Every second counts

Dropping back to pass on second down with eight yards to go, junior quarterback Jeff Terrell slings the ball to senior wide receiver Greg Fields in the right flat. Fields makes one tackler miss before he is pushed out of bounds for a modest gain of five yards. The second his foot touches the sideline, the game clock stops. But as soon as the referee spots the ball, the play clock takes over and its precious 25 seconds begin the countdown to zero.

That small sliver of time — shorter than the time it takes talking lizards to tell you to drink a Budweiser — is all that the Princeton offense gets between each play before a delay of game call pushes them back an extra five yards.

Thus, the moment Fields steps out of bounds and the play is called dead, head coach Roger Hughes immediately begins deciding what play to call.

"You need to break the huddle with about 17 seconds if you have any motions called, to get them done in time, or to allow the quarterback plenty of time to look at the defense and change the play if you need it," Hughes said. "So essentially you have eight seconds to make the call."

Hughes uses a preprepared call sheet composed of roughly 150 plays divided into specific scenarios to make the call. Once the huddle call has been chosen, the next step toward getting off an effective play is relaying the information to the players on the field.

Unlike in the NFL, the Princeton quarterback does not have an earpiece in his helmet, so the coaches must use other means to get him the call.

"Generally, what I do is signal a number on their wristband," Hughes said. "They have about 150 plays on their wristband. The second way is to grab a player and send it in with him. And the third way is to say, 'Hey, Jeff, come over here. This is what I want to run.' "

The wristband that the quarterback wears is pivotal in communicating the play to the field. On the wristband are cards that mirror the call sheet Hughes has on the sideline. Hughes signals a number to the quarterback, who refers to his wristband to figure out what the coaches want to see on the field.

What the quarterback hears is much more than a single play. Instead, the coaches call in what is termed a package. A package is a set of plays that not only contains the primary play that to be run, but also a secondary play that the quarterback can change — or "check to" — on the line of scrimmage, depending on the defensive alignment that the other team presents. These packages are different each week and are determined beforehand based on that week's opponent.

The package also communicates more subtle aspects of the call to the players.

"What we try to do is talk to the quarterback through the huddle call," Hughes said. "So I'm trying to help coach him based on the huddle call or the protection call where I want the ball thrown, what play I want run, what play I want to check to if he has to check to one, and that's what we practice all week."

For example, a protection call of 78-protection may mean that the quarterback's first look should be to the right side, whereas 71-protection may mean the first look is to the left.

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With all of this in mind, the players break the huddle and step up to the line of scrimmage. If all has gone according to plan, roughly 14 seconds remain on the clock for the center to snap the ball.

As the offensive line moves up to the ball, the linemen decide on their protection scheme.

"The center is making the call: what is the front? Is it an even front with no nose guard? Or an odd front with a nose guard?" Hughes said. "If we're calling a pass protection, he's pointing to the linebacker that the line is going to block, which tells the running back which linebacker he has and tells the quarterback which linebacker we don't have so he has to throw hot if he comes."

At the same time that the line is determining its blocking assignments, the quarterback is scanning the defense to determine which play out of those contained in the package he should run.

"If we stay with the same play, the line is adjusting the blocking schemes. If we change the play they have got to go to a whole new blocking scheme, or we have to change the slide of the protection based on where the problems are coming from," Hughes said. "That all happens on the line of scrimmage in about seven seconds."

Furthermore, all of these instructions made at the line have to be heard by all the players. If the quarterback sees a blitz coming and tells a receiver to cut his route short, the receiver must hear and process this information. If the fullback doesn't hear which linebacker to pick up, that open defender may have a free run at the quarterback.

By the time the play has been finalized and the assignments have been made, the play clock is in single digits. The only task left is getting the snap off before the clock hits zero.

But even once the pigskin is in play, Hughes can't just sit back and watch the execution of his grand plan. No, he's already thinking ahead, getting ready for another frantic 25 seconds.