Good point. I would only add that there are so many more potential "moments" to prepare for in football than there are in other sports. Every team does ton of situational stuff, it is simply hard to adequately cover every possible situation. The best coaches do it better than the rest, which I think is really what you are getting at.
What did Harbaugh and other coaches do wrong
- Thread starter uihawk82
- Start date
Good point. I would only add that there are so many more potential "moments" to prepare for in football than there are in other sports. Every team does ton of situational stuff, it is simply hard to adequately cover every possible situation. The best coaches do it better than the rest, which I think is really what you are getting at.
10 seconds is about the max amount of extra time you can run off in 3 plays by running around. In this exact situation it would have been less risky than punting. But any more time and there is the chance it doesn't work quite well enough and you end up punting anyway. Unless you're 100% sure you can kill the clock by running around, risk reward simply isn't there.
I don't even consider what happened in the Michigan game to be a clock management issue. He did what gave his team a 99.98% chance to win (I think that's what I heard their odds of winning were before the punt). Now if he did what was suggested here and had Jake run around for a few extra seconds each play, and they ended up having to kill 1 or 2 seconds on 4th down instead of punt, he would have deserved praise for doing an above the norm job at clock management. But he definitely doesn't deserve ridicule for doing what he did.
I remember a few years ago where Les Miles messed up 2 games really badly back to back. One's where everyone who's watching knows it's a collasal mess up as it's going down. It's times like that that deserve to be called blunders.
Good points, especially about the mad hatter. Harbaugh was playing by the book. I am probably also looking at this from a hate MSU Dantonio as a coach point of view. Dantonio is probably a real good guy off the field.
Don't Worry. You'll be hatong Harbaugh more in no time.
As long as we are talking creative ways to run out clock, how about bringing in a couple of extra tackles to play the ends, stick 2 fullbacks stacked over the guards to handle blitzers, cut the splits down to nothing, stick one safety back about 15 yards behind the QB, and then have the QB take the snap and drop back 5 yards into a "super" pocket. He just cowers there until someone gets close enough to touch him, then he crumples in a heap. How much time do you think that could waste per play?
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
Interesting idea.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
Some of this is a bit odd... Harbaugh did what 95% of the coaches would do. I really think all these run in circles and whatever ideas are a bit silly.
The issue was the execution of the punt and what happened after that.
1. There was a man wide on the play when MSU was rushing 11... that makes no sense.
2. The snap was a bit low and outside.
3. Rugby style kicker = bad in this situation.
4. Punter panicked and should have just fallen on the ball or been instructed to fall on the ball.
However all that being said it was still pretty much a fluke play - the only real mistake was the execution of the play. Which shows that you really need to execute EVERY play especially in a close game.
As far as spike argument 2.0 - Kirk just has never understood how to use the spike.. I really don't get it. It's even easier to do because in college football the clock stops on a first down and you have time to get people set. But so far this year it hasn't really mattered.
The issue was the execution of the punt and what happened after that.
1. There was a man wide on the play when MSU was rushing 11... that makes no sense.
2. The snap was a bit low and outside.
3. Rugby style kicker = bad in this situation.
4. Punter panicked and should have just fallen on the ball or been instructed to fall on the ball.
However all that being said it was still pretty much a fluke play - the only real mistake was the execution of the play. Which shows that you really need to execute EVERY play especially in a close game.
As far as spike argument 2.0 - Kirk just has never understood how to use the spike.. I really don't get it. It's even easier to do because in college football the clock stops on a first down and you have time to get people set. But so far this year it hasn't really mattered.
AdamHawk
Well-Known Member
I think you are getting hung up on details that have very little to do with my original point, which is the fact that you don't know what may or may not have happened had they spiked the ball and that my opinion is they handled the situation just fine.
atomicblue224
Well-Known Member
HawkeyeTech
Well-Known Member
I stated before the punt that with only 10 seconds left Michigan should just have the QB take the snap and run backwards though the endzone, taking as much time as possible. Three point lead, two points to MSU for the safety, so Michigan wins by one. Too many things can go wrong on a punt.
But it was only a two point lead, 23-21, so cant take a safety.
I likey, this is good, and could probably run those extra 3 seconds off per play.
ColumbusHawk
Well-Known Member
Yeah, the coach calls for a bootleg to run off time. The quarterback is instructed not to throw the ball & fall down in-bounds. However, the QB throws an incomplete pass and stops the clock. It all comes down to execution. The coach could have the best play called ever, but if the team doesn't execute the play is meaningless.
How about this? With 4th and 2, 10 seconds left, protecting a 2 pt lead from midfield, you play-action and roll your QB out with a 2 receiver pattern (out and drag). If the QB has green grass, he runs for the 1st down, game over. If a receiver is WIDE open, you throw for the 1st down. If neither of those options produce highly-probable, favorable results, the QB throws the ball out of bounds, as HIGH as he possibly can. No intentional grounding because he is out of the pocket (as long as the ball goes past the line of scrimmage). The clock does not stop until the ball touches the ground. If the roll-out takes 5 seconds, I bet the hang-time could kill an extra 5 (with clock-keeper sloppiness), game over.
deanvogs
Well-Known Member
Everyone is overthinking this. Punting there is the safest and best play.
D
DDThompson
Guest
Bye week, dean. "What if Worlds" collide all the time.
Besides, "overthinking" isn't the word I'd use.
Notre Dame followed my suggestion for their 4th down play to run out the last 7 seconds of their game vs. Pitt. Hopefully Brian Kelly will give me props in his press-conference this year.
