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'I didn't line up wrong way' ... McKitty, Briles explain odd formation

It became a punchline on social media as soon as the picture was first posted on Twitter.

Florida State had the ball at the Louisiana-Monroe 36-yard line on Saturday. And there was tight end Tre McKitty, before the snap, lined up at the 40. Facing the wrong direction.

The fact that he eventually shifted into a normal and sane alignment and that Cam Akers had a nice run out of the formation didn't matter all that much to the people who saw it.

It was a picture that went viral. Quickly.

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"Yeah, I've got a million messages about that," McKitty said on Tuesday morning.

As the tweet above said, it's a picture that on first glance says a whole lot about the state of Florida State football. One guy, inexplicably, facing the wrong direction.

But anyone that saw the game knows, of course, that McKitty didn't stay like that. He motioned over to the right. Faced the correct way. And Akers wound up getting a first down on the carry.

McKitty said the gimmick was to designed to create a quick moment of confusion for the defense before going to where he was supposed to go.

"There is nothing wrong with me," McKitty said with a smile. "I definitely didn't line up the wrong way on our snap. … I'm not really worried about what anyone else is saying. I know what we were doing, what we were trying to do."

Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles was also asked about the play. Like McKitty, he said it was done to create confusion before the snap. And, like McKitty, he made sure to point out that he wasn't lined up like that when the ball was snapped.

It was just a quick pre-snap look.

"We didn't snap the football with him turned sideways, I don't know if that's something you guys saw," Briles said with a smile. "It's a way to tempo without tempo. It's a stoppage situation, where you can not tempo. So we came off the sideline. It's a thing we do offensively. Guys can line up wherever they want. I don't care. Just get to your spot where you need to get to.

"And I think we gained 11."

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