who completed an amazing 73-yard heave that was tipped and then caught in the end zone by teammate Michael Westbrook to defeat Michigan, 27-26, in Ann Arbor.

The list goes on and on. Every football coach, player and fan can quickly rattle off a list of dramatic Hail Mary finishes that they’ve seen — or even worse — been the victim of.

As a defensive coach, you need to take every precaution that your defense is ready for these types of situations. Mental breakdowns do happen and fluke or lucky plays will sometimes occur no matter how much your prepare for it. But preparation and spending time on these situations can help your players stay sharp in a frenzied end-of-game environment.

Our team spends time defensing the Big Ben play each Thursday at practice. During this time, we reiterate the “dos and don’ts” of playing defense during Hail Mary situations.

-    Play the ball. Stay focused and watch where the ball is going.
-    Intercept the ball if possible. At the very least, knock it down.
-    Don’t tip the ball. Remember that offenses practice catching balls off tips and caroms. How many times have you a tipped ball result in a gut-wrenching defeat for a team?

Big Ben Schematics
Aside from the essential rules of thumb for defending Hail Mary passes, there are several schematic things that you can do as a defensive coach that put players into proper position to minimize the chances of this type of play succeeding.

    1.    Use front and back defenders who looked for tipped or batted balls.

    2.    Use a 2-on-1 ratio on the 1-receiver side of the field.

    3.    Put your best-jumping, most athletic players in position to jump for the Hail Mary ball.

    4.    Bunch sets should be defended by two jumpers in front and in the back, who are looking for tipped balls.

    5.    Use solid containment on opponents who like to roll out the QB.

    6.    Use line games for level-3 drops by the QB.

DIAGRAM 1: Big Ben. This is how to defend a Hail Mary play if the LOS is on the offense’s side of the 40-yard line.



DIAGRAM 2: Big Ben “Roll.” This call is used if the goal line is within throwing distance of the QB.