Penn State’s Tyler Warren snapped the ball then caught a TD against USC

Penn State tight end Tyler Warren had a massive game in the Nittany Lions’ thrilling 33-30 win over USC on Saturday.

Warren led all Penn State players with 17 receptions for 224 yards and a touchdown. He even had one rushing attempt for a four-yard gain and completed a pass for a nine-yard gain. At one point, the broadcast team on CBS noted all the different places where Warren had aligned, including snaps at QB, WR, TE, and RB:

But the play that many might remember most was that touchdown reception, a 32-yard strike from Drew Allar that cut USC’s lead to 20-13 just after halftime.

That play? It began with Warren snapping the football.

You read that right:

After a shift from the Penn State offense, Warren lines up as the “center,” and snaps the football to backup quarterback Beau Pribula. Pribula then throws a backward pass to Allar, who sets his feet and throws to Warren downfield.

As you can see USC was ready for this, and the tight end was not exactly wide open. Warren had to work to reel in the touchdown, making the catch in traffic by out jumping a defender.

In this replay Gary Danielson break the play down, noting that Warren aligns as the “center” and snaps the football. However, Warren is the end man on the line of scrimmage to his side of the field, and “uncovered.” That makes him an eligible receiver:

You can see that from this image right after the snap. The line of scrimmage is the USC 32-yard line, and the two players in front of Allar are standing on the 35-yard line. They are off the line of scrimmage, making Warren the end man on the line of scrimmage. That makes Warren an eligible receiver, despite the fact he snapped the football: