Excellent piece by Andy Staples at SI on AU/KSU

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Malzahn and Lashlee decided to throw. But what route? Which receiver? D’haquille “Duke” Williams, a junior who watched Auburn’s SEC title run last year from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, asked Lashlee for the ball. Williams had dropped a sure 66-yard touchdown pass, a perfect teardrop from quarterback Nick Marshall, in the second quarter and killed a drive, and Williams yearned to atone.

“I made a mistake in that first half,” Williams said after the game. “I had to redeem myself.”

Williams had an idea. The Tigers had thrown several slants to Williams already, and Kansas State cornerback Danzel McDaniel was crashing hard on the short route. So Williams suggested a slant and go, better known as ‘Sluggo.’ On a Sluggo, the receiver runs a slant and then jams his foot into the ground and turns upfield. If it works, the defender will bite on the slant and lose precious fractions of a second as he recovers and gives chase.

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The coaches didn’t have to call Williams’ number. They could have thrown to Ricardo Louis, who had caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and who had more famously had begged for the ball on a November day in Jordan-Hare Stadium last season when all hope seemed lost against Georgia.

But Lashlee believed Williams, who caught a 9-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, would deliver. Lashlee knew Marshall would deliver after all the magic he has worked in the past 13 months.

“It’s why our guys believe in him, why they follow him,” Lashlee said. “He’s able to lead in clutch situations. The moments are never too big for him. It doesn’t matter if he’s played great all game or struggled or somewhere in between. When the game is on the line, he comes through for us.”

So Malzahn and Lashlee called the Sluggo for Williams.

“Sometimes,” Lashlee said, “you’ve got to trust your players.” So as the purple-clad masses screamed and shook the stands, the Tigers took the field.

When Williams lined up for the play, he knew. McDaniel lined up seven yards off the line of scrimmage. He shaded Williams to the inside. He was playing the slant and only the slant. When Williams darted toward the hashmarks, McDaniel lunged forward, hoping to cut off the pass he was sure was coming. Suddenly, Williams planted and headed down the sideline. McDaniel had no chance. Marshall’s pass floated over his head and into the hands of Williams. In the second quarter, Williams had looked at the empty, waiting end zone instead of looking Marshall’s pass into his hands. This time, Williams watched the ball settle into his paws. Then he covered up the ball as McDaniel tried to strip it. McDaniel brought down Williams after a 39-yard gain, and the air leaked out of the stadium. It was over. Tigers coaches had made the gutsiest call they could, and their players had delivered.

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