Monday, September 17, 2007
FOOTBALL COACHES SHOULD BE FIRED, VOLUME III
Case #1: With 3:37 left in the 4th quarter of the Texas-Central Florida game Saturday, the Longhorns, after having scored a touchdown to make the score 35-24, kicked an extra point to make it a 12-point game.
Case #2: On UCF's next possession in that game, facing fourth down and needing two scores to at least tie the game, went for it and got the first down, keeping its drive alive.
Case #3: With 28 seconds left in the Kentucky-Louisville game, the Wildcats scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to go ahead 41-34 against the Cardinals.
Except that none of those events actually happened.
Texas coach Mack Brown dedcided for some weird reason to go for two, in order to make it a 13-point game. Memo to Coach Brown: A 12-point lead is just as good as a 13-point lead that late in the game, because the other team will have to score at least two touchdowns to get back in it. An 11-point lead means that UCF could have tied it with just a touchdown and a field goal. Use some math, man!
And why is Central Florida punting? You need the ball to win the game! Are you trying to just keep the margin of defeat down? That's no way to coach.
Case #1/#2 Result: Both teams made blunders, so they cancel each other out. But as it turned out, UCF did wind up scoring one more touchdown after a Texas fumble. Had the score been 36-30 after the touchdown, UCF would have gone for just the extra point and it would have a five-point game, necessitating another touchdown. Instead, UCF went for two after scoring and made it a three-point game. Who knows what would have happened if they'd recovered the onside kick?
As for Rich Brooks' inexplicable decision to just go for one? Well, it's just that: inexplicable. A six-point game means the extra point comes into play. In essence, if Louisville scores a touchdown, they win, due to the almost sure-thing extra point they would have made. At five points, they score and they win as well. But with a seven-point game, the extra point would have merely tied it. I feel like my readers are smart enough to know this, but apparently some coaches are not.
Case #3 Result: It was almost Karma, Baby. Louisville tried a desperation Hail Mary on the last play that was tipped and caught by a Cardinal receiver inside the 10-yard line. He didn't get into the end zone, but it was close. I wish he had made it, because Rich Brooks would have been vilified, and no coach would have been so stupid again in the future. Curses!!!
Case #2: On UCF's next possession in that game, facing fourth down and needing two scores to at least tie the game, went for it and got the first down, keeping its drive alive.
Case #3: With 28 seconds left in the Kentucky-Louisville game, the Wildcats scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to go ahead 41-34 against the Cardinals.
Except that none of those events actually happened.
Texas coach Mack Brown dedcided for some weird reason to go for two, in order to make it a 13-point game. Memo to Coach Brown: A 12-point lead is just as good as a 13-point lead that late in the game, because the other team will have to score at least two touchdowns to get back in it. An 11-point lead means that UCF could have tied it with just a touchdown and a field goal. Use some math, man!
And why is Central Florida punting? You need the ball to win the game! Are you trying to just keep the margin of defeat down? That's no way to coach.
Case #1/#2 Result: Both teams made blunders, so they cancel each other out. But as it turned out, UCF did wind up scoring one more touchdown after a Texas fumble. Had the score been 36-30 after the touchdown, UCF would have gone for just the extra point and it would have a five-point game, necessitating another touchdown. Instead, UCF went for two after scoring and made it a three-point game. Who knows what would have happened if they'd recovered the onside kick?
As for Rich Brooks' inexplicable decision to just go for one? Well, it's just that: inexplicable. A six-point game means the extra point comes into play. In essence, if Louisville scores a touchdown, they win, due to the almost sure-thing extra point they would have made. At five points, they score and they win as well. But with a seven-point game, the extra point would have merely tied it. I feel like my readers are smart enough to know this, but apparently some coaches are not.
Case #3 Result: It was almost Karma, Baby. Louisville tried a desperation Hail Mary on the last play that was tipped and caught by a Cardinal receiver inside the 10-yard line. He didn't get into the end zone, but it was close. I wish he had made it, because Rich Brooks would have been vilified, and no coach would have been so stupid again in the future. Curses!!!
