"Wildcat" Formation

The Miami Dolphins came into their game against the New England Patriots severe underdogs. New England had won their past twenty-one regular season games. Their only loss in the last year in half had been in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants. Miami obviously needed to think outside the box to beat the mighty Patriots - did they ever.

The Wildcat formation was made famous by Darren McFadden and Felix Jones the past two years in the Arkansas backfield. McFadden would take a direct snap. Jones would come in motion. The ball would either be run on an outside sweep to Jones. Or faked to him for a McFadden keeper.

Now the egotistical Houston Nutt, Arkansas coach those two years, has no problem taking credit for the invention of the formation. He dubbed it the "Wildhog" in his tenure at Arkansas after their mascot. However its use in modern football can be traced back to Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

The formation however reaches further back, into the very roots of American Football to the single-wing, perhaps the first true base formation in football.

In the game against the Patriots, Ronnie Brown lined up at QB, with Ricky Williams as the motion back and Chad Pennington the true QB split out wide. Brown ran for three touchdowns and threw for another out of this formation. Sometimes using old techniques can be better than inventing new ones.