Should Daniels have gone down?

[SCHawkeye2]

In the game thread, I pointed out that, if Daniels had gone down on his long run at the end of the game after he got the first down, we could have just taken knees to end the game. I didn't really feel it was necessary at the time, but just pointed it out for the sake of discussion. As the end of the game progressed, though, I got to thinking that it may have been a good idea. What say you?

Take the points.
Don't make the situation complex. What if there is 3 minutes left? 2:30 left?

 

[PCHawk]

Take the points.
Don't make the situation complex. What if there is 3 minutes left? 2:30 left?

Then you score. Any time you can't run out the clock with 3 knees, you score.

 

[PCHawk]

The mathematical logic in this post need to be seriously revisited.

If you want to somehow think that Iowa is not part of a national average...when was the last time you saw an Iowa team have an onside kick recovered against them?

However as I said ... the chances either way of Minnesota winning were miniscule.

Isn't the difference between a .01% chance and a 2% chance about 200? Iowa is part of the national average, but they are 100% of the Iowa average. It is true though that they haven't given up any lately.

 

[PCHawk]

All we're really talking about is our difference of opinion in what constitutes a "way less chance". I think .01 is way less than 2 and you don't because both fall into the highly unlikely category. I don't have a problem with either line of thinking.

 

[Jonesy86]

Absolutely not. Look, in years past our defense usually stops in that situation. Or because the opposing team has to throw every time we can have an opportunity to intercept to ice the game. Now we have a coaching moment, and if in one of our next three games have a similar situation where we HAVE to give the ball back clinging to a small lead we'll hopefully be able to play better on defense to get that stop. I for one hope we can get at least a three score lead late in the game for the remainder of the season.

 

[TychoBrahe]

To the doubters, once more: if Daniels goes down, THE GAME IS OVER.

We win, it's basically a sure thing. 3 kneel-downs. We win. End of story.

But if Daniels scores THE GAME CONTINUES.

Every second the game continues is a second that might contribute to us LOSING THE GAME.

So, when presented the opportunity to end the game and win, YOU END THE GAME AND WIN.

As for on-side kicks: maybe some of you aren't old enough to remember it, but we had a streak a few years back of losing or in danger of losing multiple games where opponents recovered on-side kicks. We lost to NW in 2006 in the exact same situation we were in last night. It happens.

To repeat: when you are winning, you want to END THE GAME AS FAST AS YOU CAN.

Anyone who doesn't get this is either trolling or delusional at this point.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Or here's an idea: Don't let Minny go 75 yards in 45 seconds. That was WAY too easy.

I don't blame Daniels for taking the TD - but it's very true, if he just goes down, the game is over. Period. You don't really want to invite a quick score followed by on-side kick situation. Crazy things can happen.

 

[Billso]

The correct decision was to go down, for the same reason you go down on an interception in that situation even if the field is open for a TD.

The correct decision afterwards is to give LD a big hug, congratulate him on his terrific performance, celebrate the win, and discuss this situation during film review.

I guarantee this will be discussed by the team this week, regardless of any nonsense we post here. Nobody in the video room will be butthurt, including LD. These guys are football players.

 

[uihawk82]

Well, KF certainly can't win on this one. He goes down, we lose, KFs fault. Minny gets the onside kick, we lose, KFs fault.

Only in FantasyLand--or HawkeyeNation.com--can a team be 10-0 and people biatch.

This isnt a biatch thread for most people but a discussion of football strategy and game management.

Eli Manning made a bone head play in the first game of this season and he took a whipping in the media.

This isnt a bonehead play and I doubt the hawk running backs are coached to go down but going down is the best play. One in 10000 chance of fumbling and losing a fumbled snap from victory formation lets say vs. we see many teams score twice in two minutes to come back and win or tie games. It has happened to the hawks too many times in the last 10 years.

 

[PCHawk]

The correct decision was to go down, for the same reason you go down on an interception in that situation even if the field is open for a TD.

The correct decision afterwards is to give LD a big hug, congratulate him on his terrific performance, celebrate the win, and discuss this situation during film review.

I guarantee this will be discussed by the team this week, regardless of any nonsense we post here. Nobody in the video room will be butthurt, including LD. These guys are football players.

Funny I was just going to mention the interception comparison. Good thinkin.

 

[Hawk10k]

If this is the hottest topic of discussion after our tenth game then KF must be doing an awful lot right. Yep, the ideal choice would've been to go down but it wasn't necessarily wrong for him to run it in either.

 

[hawkfan340]

I'm amazed that people are arguing that a 98% or so chance of winning is preferable to about a 99.9999% chance.

 

[hawkfan340]

If this is the hottest topic of discussion after our tenth game then KF must be doing an awful lot right. Yep, the ideal choice would've been to go down but it wasn't necessarily wrong for him to run it in either.

True. Back to back weeks where the biggest topic has been the proper way to initiate victory formation.

#bluebloodproblems(well,exceptwe'renotreallybluebloods,butwhatevs)

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

Can't blame Daniels for scoring, but yes, he absolutely should have gone down at about the 5. We would have been able to take 3 knees and end the game.

Do you think the Minnie coaches were smart enough to tell their players,if they get the 1st down,let the play go and allow them to score the TD? That way they get the ball back to try and score with the opportunity at the onside kick.

 

[bigjim]

In the game thread, I pointed out that, if Daniels had gone down on his long run at the end of the game after he got the first down, we could have just taken knees to end the game. I didn't really feel it was necessary at the time, but just pointed it out for the sake of discussion. As the end of the game progressed, though, I got to thinking that it may have been a good idea. What say you?

I was thinking the same thing last night. Sometimes a player needs to know when to go down on a play.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

No. We should have stopped them from scoring in 45 seconds though.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Was anyone else nervous while in victory formation or was it just me? I've never been that nervous in that situation before. Probably because the stakes for victory have never been this high.

Yes. For the first time ever I remember thinking "make a good center/qb exchange". Fan psychosis at its worst . Lol.

 

[ssckelley]

This thread is entertaining

I doubt there is a running back in college football that would have the presence of mind to go down when you have a clear touchdown and over 2 minutes left in the game. Some of you are getting worked up over nothing.

 

[Robowe]

This thread is entertaining

I doubt there is a running back in college football that would have the presence of mind to go down when you have a clear touchdown and over 2 minutes left in the game. Some of you are getting worked up over nothing.

Agreed. The decision needs to be made and communicated ahead of time by the coaching staff. Or, these situations would need to be covered in practice at some point so the players would understand. Otherwise, the players are trained to score.

What's interesting is, some folks say Iowa needs style points to impress the committee. So, going up 40-28 was good in that regard. However, giving up the drive to Minnesota negated that TD's affect. All in all, a good debate either way.

 

[PCHawk]

This thread is entertaining

I doubt there is a running back in college football that would have the presence of mind to go down when you have a clear touchdown and over 2 minutes left in the game. Some of you are getting worked up over nothing.

This isn't a thread calling out LD for being an idiot. Pretty much everyone agrees that most players will do the exact same thing. People are just saying, and rightfully so, that it would have been better to go down. No one is worked up. No one is calling LD out. It's just a simple conversation on a board meant for conversations, discussing what would have given us a better chance to win.