UW Choices that Let Texas Back In the Game

[olyfan63]

First, delighted that the Huskies won. However, it seems like an array of game choices by the Huskies gave Texas more opportunities than they deserved, to the brink of nearly pulling defeat from the jaws of victory. Sure, the injury to RB Dillon Johnson resulted from a flawed coaching decision, but "mostly" was just horrible luck and a flawed rule. The fair catch interference penalty resulting from hustle and effort with a misjudgment. So more "breaks of the game", schitt-for-luck, than "coaching decisions", IMO.

The coaching decisions...

One turning point was the lack of urgency to score a TD on the first FG drive of the 2nd half, where the drive ended with Run-Run-Run. The Huskies run game hadn't been effective other than a change of pace. Sure, a pass is no guarantee of a score either, but better odds of a score with at least one pass, instead of three runs, IMO.

I thought the bigger turning point was when the Huskies used up only 1:30 on that possession with 12:39 minutes left, with the Huskies up by 13. A great deep ball yielded only 15 yards, not 50, due to a "professional foul" PI, then the Huskies went 3-and-out, including a failed flea-flicker play. On at least one of the plays, it looked like Penix had some room to run and just threw the ball away. After the punt, Texas still had 11+ minutes left, and with that pounding running game that opened up play action passing, and plenty of time for Texas to keep running the ball. While I applaud the Huskies' OC go-for-the-jugular mindset, moving the ball down the field with high percentage passes would have bled off more time and maybe wound up with a score, and less opportunity for Texas to get back in the game. It was kinda weird though... it seemed Penix suddenly was channeling Russell Wilson and becoming risk-averse to throws he'd been making successfully earlier in the game, playing "tight" as some called it. Or was that Texas D adjustments? In any case, Texas took the punt and marched right down for a TD to suddenly make it a one-score game with lots of time left.

How do others see it? What could/should the Huskies' coaching staff, or Penix, have done differently to keep Texas down with the Huskies' jaws firmly around the Longhorns throat? Am I just being picky because the Huskies have won nail-biters all year, and this is just what they do, somebody always makes a big play at the end? (Which is a great formula until it isn't) Will this type of "tight" play backfire against an (arguably) more talented Michigan team?

P.S. Anyone else think the refs could have easily called PI on Elijah Jackson on that final play, as Jackson seemed to have his arm on Mitchell's shoulder, keeping him from jumping very high?

 

[CallMeADawg]

They won.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Meh, we've been thru all of this. We all know the time management stuff didn't help. But also there was a fluke muffed punt that handed them points.
There was a fluke injury that gave them and extra 40 seconds. They should have ran on 3rd down before the last FG. They should have ran a couple times after getting the fumble recovery. They do this all the time, it is what it is. Drives me nuts, but the next day, I'm over it.

I'm enjoying the ride. I had my frustration and vented. On to Monday. And NO way in hell that was PI. You can have your arm on a guy. He didn't impede anything. The throw was high, he wasn't going to land inbounds, period.
Not trying to argue, but why not just enjoy the win and what's in front of them. It wasn't perfect, so what? They won.
This team is VERY aggressive, that's not going to change. The have won 21 games in a row. They haven't lost a game in 451 days.

 

[fenderbender123]

We seem to be on the same page, Soul. I was calling for DJ to get the ball on that entire series.

1. A first down seals the win, and you can't get a first down if you kneel.
2. DJ holds onto the ball. Rarely fumbles.
3. DJ is tough as nails. You don't expect him to get hurt.
4. A handoff to the RB has a higher potential of eating up more clock than a QB kneel, even if QB holds it as long as he can.

I have a hard time thinking there was anyone who was upset we were giving the ball to DJ until he got injured.

The bigger gaffe was passing on 3rd down the previous possession. Ask anyone who watched the game with me. I would not shut the **** up about how important field goals were. Especially when the kicker has been doing an excellent job. Even then, I see what they were trying to do. They wanted to win the damn game.

 

[sutz]

Your first sentence says it all. Nice win, but...

 

[cymatica]

Not running on 3rd down before the final Texas FG drive to make them burn a timeout. If the throw isn't there, tell Penix to kneel down. That was too aggressive. The game was basically over, don't get cute, just be smart and win the game.

People criticizing running on 3rd down after the injury are the definition of captain hindsight. You never kneel down to punt the ball. I personally would have liked a bootleg and Penix can run around and slide if the throw isn't there, but running a play was the right move. The injury rule needs to change. Either the team on offense should be given the option to use a timeout, or take a 15 yard penalty to let the clock run. Always try to get a first down and end the game with the ball in your hands.

 

[FlyingGunHawk]

Not running on 3rd down before the final Texas FG drive to make them burn a timeout. If the throw isn't there, tell Penix to kneel down. That was too aggressive. The game was basically over, don't get cute, just be smart and win the game.

People criticizing running on 3rd down after the injury are the definition of captain hindsight. You never kneel down to punt the ball. I personally would have liked a bootleg and Penix can run around and slide if the throw isn't there, but running a play was the right move. The injury rule needs to change. Either the team on offense should be given the option to use a timeout, or take a 15 yard penalty to let the clock run. Always try to get a first down and end the game with the ball in your hands.

I agree. The rule most certainly needs to change. It will benefit the offence in the end, but in this circumstance I think that's okay. The team possessing the ball should have more control over the game clock.

 

[olyfan63]

Meh, we've been thru all of this. We all know the time management stuff didn't help. But also there was a fluke muffed punt that handed them points.
There was a fluke injury that gave them and extra 40 seconds. They should have ran on 3rd down before the last FG. They should have ran a couple times after getting the fumble recovery. They do this all the time, it is what it is. Drives me nuts, but the next day, I'm over it.

I'm enjoying the ride. I had my frustration and vented. On to Monday. And NO way in hell that was PI. You can have your arm on a guy. He didn't impede anything. The throw was high, he wasn't going to land inbounds, period.
Not trying to argue, but why not just enjoy the win and what's in front of them. It wasn't perfect, so what? They won.
This team is VERY aggressive, that's not going to change. The have won 21 games in a row. They haven't lost a game in 451 days.

Yeah, the muffed punt and short-field TD gifted to Texas in the first half was schitt-for-luck, not much a coach can do about that on game day. In any case, the Huskies won the turnover battle 2-1 with the two Texas fumbles, so that evened out, 7 points for Texas off turnovers, 3 points scored by Huskies off first Texas turnover, plus 3-7 Texas points prevented. Basically a wash on turnovers, or edge to the Huskies.

I was baffled by the lack of running basically any clock on that one drive, with 12 minutes left. I went back and watched a couple more Husky games, and so far I'm concluding that this is just how DeBoer plays it, balls-to-the-wall, screw-game-management, my-team-will-make-a-big-play when we need it. It's certainly working for him. I guess when you have Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, Dillon Johnson, and several other playmakers, you can get away with it.

 

[olyfan63]

We seem to be on the same page, Soul. I was calling for DJ to get the ball on that entire series.

1. A first down seals the win, and you can't get a first down if you kneel.
2. DJ holds onto the ball. Rarely fumbles.
3. DJ is tough as nails. You don't expect him to get hurt.
4. A handoff to the RB has a higher potential of eating up more clock than a QB kneel, even if QB holds it as long as he can.

I have a hard time thinking there was anyone who was upset we were giving the ball to DJ until he got injured.

The bigger gaffe was passing on 3rd down the previous possession. Ask anyone who watched the game with me. I would not shut the **** up about how important field goals were. Especially when the kicker has been doing an excellent job. Even then, I see what they were trying to do. They wanted to win the damn game.

I recall one poster mentioning there are 3 chances for a screwup on a run, vs. 1 chance for screwup on a kneeldown.
1) Snap from center - risk: fumbled QB/Center exchange
2) Handoff from QB to RB - risk: fumbled exchange
3) RB with ball hit by defender - risk: fumble by RB

Who knew there was a risk 4) Injury to offensive player stops the clock

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I want my coach to play to win. Nobody was complaining when they went for the first down in the Pac 12 Title game against Oregon.
It will always drive me crazy when they don't run the ball to eat up the clock. But, this isn't just a UW thing, a lot of coaches do it. A lot of NFL teams do it. Some coaches are just really aggressive.

 

[cymatica]

I recall one poster mentioning there are 3 chances for a screwup on a run, vs. 1 chance for screwup on a kneeldown.
1) Snap from center - risk: fumbled QB/Center exchange
2) Handoff from QB to RB - risk: fumbled exchange
3) RB with ball hit by defender - risk: fumble by RB

Who knew there was a risk 4) Injury to offensive player stops the clock

Of course, if they kneeled it and Texas returned a punt for the go ahead score, the same pundits criticizing not kneeling would claim the Huskies should have ran the ball

 

[IndyHawk]

Not running on 3rd down before the final Texas FG drive to make them burn a timeout. If the throw isn't there, tell Penix to kneel down. That was too aggressive. The game was basically over, don't get cute, just be smart and win the game.

People criticizing running on 3rd down after the injury are the definition of captain hindsight. You never kneel down to punt the ball. I personally would have liked a bootleg and Penix can run around and slide if the throw isn't there, but running a play was the right move. The injury rule needs to change. Either the team on offense should be given the option to use a timeout, or take a 15 yard penalty to let the clock run. Always try to get a first down and end the game with the ball in your hands.

The injury rule is so stupid.
They need to simply pause the clock to treat and remove player from field,
resume clock after getting lined back up.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

VERY stupid rule. Should the other players have to grab a guy and carry him off the field? Hell no. They need to change that.
Just more of the obsession of dwelling over and over again about something that DIDN'T happen. They didn't lose. I'm guilty of it too, but at some point, who really cares? 21 wins in a row.

I'm ready for a National Championship game on Monday. This stuff has been covered over and over again. Sure, it shouldn't have come down to that ending. But it did, we won. Big deal. On to the title.

 

[olyfan63]

I want my coach to play to win. Nobody was complaining when they went for the first down in the Pac 12 Title game against Oregon.
It will always drive me crazy when they don't run the ball to eat up the clock. But, this isn't just a UW thing, a lot of coaches do it. A lot of NFL teams do it. Some coaches are just really aggressive.

When Kalen DeBoer gets lured away to the NFL for a zillion dollars, you're on board with bringing in "The Coach Who Never Punts" (Kevin Kelley) as the new coach? He's available!
Actually, it would be more likely the Cougs would do such a thing, as a follow-up to the late, great Mike Leach, but certainly there would be lots of excitement every game!
Oh yeah, and he does an onside kick after every score, too!

No-punt coach Kelley steps down at Presbyterian

Presbyterian head coach Kevin Kelley, famous for his unique approach that includes never punting and often opting for onside kicks, announced he's leaving the school in a statement on Twitter Saturday.

www.espn.com

 

[NoGain]

You can nitpik about certain calls (definitely not making Texas burn that TO on 3rd down on second to last drive tops the list for me), but nothing, I MEAN NOTHING compares to that ridiculous rule that stopped the clock for Texas and ended up giving them four chances to score in the red zone when without that mind numbing rule they would have the ball on the 20 yard line or less with time to run one, maybe two more plays.

I've never been so stunned by fate in a football game before.

 

[FlyingGunHawk]

You can nitpik about certain calls (definitely not making Texas burn that TO on 3rd down on second to last drive tops the list for me), but nothing, I MEAN NOTHING compares to that ridiculous rule that stopped the clock for Texas and ended up giving them four chances to score in the red zone when without that mind numbing rule they would have the ball on the 20 yard line or less with time to run one, maybe two more plays.

I've never been so stunned by fate in a football game before.

I'm kinda feeling that choke would have haunted us... forever. *shivers*

 

[SoulfishHawk]

But it DIDN'T.

 

[olyfan63]

I'm kinda feeling that choke would have haunted us... forever. *shivers*

But it DIDN'T.

I'm trying to think of any game EVER where a team came so scary close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...
Actually, I thought of ONE. And that team actually LOST in the end, after basically having the game won.

The team? Green Bay Packers.
The game? Yup, 2014 NFCCG, losing to Seahawks on a fake FG, successful onside kick, and walk-off TD pass in OT. Sucks to be them. Pretty sure that loss still sticks in the craw of Packer fans everywhere, and will, pretty much FOREVER.

I submit that loss by Green Bay is one of the all-time choke jobs, even up on the level of Atlanta Falcons and 28-3.

A few years back, Mike Leach's Cougars were up 49-17 on UCLA in the 3rd quarter. UCLA won, 67-63. WSU QB Anthony Gordon threw 9 TD passes in a losing effort. That massive choke game is a minor blip in the rear view mirror, nobody cares.

So glad the Huskies didn't join the college edition of the all-time choke jobs on the big stage of the FCS Semifinal. It woulda been at least a 20-years-long haunting loss.