On your second-to-last possession, you had a fourth-and-1 from your own 25, and eventually decided to punt after a timeout. Take me through that decision.
Gary Nord:
"Well, when the scenario played out, it was third-and-8 and we were running a screen pass. Coach (Danny) Hope asked me, 'What do you want to do if we don't get it?' There was 4:05 left on the clock and I said 'Let's wait and see what we get.' I wish I wouldn't have said that because we got to fourth-and-1 and then we had to make a decision. We were down to 3:55 on the clock. I wish I would have just said 'If we don't make it, we're going to punt it.' If we make it, we don't have to worry about it. But I put ourselves in a position where we had to make a decision. The decision was well deserved that we had to make because it was fourth-and-1 and you've got less than four minutes left. Two first downs (by the opponent) and the game is over. We had to rely on the defense to stop them to one first down, so we had to make a decision. We tried to get them to jump off-sides, then they didn't jump off-sides. There was still 25 seconds left on the play clock, so we called timeout. We could have just gotten the penalty and punted it away. But we thought that 25 seconds was more valuable to us than letting it burn out.”
Boiled Sports:
Wait, what? Who is in charge here? And there was really that much consternation over a call that a pee wee coach could have made?
18 comments:
I am mad.
y u mad?
I feel dirty.
I'm actually glad you posted that. I've been wondering how the coaching staff makes some of their decisions and this sort of answers my question. They wing it until forced into a corner.
I wonder how many other coaches utilize this particular style of decision making along the sidelines...
I'm just surprised that Nord owned up to his role in the decision....or in this case, the indecision. It really does give us some insight into the decision-making process that takes place on the sideline. While I appreciate Nord's honesty, it pisses me off that these guys aren't more organized and systematic in their decision making approach.
We're screwed. I feel for our players
In the words of Seth Meyers:
Really?!
ugh.
If you're an aggressive coach, then on fourth and one, you go for it. You don't need to think about it. You've already decided that you want to do what's necessary to keep the ball.
If you're not an aggressive coach, then on fourth and anything, you punt. You don't need to think about it because who'd be crazy enough to go for it there? (Rhetorical question; it doesn't matter that other coaches have because you won't.)
Nord's clearly not an aggressive coach, so then why was he waiting?
ugh.
Also, ugh.
Someone log in to NCAA 12 when Hope's not looking and make him resign from our dynasty league. These kids deserve better.
Can you imagine the dialog that went on during the 3rd down timeout that Rice called before our blocked kick? I suspect it was something like this.
Hope - Why do you think they called a timeout?
Nord - I believe they think we are going to kick the field goal now.
Hope - Why would we do that? It isn't 4th down?
Nord - In case there is a bad snap or it gets blocked we can attempt it again.
Hope - Ah we have superkicker. That would never happen.
Nord - The kicker doesn't have anything to do with the blocking.
Hope - Maybe we should call a TO and discuss more.
Nord - We don't have any more TO's
Hope - WHAT! WHO USED THEM ALL? Don't you know we get points at the end of the game for leftover TO's?
Nord - Uh no we don't.
Hope - What, we don't?
Nord - No coach.
Hope - Huh.....all these years.
So I guess my take on this is that the fault for that decision lies solely on Nord. Take names out of the equation, and see how you feel: Head Coach asks Offensive Coordinator what the backup plan is after 3rd down in a late-game situation. OC delays the decision until he knows what 4th down brings. OC makes knee-jerk decision and forces team to waste a timeout. HC puts up with it because it's the OC's job to call the plays.
Initially, I was thinking that DH should have just overridden him and called his own play, but, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not good for team chemistry if the reins are yanked away from one coach by another in the middle of the game.
Good lord!
*facepalm*
What a clusterfuck! You can't tell me that this indecisiveness and lack of clear leadership doesn't impact the psyche and morale of the team.
Also, I'm of the opinion that you go for it everytime on 4th and 1. If you can't get one yard you don't deserve to win, especially against a team like Rice.
Georgia...
I don't think Nord is that intelligent. They were both probably full of questions with no answers between them.
I blame both Hope and Nord. Nord has to have his shit together and have a plan for these situation. Hope, seeing his OC has no plan should have then made the decision for him. When the Titanic is sinking (okay, more like a dinghy) the captain (Hope) needs to take charge. Remember, Nord is a former HC albeit a crappy one.
BP- I always assumed the decision on whether or not to go for it on 4th down was the HC's call, especially when it's such a pivotal point in the game. If Hope isn't the one making that call, we might as well not have a head coach.
I would actually be more relieved if that conversation went something like this:
DH: It's 4th down. Gary, I need a play that will absolutely get us 1 yard.
GN: How about a bubble screen?
DH: You're joking, right?
GN: OK, how about a reverse?
DH: Gary, you ignorant slut.
CTB: Guys, I hate to interrupt but the play clock is running down.
GN: Fine, run the I Right 44 smash.
DH: But that's exactly what they'll expect. How about this, we'll call a timeout, run the offense out there, then send the punt team out and kick it deep. We'll hit the breaks and they'll fly right on by. This will totally work. I saw it in movie.
CTB: That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It doesn't even make sense.
GN: No, I saw it too. It was in that great beach volleyball movie.
DH: Run it!
The dialogue plays going on in this comment thread are absolutely terrific. You guys are clearly hungry for us to do another one... not that we could out-do these.
Dear God, it's just as bad as I always thought. Purdue football = the blind leading the F*ing blind. How pathetic
If Hope isn't the one making that call, we might as well not have a head coach.
@Shawn - Or if you use Hope's logic you should have 2 bad coaches not just one. Oh wait we do. I guess we're ready for every shituation, or maybe we should get a really bad 4th string QB or I mean coach prepared. oh wait that's J.B. Gib... I could go on.
After reading this, it's frustrating beyond belief. Although shouldnt' we as Purdue fans be asking the deeper questions like, "why are we losing to a team like RICE in the 1st place?????" I remember a time when Purdue steamrolled these teams and made it exciting for the BT season to start...
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