Not one to second guess Coach Houston, but I thought he should have gone for two on our touchdown. Some will say you don't chase points that early, but in what everyone could see was going to be a low scoring affair those two points were huge. Could have gone for the field goal at the end to tie and send the game into overtime instead of a desperation Hail Mary. You never know where or when your next points will come.

Heard a few people talk about that, but we marched down the field there and it was way to early to go for two.

(01-08-2018 03:59 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  Not one to second guess Coach Houston, but I thought he should have gone for two on our touchdown. Some will say you don't chase points that early, but in what everyone could see was going to be a low scoring affair those two points were huge. Could have gone for the field goal at the end to tie and send the game into overtime instead of a desperation Hail Mary. You never know where or when your next points will come.

Well, I’d have preferred we just attempted to pick up the first down instead of going for the end zone on 4th at the end of the game. There was no bailout option for Schor on that 4th down play. And plenty of time to keep pounding it with two more TOs. Of course if anyone of the wide open receivers had made a connection all game we’d not have anything to critique. 4 turnovers was the real killer. And the two 15 yard penalties. Make the FG and we’re kicking the game winner at the end by 1. Where to start, we lost.

(01-08-2018 04:33 PM)Madisonian Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 03:59 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  Not one to second guess Coach Houston, but I thought he should have gone for two on our touchdown. Some will say you don't chase points that early, but in what everyone could see was going to be a low scoring affair those two points were huge. Could have gone for the field goal at the end to tie and send the game into overtime instead of a desperation Hail Mary. You never know where or when your next points will come.

Well, I’d have preferred we just attempted to pick up the first down instead of going for the end zone on 4th at the end of the game. There was no bailout option for Schor on that 4th down play. And plenty of time to keep pounding it with two more TOs. Of course if anyone of the wide open receivers had made a connection all game we’d not have anything to critique. 4 turnovers was the real killer. And the two 15 yard penalties. Make the FG and we’re kicking the game winner at the end by 1. Where to start, we lost.

I recall there being a safety valve near the line of scrimmage to Schor's left on the 4th down but Schor was under so much pressure he rolled to the right and didnt have any option other than to throw it up for grabs in the end zone. The NDSU defensive line did a great job of bringing the heat on Schor all game.

it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

(01-08-2018 04:52 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

The bigger problem was not using the timeout on the play before with :11 or :12. With :06 it was a really tough call cause the points to get within 11 did seem huge after all the blunders in the first half.

yeah... well on re-play, there was :03 left after the FG miss ... clearly showing we would have had enough time to run a TD play

Or we make the FG..and we can FG for the win after the O'kelly sneak

so many opps... the other team won, but they didn't beat us... that's a bit of sour grapes, but every NDSU fan i talked to in the tailgates said the same thing. gotta say...they were great fun.

(01-08-2018 04:52 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

I'm not sure I follow you, we didn't miss a FG at the end of the first half, that one was made. It was an earlier one that was missed, wasn't it? With that being said, making that missed FG would have made a huge difference in how we play the end of the game.

Update: Just looked it up, the missed FG was right at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

(01-08-2018 04:52 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

I think a quick slant of some sort down low that would only give our receiver a chance to make the play would have been the call but Houston obviously felt like taking the points was the right call. Ratke made this one which cut the deficit to 11 going into the half.

I speculated that Houston has data that says JMU plays take longer than 6 seconds.

I wish they would have run a slant as does most everyone, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was a data-driven decision. It would have been disastrous to throw a pic or the play break down and time run out with no points.

So many missed chances with this game...

my bad, wrong missed FG - still the wrong call MH

(01-08-2018 05:05 PM)CarolinaDuke Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 04:52 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

I think a quick slant of some sort down low that would only give our receiver a chance to make the play would have been the call but Houston obviously felt like taking the points was the right call. Ratke made this one which cut the deficit to 11 going into the half.

A 3 step drop for a slant or a fade does not take 6 seconds. Houston choked on that decision. He could have had his cake and eaten it too. If the quick pass fails, then you kick. That was remedial.
So was the failure to call timeout with 15 seconds left. JMU just completed a pass for a first down and he had 2 timeouts in his pocket. There is no reason on Earth not to use a timeout there. It cost the Dukes additional shots in the redzone

^ yes .... the TO thing is a head-scratcher just as much as a 3rd down FG

Granted...if that's all we can complain about regarding MH, it's not bad - just really stings as it may have cost us the trophy.

Whatever we feel on this.... guaranteed MH is 10x more pissed and hard on himself - next year we get back to it.

2017 was JMU's best year ever across all sports / construction / admin moves IMHO (ooh i'm really out on a limb there! :)

(01-08-2018 04:30 PM)jmu98 Wrote:  Heard a few people talk about that, but we marched down the field there and it was way to early to go for two.

Agree. Also, Houston won't chase points. It's clear to me he's always going to choose the highest probability to put points on the board. He's the "anti-Mickey" who liked to roll-the-dice. If MH had been HC playing App St. years ago JMU would have kicked the FG.

Houston has shown twice now that he isn’t great yet with his use of timeouts. He got by with it the last time but not calling one with 15 seconds left and two timeouts made zero sense.

(01-08-2018 04:56 PM)PurpleStreamers Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 04:52 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

The bigger problem was not using the timeout on the play before with :11 or :12. With :06 it was a really tough call cause the points to get within 11 did seem huge after all the blunders in the first half.

I thought it was as many as 15 seconds left after we got the first down and had 2 timeouts left. I think it was a good call to take the field goal. We had almost nothing go our way in the first half and with the way the game was being called, it’s hard to say they wouldn’t let the clock run a little extra at the end of the play if we were to take a shot to the end zone. Hopefully replay would’ve shown otherwise, but didn’t seem to help us at other points in the game.

In that situation if we had run a play and not scored they would have had even more momentum than they already had, basically ending the game. By getting some points on the board and making it 17-6, it gave us some life.

4 turnovers, 3 open drops, 2 NDSU bailout/momentum fueling 15-yard penalties, 1 missed FG.

You don't win a championship with a stat line like that, unless your Alabama of course and the referees help you out, oh yeah, we also had the officials going against us too who were an utter embarrassment. The NCAA really needs to take a long hard look at the Southland Conference and their participation in the FCS tournament going forward both from a team and officiating standpoint.

Its really a tribute to our special teams and defensive efforts that we were one play away from winning the game. The superior team lost in Frisco, any objective NDSU fan knows that.

Dukes will be back and I look forward to a third straight trip to Frisco, TX on 1/5/19.

(01-09-2018 08:53 AM)Dadgum Wrote:  4 turnovers, 3 open drops, 2 NDSU bailout/momentum fueling 15-yard penalties, 1 missed FG.

You don't win a championship with a stat line like that, unless your Alabama of course and the referees help you out, oh yeah, we also had the officials going against us too who were an utter embarrassment. The NCAA really needs to take a long hard look at the Southland Conference and their participation in the FCS tournament going forward both from a team and officiating standpoint.

Its really a tribute to our special teams and defensive efforts that we were one play away from winning the game. The superior team lost in Frisco, any objective NDSU fan knows that.

Dukes will be back and I look forward to a third straight trip to Frisco, TX on 1/5/19.

+1

(01-09-2018 08:53 AM)Dadgum Wrote:  4 turnovers, 3 open drops, 2 NDSU bailout/momentum fueling 15-yard penalties, 1 missed FG.

You don't win a championship with a stat line like that, unless your Alabama of course and the referees help you out, oh yeah, we also had the officials going against us too who were an utter embarrassment. The NCAA really needs to take a long hard look at the Southland Conference and their participation in the FCS tournament going forward both from a team and officiating standpoint.

Its really a tribute to our special teams and defensive efforts that we were one play away from winning the game. The superior team lost in Frisco, any objective NDSU fan knows that.

Dukes will be back and I look forward to a third straight trip to Frisco, TX on 1/5/19.

dilly dilly

(01-09-2018 01:11 AM)Jmufan2018 Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 04:56 PM)PurpleStreamers Wrote:  

(01-08-2018 04:52 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  it's never about just one play... but this time it's awfully close - going for a FG (missed) on 3rd down with :06 on the clock?

no...wrong call.... love MH but that was a blunder.

The bigger problem was not using the timeout on the play before with :11 or :12. With :06 it was a really tough call cause the points to get within 11 did seem huge after all the blunders in the first half.

I thought it was as many as 15 seconds left after we got the first down and had 2 timeouts left. I think it was a good call to take the field goal. We had almost nothing go our way in the first half and with the way the game was being called, it’s hard to say they wouldn’t let the clock run a little extra at the end of the play if we were to take a shot to the end zone. Hopefully replay would’ve shown otherwise, but didn’t seem to help us at other points in the game.

In that situation if we had run a play and not scored they would have had even more momentum than they already had, basically ending the game. By getting some points on the board and making it 17-6, it gave us some life.

even if this conspiracy theory, if true, does not change the play call on third down there. it's like doubling-down on 11 ... always ... kick FG on 3rd down with 6 seconds to go? never.

dadgum laid it out... a number of mistakes on our side - refs had a couple bad calls, but i do not believe for a minute they care who wins that game. mistakes are not the same as bias. i'm sure we had a couple things go our way from the refs that we didn't notice.

end of the day - it stings to lose like this after turning our mistakes into a great, great game - was a ton of fun, this loss wil llinger.