Arkansas State was down 34-23 with 6:58 left in the 3rd quarter against Louisiana Lafayette. 4th down INSIDE their own 10. They have forced three straight punts by the Ragin Cajuns. ASU punter fakes and throws short pass that is stuffed.
Bizarre call....couple plays later down 41-23.
Fake punt inside your own 10 down two scores with almost a quarter and a half to go????
Discuss

Wow, that is pretty bad. Maybe there was confusion when the play was called in (didn't this happen with Rice's fake punt against BYU in 1997?)?

Now ASU scores with 5:37 left to make it 41-32, but goes for the two point conversion and fails.. Second ridiculous decision of the game

(10-21-2014 10:21 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Wow, that is pretty bad. Maybe there was confusion when the play was called in (didn't this happen with Rice's fake punt against BYU in 1997?)?

That wasn't a fake punt. IIRC it was supposed to be an option. You would think Nelson would have known that sign pretty well, and if he had never told me what he thought of passing, I might have suspected that he intentionally ignored the sideline call.

(10-21-2014 10:47 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  Now ASU scores with 5:37 left to make it 41-32, but goes for the two point conversion and fails.. Second ridiculous decision of the game

That's not a bad decision at all. If you're going to fail on a 2PC, better to do it early than late IMO.

(10-21-2014 11:13 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  

(10-21-2014 10:21 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Wow, that is pretty bad. Maybe there was confusion when the play was called in (didn't this happen with Rice's fake punt against BYU in 1997?)?

That wasn't a fake punt. IIRC it was supposed to be an option. You would think Nelson would have known that sign pretty well, and if he had never told me what he thought of passing, I might have suspected that he intentionally ignored the sideline call.

At the QB Club meeting the following week, Hatfield revealed that it was supposed to be a quarterback sneak. The offense lined up in a formation they normally throw out of and Nelson thought that was the play call being sent in. The funny thing is Godfrey nearly took it to the house. BTW, if you still have a tape of that game and look at Hatfield's reaction after that play was over, you can see he is not pleased.

(10-21-2014 11:16 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  

(10-21-2014 10:47 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  Now ASU scores with 5:37 left to make it 41-32, but goes for the two point conversion and fails.. Second ridiculous decision of the game

That's not a bad decision at all. If you're going to fail on a 2PC, better to do it early than late IMO.

Agreed. I'd rather know that I need two scores with five minutes left than find out that I need another score at the end of the game.

(10-22-2014 12:04 AM)jh Wrote:  

(10-21-2014 11:16 PM)Gravy Owl Wrote:  

(10-21-2014 10:47 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  Now ASU scores with 5:37 left to make it 41-32, but goes for the two point conversion and fails.. Second ridiculous decision of the game

That's not a bad decision at all. If you're going to fail on a 2PC, better to do it early than late IMO.

Agreed. I'd rather know that I need two scores with five minutes left than find out that I need another score at the end of the game.

This is one of those calls that gets debated both ways, and there are legitimate arguments both ways. The talking heads on TV broadcasts seem pretty much to favor going for one here and keeping alive the possibility of tying with one score for psychological considerations. If your defense lets down and allows them another score, it doesn't matter.

I tend to agree with knowing whether you need one score or two as early as possible. But if you're going to do that, you need to prepare the team mentally to deal with failure there. I think the right answer may well depend on team personality.

Obviously, if you need fail and need two scores, one can be a field goal. And if you can execute a successful onside kick, you are not far away from field goal range. So the quality of your kicker and kicking game may alter the percentages considerably.

Totally agree that the fake punt was a terrible idea, although if you've given up 34 points in 2-1/2 quarters, your defense isn't exactly stoning them.

Either play would have been hailed as pure genius had they worked. My preferences, in order, are:

1. Punt
2. Kick the XP.

The fake reminds of the famous "No, Danny, No" play by the Cowboys, which resulted in a 50 yard gain. I also remember some team scoring on a fourth and 41 fake from their own 29. Maybe the best time to run a fake is when it is least expected by the defense. Still, it had better work, or else...

My hunch is they got the fake punt idea from the Rams game last Sunday. They were leading (28-26) but faced 4th and 3 from inside their own 20 with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

http://deadspin.com/rams-fake-punt-from-...1648228370

This is the same team with the fainting goat fake punt, right?