(09-29-2019 09:02 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote: (09-29-2019 08:49 AM)texowl2 Wrote: The time mgmt. at the end of the 2Q was spot on. They had 1 TO and 10 seconds to go on third down and short goal. Perfectly set up for 1 play and a FG. Would anybody preferred that we leave LT time? How else would you have managed it?
Disagree. We had first and goal from the 3 with 65 seconds left on the clock and 2 timeouts. We let 35 seconds run off the clock on the very first play (with was an idiotic pitch wide to the short side of the field that lost 6 yards). The next play ended with 23 seconds left on the clock and we let it run down to 10 seconds before calling TO. That left absolutely no margin for error (clockwise) on that 3rd down play. Why cut it so close? Are you really concerned with leaving LT 10 - 15 seconds left on the clock deep in their own territory at the end of the half?
FWIW, it was first and goal from the 8, but that doesn't really affect the following. I am assuming the 2 timeouts is correct, because I don't remember.
At that point, you want to take as much time off the clock as you can, and still score. You have two timeouts, plus an incomplete pass gives you the opportunity to stop the clock three times. You want to save one timeout for between 3rd and 4th down, to be able to get your FG team on in an orderly fashion and possibly to have time to decide between FG and going for it. I think you run on first down, if you don't score then bleed some clock and call time out. Second down is the down where I would throw, throw it all the way to the end zone, and if it's not there then throw it away quickly; incomplete is good, sack or pick are bad. Third down run it, if you don't score then run the clock down to 0:05, take your second time out, and kick the FG. You are willing to leave some some clock if you score a TD, but you want to run it to zero if you kick the FG. Taking time out after both 1st and 2nd downs pretty much forces you to throw on 3rd down, and puts you at risk of a sack, pick, or completion short of the goal line. The objective is to make sure that you score more points than they do in that 65 seconds.
This is the sort of sequence that needs to be worked out in June or July, if not sooner, AND PRACTICED, so that everybody knows in advance exactly how you are going to do it when it happens in a game.
Darrell Royal said, "There are 3 things that can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad." I actually think there are generally 2 that are good (complete, incomplete) and 2 that are bad (pick, sack). In this situation there are 5 possible outcomes, of which 2 are good (complete for TD, incomplete) and 3 are bad (complete short of TD because it messes up your clock management, sack for same reason, or pick). So on whatever down you throw, you make sure to get one of the 2 good ones. And BTW, the most famous offensive play call of Royal's career was probably Street to Peschel, a 40-yard pass play on 4th and 1.
