Going for two: Hope Stoops was shooting straight
Bob Stoops said he planned to go for two points had OU scored a late touchdown against Nebraska. I hope he’s shooting straight, because that clearly was the right call.
Media and fans don’t really know much about the inner-workings of football. How offenses really attack and how defenses scheme to stop them. Don’t really know why some things work and some things don’t.
But two things we know maybe better than coaches: time management and two-point conversion decisions. The reason is clear. Time management and scoreboard variables are mostly simple concepts that anyone with good understanding of math and an eye on the game can understand. The only stumbling blocks are when your mind is cluttered with other matters, which a football coach’s often is.
Sitting in the stands, or the pressbox, or on the couch, we aren’t bound by other matters. It comes pretty naturally to most football fans when to go for two mathematically or when to use timeouts in the fourth quarter.
But sometimes, a 2-point conversion is a judgment call, depending on events in a game, and no event ever called for a 2-point conversion moreso than OU-Nebraska.
The Sooners trailed 10-3 and had repeated fourth-quarter possessions in Husker territory. The situation cried out for a two-point conversion, had Oklahoma scored a touchdown.
For this reason. Overtime offense consists of two missions: 1) Ability to score when set up at the opponents’ 25-yard line; 2) ability to kick field goals, if the first mission fails.
Against Nebraska, OU had an historically bad night at both. The Sooners basically spent all night getting near the 25-yard line and going no farther. OU had 11 possessions in Husker territory, yet crossed the 20-yard line only once and never crossed the 10. The Sooners had four field goal tries; they made one, from 28 yards, missing three from the 40s.
Meanwhile, Nebraska had no chance of scoring a touchdown but was 1-of-2 on field goals. The Huskers made from 28 yards and missed from 43 yards, which is driving down Tress Way Boulevard, but had yet to establish the futility of the Sooners’ on field goals.
So the correct call was clear. OU’s best chance was to win the game in regulation. One shot from the 3-yard line.
“I had already talked to the coaches about it,” Stoops said. “The way both of our defenses were playing, you would think that we would force a bunch of field goals. And at that point, probably justifiably, I didn’t feel great about getting into a field-goal kicking contest.”
That was solid reasoning. I hope that’s what was going through Stoops’ head on Saturday night and not something that popped in two days later. Lots of coaches are on auto pilot when it comes to conversions. They attempt to deflect responsibility from themselves, when in fact often a 2-point conversion decision is their best chance.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Well I guess the Sooners ended up ‘Going for Zero’ because they couldn’t find the endzone. It’s wonderful that they had ‘a plan’ in place in case of a potential touchdown. Maybe if they spent more time thinking about how to score in the red zone, they could have actually applied the thought process of going for two. I wonder if Bob Stoops will discuss how a potential on side kick could have won a game in the next few weeks. That sounds more like John Blake than Stoops.
It’s rumored that OU may be playing Bob Stoops at Notre Dame when next scheduled. Should be a great thought for those so called fans that want Stoops head. The comment about Stoops thinking like John Blake just goes to show you how fickle OU fans are. Texas Tech fans boo their own quarterback and are quick to tell you how paybacks for last years tromping will be hell this year. My wife talked me into retiring in Lubbock. Don’t you dare let these Tech fans convince you they deserve the Cotton Bowl.
hmmm.. a blog about an hypothetical event that didn’t happen in a game that was played last week? let it go… OU looosstttt…. again….