There are plenty of threads on here, where we rant about the special teams play, the coaches, the missed penalties on Wisconsin/penalties on us...
But I'm not sure one is getting enough attention. And that was settling for the field goal vs scoring the TD after Wisconsin practically gifted us the game on the interception.
We got the ball inside the 30, if I remember correctly, but quickly went three-and-out. We took the field-goal, which to be honest, was probably as risky as going for it on 4th down, considering the miscues on XPs and FGs we had already had. Fortunately, I suppose, we made the kick, and extended the lead to 6. (But of course, that's where the missed XP from before came back to haunt us)
My issue isn't necessarily with not going on 4th down vs kicking, but rather why it seemed like we weren't going for the throat on the first 3 downs. We seemed to come out with conservative plays on 1st and 2nd, leaving a somewhat obvious 3rd and not short. I truly believe that if we had scored a TD there, we would have won the game. Had the XP gone through following that, we would have been up 10 points, and I just don't know if, barring a miracle, Wisconsin would have been able to pull that off.
What do you guys think? Would it have been a mistake to throw it to DJK or McNutt in the endzone on 1st or 2nd down? Would it have been a mistake to go for it on 4th down if we had failed to pick up the 1st?
But I'm not sure one is getting enough attention. And that was settling for the field goal vs scoring the TD after Wisconsin practically gifted us the game on the interception.
We got the ball inside the 30, if I remember correctly, but quickly went three-and-out. We took the field-goal, which to be honest, was probably as risky as going for it on 4th down, considering the miscues on XPs and FGs we had already had. Fortunately, I suppose, we made the kick, and extended the lead to 6. (But of course, that's where the missed XP from before came back to haunt us)
My issue isn't necessarily with not going on 4th down vs kicking, but rather why it seemed like we weren't going for the throat on the first 3 downs. We seemed to come out with conservative plays on 1st and 2nd, leaving a somewhat obvious 3rd and not short. I truly believe that if we had scored a TD there, we would have won the game. Had the XP gone through following that, we would have been up 10 points, and I just don't know if, barring a miracle, Wisconsin would have been able to pull that off.
What do you guys think? Would it have been a mistake to throw it to DJK or McNutt in the endzone on 1st or 2nd down? Would it have been a mistake to go for it on 4th down if we had failed to pick up the 1st?