MHO The play that turned the game

[DimeHawk]

I was curious what others thought on this. Just my humble opinion but after digesting a lot of the game I really think the biggest play was the deflected interception off Kittle to Bullough to CB for a touchback.

4 minutes left in the half and Iowa would have had the chance to go up by 10 if they convert there. Worst case it's incomplete and they get 3 on a FG to go up 9-3. I know everything would have played out differently and I hate the "what if" game but, that just seemed like a point where Iowa could have really seized control of the game.

Great hit by Bullough forced the play but definitely a lucky bounce after that. I was at the game and that happened down on our end. I remember right before the play thinking this is a huge play.

None of it matters at this point but I was just wondering what others thought.

 

[imported_ankle23]

obvious huge play of the game. that and that roughing the punter call were two huge game effecting plays, no doubt.

 

[STLhawkeye20]

There were lots of plays that turned the game for both teams:

CJB's interception in the end-zone;
MSU missing both FG's in the first half;
Iowa's roughing the punter that gave MSU 3 points;
The second bomb to T Smith in the 2nd half that he objectively should have caught;
MSU DB's holding that prevented a TD to Vandeberg

You can point to almost anything. One more first down could have swung this in Iowa's favor, or better clock management at the end of the game, or anything really.

That's football

 

[tweeterhawk]

All those were big but mine is Kurt's decision to punt on 4th and 1 instead of trying to go for it in the fourth quarter. Admittedly, the odds of MSU driving for the winning TD were long. But I felt Old Kirk surfaced instead of letting GD come up with a play with a good chance of making the first down.

 

[STLhawkeye20]

All those were big but mine is Kurt's decision to punt on 4th and 1 instead of trying to go for it in the fourth quarter. Admittedly, the odds of MSU driving for the winning TD were long. But I felt Old Kirk surfaced instead of letting GD come up with a play with a good chance of making the first down.

Agreed. Totally thought the same thing.

 

[Ledermax]

I vote for the Canzeri injury. He's spark plug. Losing him was crucial.

 

[bitmap]

obvious huge play of the game. that and that roughing the punter call were two huge game effecting plays, no doubt.

Absolutely Ankle - loss of 7 points and loss of field position and more importantly time of possession. The points were obvious but the missed block on the punt compounded the situation. It was a tit-for-tat type of game and I think without even a three play offensive series to follow the defense started loosing their edge on the line. Conversely it gave the Spartan D a break allowing them to get a slight advantage. I truly believe the game was that close and the roughing call started the Hawks down the road of attrition.

 

[PCHawk]

All those were big but mine is Kurt's decision to punt on 4th and 1 instead of trying to go for it in the fourth quarter. Admittedly, the odds of MSU driving for the winning TD were long. But I felt Old Kirk surfaced instead of letting GD come up with a play with a good chance of making the first down.

We had the ball at the 47 so it was a tough decision. If they would have called a 15 yard penalty on the Vandy hold instead of 10, we would have been at the 42. We almost certainly go for it then and even if we don't get it, MSU couldn't have killed the whole clock starting at the 42.

 

[PCHawk]

How close were we to blocking that punt? Watching live it was hard to tell but it looked like he just missed it.

 

[DimeHawk]

How close were we to blocking that punt? Watching live it was hard to tell but it looked like he just missed it.

It looked like Bower took a bad angle. He was close but his momentum carried him in the line of the punter. It shouldn't have been roughing, more running into. I liked the aggressive call and Bower was close, just a tough break.

 

[hawkfan2679]

I think Bower just clipped the punter...they called the penalty on Mends though.

 

[ibahawkeye]

All those were big but mine is Kurt's decision to punt on 4th and 1 instead of trying to go for it in the fourth quarter. Admittedly, the odds of MSU driving for the winning TD were long. But I felt Old Kirk surfaced instead of letting GD come up with a play with a good chance of making the first down.

Pretty tough not to trust your D at that point who had yet to give up a touchdown and you're up by 4. Punt and make them drive the length of the field. Credit to State... they converted on every single 3rd down and a 4th down.

The thought of MSU controlling the clock for 9 minutes and not getting the ball back or getting it back with less than 30 seconds crossed nobody's mind at that time and was something nobody would have predicted so that wouldn't have even been in the thought process.

 

[deanvogs]

Pretty tough not to trust your D at that point who had yet to give up a touchdown and you're up by 4. Punt and make them drive the length of the field. Credit to State... they converted on every single 3rd down and a 4th down.

The thought of MSU controlling the clock for 9 minutes and not getting the ball back or getting it back with less than 30 seconds crossed nobody's mind at that time and was something nobody would have predicted so that wouldn't have even been in the thought process.

I agree, you have to punt there. There was NOTHING that the MSU offense had done to the point that made you think they could drive 80+ yards for a TD. Gotta give it to MSU offense for the drive they put together, that was a big time championship drive.

 

[PCHawk]

Koehn picked a bad time to make an extra point. If he misses, we're up 3 instead of 4 and they kick a field goal on 4th down. Maybe he misses but even if he makes it, we still have a minute and a half to try to score. I put this loss on Koehn.

 

[GrandpaHawk]

I agree with all of the missed opportunities everyone has mentioned about both teams,when you're in a dogfight like this game it's easy to say one play here or there was huge.Also I would add a missed penalty by the refs or one that was called made a huge difference in this game.

 

[ThunderHawk]

I agree with all of the missed opportunities everyone has mentioned about both teams,when you're in a dogfight like this game it's easy to say one play here or there was huge.Also I would add a missed penalty by the refs or one that was called made a huge difference in this game.