College Football - Week of Nov. 14th

[jersey cubs fan]

Iowa lucked out against MSU. That offense isn't built to score in less than a minute, especially with the back-up QB playing in the first start of his young career at Ohio State. The risk of a fumble or INT by Vandy was too high. Can you imagine the crap Ferentz would be taking if Vandy through a pick-6 right there?

 

They were moving the ball at will at that point and didn't have far to go. And your last sentence is exactly why I said it was cowardice. It was a cover your ass strategy instead of a try to win the freaking game strategy. He had plenty of time, and by forcing his QB to try and win it in OT (after the coach displayed a huge vote of no confidence in him late in the game) was just plain old stupid.

 

at will? They had 2 drives in the 4th quarter. One ended in a TD, one ended in a pick. They had a KO return for a TD and ran out the clock at the very end. On that last possession, they had to go 40-45 yards to get into 50/50 territory. Murray is 5/10 on FGs over 40 yards this year. So 40-45 yards in 50 seconds to have a 50/50 shot at the winning FG v. chance your QB in his first start throws his 2nd pick in the 4th quarter or fumbles the ball, giving the opponent great field position to kick the winning FG.

 

If you thought Iowa was moving the ball at will, why wouldn't you want OT? That's right, in OT they lost 15+ yards in 3 plays to knock themselves out of field position. They were not moving the ball at will. They were having mixed success, which is the best you can hope for with your backup QB.

 

As for your comment about my last sentence as evidence of cowardice - that's ridiculous. Ferentz wasn't thinking about the fan reaction when he decided to run the clock out. He was thinking he had a better chance of winning the game in OT than risking a TO that would lose the game for him. It was conservative, but that's his nature and I think it's the right call in that situation.

 

Well then you are both wrong. When you have your players line up in spread formation and then at the last second say "oh wait, I'm scared shitless about what you are going to do here even though it's really ease to move the ball in a short amount of time in college football, so everybody just stand there looking like idiots" you wreck your young QBs confidence and let the home favorites off the hook. You are the underdog, you go for the win.

[abuck1220]

yeah, at that point iowa had about as much momentum as you could have in a football game, 59 seconds, a confident qb and an osu defense that was probably reeling. i'm not saying you throw five yard outs that can turn into pick 6's, but you can, at the very least, take a deep shot with djk or mcnutt. if you don't trusty vandenburg in that spot i don't know why you'd trust him in OT.

 

they were ~40 yards away from winning in columbus and playing in the rose bowl and they just let that opportunity tick away.

[Tracer Bullet]

yeah, at that point iowa had about as much momentum as you could have in a football game, 59 seconds, a confident qb and an osu defense that was probably reeling. i'm not saying you throw five yard outs that can turn into pick 6's, but you can, at the very least, take a deep shot with djk or mcnutt. if you don't trusty vandenburg in that spot i don't know why you'd trust him in OT.

 

they were ~40 yards away from winning in columbus and playing in the rose bowl and they just let that opportunity tick away.

 

they had momentum, I don't deny that. But I'm not sure how much of it was based on the ability of their QB to move the ball effectively down the field. I guess I don't trust him b/c it's pretty easy for a long pass to turn into a sack/fumble or a pick. An INT at that point doesn't have to be a pick-6. Any INT other than on a bomb is going to give OSU the ability to gain just 0-25 yards and kick the winning FG.

 

And I have more trust with my QB in OT b/c I'm at the 25, have a solid kicker from inside 40 yards and I have a good defense. You can run the ball effectively in OT. With 50 seconds to go, OSU can come after the QB pretty hard. I just don't trust him to make good decisions/throws in that situation. Obviously, one of the things you can't have in OT is a 10-yard sack to take you out of FG range.

[ISUCubsFan]

yeah, at that point iowa had about as much momentum as you could have in a football game, 59 seconds, a confident qb and an osu defense that was probably reeling. i'm not saying you throw five yard outs that can turn into pick 6's, but you can, at the very least, take a deep shot with djk or mcnutt. if you don't trusty vandenburg in that spot i don't know why you'd trust him in OT.

 

they were ~40 yards away from winning in columbus and playing in the rose bowl and they just let that opportunity tick away.

 

they had momentum, I don't deny that. But I'm not sure how much of it was based on the ability of their QB to move the ball effectively down the field. I guess I don't trust him b/c it's pretty easy for a long pass to turn into a sack/fumble or a pick. An INT at that point doesn't have to be a pick-6. Any INT other than on a bomb is going to give OSU the ability to gain just 0-25 yards and kick the winning FG.

 

And I have more trust with my QB in OT b/c I'm at the 25, have a solid kicker from inside 40 yards and I have a good defense. You can run the ball effectively in OT. With 50 seconds to go, OSU can come after the QB pretty hard. I just don't trust him to make good decisions/throws in that situation. Obviously, one of the things you can't have in OT is a 10-yard sack to take you out of FG range.

 

Eh, I don't trust a freshman QB in that situation that much either, but I don't think the chances of OSU getting a turnover + getting in FG range are greater than the chances of Iowa getting in FG range. It's not a terrible decision to run out the clock, but I probably would have gone for it.

[Tracer Bullet]

yeah, at that point iowa had about as much momentum as you could have in a football game, 59 seconds, a confident qb and an osu defense that was probably reeling. i'm not saying you throw five yard outs that can turn into pick 6's, but you can, at the very least, take a deep shot with djk or mcnutt. if you don't trusty vandenburg in that spot i don't know why you'd trust him in OT.

 

they were ~40 yards away from winning in columbus and playing in the rose bowl and they just let that opportunity tick away.

 

they had momentum, I don't deny that. But I'm not sure how much of it was based on the ability of their QB to move the ball effectively down the field. I guess I don't trust him b/c it's pretty easy for a long pass to turn into a sack/fumble or a pick. An INT at that point doesn't have to be a pick-6. Any INT other than on a bomb is going to give OSU the ability to gain just 0-25 yards and kick the winning FG.

 

And I have more trust with my QB in OT b/c I'm at the 25, have a solid kicker from inside 40 yards and I have a good defense. You can run the ball effectively in OT. With 50 seconds to go, OSU can come after the QB pretty hard. I just don't trust him to make good decisions/throws in that situation. Obviously, one of the things you can't have in OT is a 10-yard sack to take you out of FG range.

 

Eh, I don't trust a freshman QB in that situation that much either, but I don't think the chances of OSU getting a turnover + getting in FG range are greater than the chances of Iowa getting in FG range. It's not a terrible decision to run out the clock, but I probably would have gone for it.

 

With an inexperienced QB, I like the chances of getting a TD or FG from the 25 much more than I like the chances of trying to get 40+ yards in 50 seconds when the other side knows you're going to be throwing it on every down.

[abuck1220]

yeah, at that point iowa had about as much momentum as you could have in a football game, 59 seconds, a confident qb and an osu defense that was probably reeling. i'm not saying you throw five yard outs that can turn into pick 6's, but you can, at the very least, take a deep shot with djk or mcnutt. if you don't trusty vandenburg in that spot i don't know why you'd trust him in OT.

 

they were ~40 yards away from winning in columbus and playing in the rose bowl and they just let that opportunity tick away.

 

they had momentum, I don't deny that. But I'm not sure how much of it was based on the ability of their QB to move the ball effectively down the field. I guess I don't trust him b/c it's pretty easy for a long pass to turn into a sack/fumble or a pick. An INT at that point doesn't have to be a pick-6. Any INT other than on a bomb is going to give OSU the ability to gain just 0-25 yards and kick the winning FG.

 

And I have more trust with my QB in OT b/c I'm at the 25, have a solid kicker from inside 40 yards and I have a good defense. You can run the ball effectively in OT. With 50 seconds to go, OSU can come after the QB pretty hard. I just don't trust him to make good decisions/throws in that situation. Obviously, one of the things you can't have in OT is a 10-yard sack to take you out of FG range.

 

Eh, I don't trust a freshman QB in that situation that much either, but I don't think the chances of OSU getting a turnover + getting in FG range are greater than the chances of Iowa getting in FG range. It's not a terrible decision to run out the clock, but I probably would have gone for it.

 

With an inexperienced QB, I like the chances of getting a TD or FG from the 25 much more than I like the chances of trying to get 40+ yards in 50 seconds when the other side knows you're going to be throwing it on every down.

 

except in the first scenario, the other team also gets a chance to score a td from the 25. in the second scenario they probably don't get the ball.

[Tracer Bullet]

yeah, at that point iowa had about as much momentum as you could have in a football game, 59 seconds, a confident qb and an osu defense that was probably reeling. i'm not saying you throw five yard outs that can turn into pick 6's, but you can, at the very least, take a deep shot with djk or mcnutt. if you don't trusty vandenburg in that spot i don't know why you'd trust him in OT.

 

they were ~40 yards away from winning in columbus and playing in the rose bowl and they just let that opportunity tick away.

 

they had momentum, I don't deny that. But I'm not sure how much of it was based on the ability of their QB to move the ball effectively down the field. I guess I don't trust him b/c it's pretty easy for a long pass to turn into a sack/fumble or a pick. An INT at that point doesn't have to be a pick-6. Any INT other than on a bomb is going to give OSU the ability to gain just 0-25 yards and kick the winning FG.

 

And I have more trust with my QB in OT b/c I'm at the 25, have a solid kicker from inside 40 yards and I have a good defense. You can run the ball effectively in OT. With 50 seconds to go, OSU can come after the QB pretty hard. I just don't trust him to make good decisions/throws in that situation. Obviously, one of the things you can't have in OT is a 10-yard sack to take you out of FG range.

 

Eh, I don't trust a freshman QB in that situation that much either, but I don't think the chances of OSU getting a turnover + getting in FG range are greater than the chances of Iowa getting in FG range. It's not a terrible decision to run out the clock, but I probably would have gone for it.

 

With an inexperienced QB, I like the chances of getting a TD or FG from the 25 much more than I like the chances of trying to get 40+ yards in 50 seconds when the other side knows you're going to be throwing it on every down.

 

except in the first scenario, the other team also gets a chance to score a td from the 25. in the second scenario they probably don't get the ball.

 

Sure, that's the trade-off. And if I had, say, ND's defense rather than Iowa's, I'd be less inclined to take that chance. But Iowa's defense is great and seems to improve as the game goes on. It just looks like a disaster b/c they ran 3 plays and lost 15 yards or whatever to kill their chances of scoring in OT.