Was KF quoted correctly about the last 4th and 3 against Purdue

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uihawk82

Well-Known Member
I havent seen this but a co-worker told me he read in the Sunday Des Moines Register that KF said the he basically didnt even think about the possibility of kicking a field goal. Not that he didnt consider it but that he wasnt sure they were at a point on the field that was even field goal worthy.

It would have been 52 yards and not totally out of the realm of the thought process.

Did my coworker get this quote correct?
 
Yes it was in his post game presser. He stated twice that the thought never crossed his mind. They apparently went into the game with mentality that the 30 yard line was the cut off.
 
It would have been a 52 yard field goal into the wind. Would have been tough to make and a miss would have given them great field position

Going for it and not getting it, which we did also gave them great field position. But common sense would tell you not to go for a 1 yard pass play on 4th and 3.

Punting in that position would have been the best decision in that circumstance. Pin them deep in their own territory, and make them drive the ball the length of the field in less then a minute. However, I am sure that many would have complained about that as well
 
I bet it did cross his mind, but he was being sarcastic because it was at an unreasonable distance because of the wind, so he thought it was a stupid question.
 
That was a 50+ yard FG into a 20mph wind. Wouldn't have crossed my mind either. Esp. when you know Dreg Gavis has the perfect 4th and short play dialed up.
 
tubahawk said:
Yes it was in his post game presser. He stated twice that the thought never crossed his mind. They apparently went into the game with mentality that the 30 yard line was the cut off.
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Well that is different than not even realizing you might be in field goal range. I figured the long fg try was a 10% chance where as going on 4th and 3 would be a 30% chance.

But throwing a zero yard pass on 4th and 3 with slower receivers is about a 0% chance. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
GhostofBTT said:
That was a 50+ yard FG into a 20mph wind. Wouldn't have crossed my mind either. Esp. when you know Dreg Gavis has the perfect 4th and short play dialed up.
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I disagree with the wind aspect. I sit right on the south goal line and the flags on top of the goalposts with a south wind are usually moving to the south with the kicker. And the wind had died down some by end of game.

I still wouldnt have tried a fg but the fact we cant have a receiver run 8 yards down field and come back 3 yds to the QB is disheartening.
 
If you are going to believe Kirk's comments in pressers are the truth, you're gonna have a bad time.
 
uihawk82 said:
I disagree with the wind aspect. I sit right on the south goal line and the flags on top of the goalposts with a south wind are usually moving to the south with the kicker. And the wind had died down some by end of game.

I still wouldnt have tried a fg but the fact we cant have a receiver run 8 yards down field and come back 3 yds to the QB is disheartening.
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Dude his kickoffs were going roughly 10-15 yards shorter than normal. The same direction.
 
uihawk82 said:
Well that is different than not even realizing you might be in field goal range. I figured the long fg try was a 10% chance where as going on 4th and 3 would be a 30% chance.

But throwing a zero yard pass on 4th and 3 with slower receivers is about a 0% chance. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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And Vandenberg said in his post game interview that they had practiced that pass play all week.

No, I'm not making that up.
 
GhostofBTT said:
That was a 50+ yard FG into a 20mph wind. Wouldn't have crossed my mind either. Esp. when you know Dreg Gavis has the perfect 4th and short play dialed up.
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Exactly. What are the better odds: Iowa converting a 4th and 3 or Iowa's kicker making a 52 yard field goal into a 20 mph wind?? Wait a minute, dont answer that....................................................send the fg unit out.
 
uihawk82 said:
Well that is different than not even realizing you might be in field goal range. I figured the long fg try was a 10% chance where as going on 4th and 3 would be a 30% chance.

But throwing a zero yard pass on 4th and 3 with slower receivers is about a 0% chance. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Make no mistake, I'm not criticizing or defending the decision. As I said in the thread about post game presser I'm not sure how to take that response. I have a really difficult time believing the thought didn't at least cross his mind. If it really never did, I'm not sure anyone can defend that kind of thinking.

As a previous poster already mentioned there were at least three logical options for KF to consider;

1. Kick the Field goal
2. Go for it.
3. Punt the ball

I'd argue the two other options that existed for teams not named Iowa were;
1. Fake Field Goal
2. Fake Punt.

If we had got the first down, Kirk would have been praised for his guts to go for it. If they had attempted the field goal and made it, again it would have been considered a great strategy. If they attempted the FG and missed Kirk would be receiving a similar lynching as he has received for going for it. My issue isn't the choice he made. Any of them are "acceptable". But to say you never considered one of the basic options seems derelict.
 
tubahawk said:
Make no mistake, I'm not criticizing or defending the decision. As I said in the thread about post game presser I'm not sure how to take that response. I have a really difficult time believing the thought didn't at least cross his mind. If it really never did, I'm not sure anyone can defend that kind of thinking.

As a previous poster already mentioned there were at least three logical options for KF to consider;

1. Kick the Field goal
2. Go for it.
3. Punt the ball

I'd argue the two other options that existed for teams not named Iowa were;
1. Fake Field Goal
2. Fake Punt.

If we had got the first down, Kirk would have been praised for his guts to go for it. If they had attempted the field goal and made it, again it would have been considered a great strategy. If they attempted the FG and missed Kirk would be receiving a similar lynching as he has received for going for it. My issue isn't the choice he made. Any of them are "acceptable". But to say you never considered one of the basic options seems derelict.
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I am with you, I don't think the decision was a poor one. I think the decision on 3rd down was a poor one if they planned on going for it anyway, why not run the ball there, control the clock or make Purdue call a timeout and then go for it on 4th?
Otherwise as you mentioned a fake punt or field goal would have been a good call. Especially with Wienke in as the holder or short punter. Give him a chance to be hero, it would have been a great time for a fake punt, IMHO.
I don't have a problem with them going for it all. The 4th down play call was so simply terrible though that it has made it an issue. You had to know on 3rd down that if you didn't convert there you were either going for it or punting. It was pretty clear that a field goal was not an option there.
 
smbhawk1 said:
It would have been a 52 yard field goal into the wind. Would have been tough to make and a miss would have given them great field position

Going for it and not getting it, which we did also gave them great field position. But common sense would tell you not to go for a 1 yard pass play on 4th and 3.

Punting in that position would have been the best decision in that circumstance. Pin them deep in their own territory, and make them drive the ball the length of the field in less then a minute. However, I am sure that many would have complained about that as well
Click to expand...

Not much common sense throughout this entire season when it comes to playcalling or coaching on either side of the ball. Good coaches put their players in the best possible situations and schmes for them to be successful. If things are not working, good coaches adapt and make changes until things start working or improving. Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results....well that is the definition of insanity.
 
smbhawk1 said:
It would have been a 52 yard field goal into the wind. Would have been tough to make and a miss would have given them great field position

Going for it and not getting it, which we did also gave them great field position. But common sense would tell you not to go for a 1 yard pass play on 4th and 3.

Punting in that position would have been the best decision in that circumstance. Pin them deep in their own territory, and make them drive the ball the length of the field in less then a minute. However, I am sure that many would have complained about that as well
Click to expand...


They had to stop us on 4th and 3, go 35 yards in 16 seconds, and make a 46 yard field goal with the game on the line using a kicker who hasn't made a field goal over 40. You think the odds of that were better then the odds of us picking up a 1st, getting 5 more yards or so, and kicking a 40 some yarder? I think the odds of us winning in regulation facing 4th and 3 were around 15 to 20%. Their odds of winning in regulation were probably 5%.
 
Igothawked said:
I am with you, I don't think the decision was a poor one. I think the decision on 3rd down was a poor one if they planned on going for it anyway, why not run the ball there, control the clock or make Purdue call a timeout and then go for it on 4th?
Otherwise as you mentioned a fake punt or field goal would have been a good call. Especially with Wienke in as the holder or short punter. Give him a chance to be hero, it would have been a great time for a fake punt, IMHO.
I don't have a problem with them going for it all. The 4th down play call was so simply terrible though that it has made it an issue. You had to know on 3rd down that if you didn't convert there you were either going for it or punting. It was pretty clear that a field goal was not an option there.
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I don't think running on 3rd and 10 would have been a good idea at all. Davis should have fought for the 1st instead of trying to get out of bounds. Also no way Purdue would call time out when we are just outside field goal range. They were praying for the clock to run out at that point.

As far as a fake punt goes, no coach would ever believe anyone would be dumb enough to punt in that situation so they would have been all over that one. On the long run by Purdue, Alston ran down to the flat to cover the running back that got caught up at the line of scrimmage. That was a very bad decision that left the middle of the field wide open.
 
PCHawk said:
I. On the long run by Purdue, Alston ran down to the flat to cover the running back that got caught up at the line of scrimmage. That was a very bad decision that left the middle of the field wide open.
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I doubt that is Alston's decision, I think it was his responsibility because Morris and our middle linebackers have to do this which I think is insane.

Why do we expect our middle LBkr to start in the middle, read run or pass and then have to run like hell to cover a fast back out of the backfield.

We have been beaten so many times on that play over the years. Plus we have no one in the middle to cover the QB draw which again kills us all the time.

One of the few bad schemes in Norm's and Phil's defense and it leads to a lot of big plays.

Even Brian Urlacher doesnt go out to the sidelines and it is about the same defensive scheme
 
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