Strange calls

[I-M-UR]

Why did we go for two? An extra point would have given us the opportunity to give up a touchdown and win with a field goal.

With the exception of the backward pass from Broadus to L was great but every other time Broadus is in the game he runs, I think opponents have figured that out by now

with 1/2 yard for a TD why doesn't Broadus line up under center for a sneak instead of shot gun.

 

[SpiderFan26]

You could argue to 2 pt conversion both ways. I liked 1 there but both are justifiable.

Broadus just kills the flow. He's a good HB going forward but please no more QB runs

 

[mojo-spider]

speaking of Broaddus and strange...why the heck was he punting from our own end zone when Helkowski seemed to be healthy in warm up before the game and at the half???

shocking call...can't imagine what we were thinking...

Go Spiders!

 

[urfan1]

I really want to hear the explanation of the punt by DB, made no sense to me. I still think the EP would have been a better call than the 2 pt at that time.

 

[Eight Legger]

Also, not that it would have mattered, but why were we not kicking a FG with 5 seconds left to at least give ourselves a chance at an onsides kick and a Hail Mary? Great, we got a TD, but the game ended on that play.

 

[SpiderFan26]

With 5 seconds its over. But at the 25 yd line w/ 20 seconds left agree we should go FG

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

The 2 made sense, because we were up 4. If we go up 5 and JMU scores a TD (they did) they would definitely go for 2 (there is no difference between a 1 and 2 point lead, but there is a massive difference between a 2 and 3 point lead).

If the 2 point had been successful - and it should have been caught - we are up 6, and it takes the 2-pt conversion out of JMU's hands.
I liked the call, and it should have been executed.

 

[32counter]

None of this mattered.Going for 1 or 2.We should have stopped them whether we were up by 6 or up by 4.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Allowing them to tie the game before halftime cost us the game.

The terrible non-call on pass interference in the third quarter didn't help. That was certainly more egregious than the one they did call earlier in the same drive.

 

[I-M-UR]

The 2 made sense, because we were up 4. If we go up 5 and JMU scores a TD (they did) they would definitely go for 2 (there is no difference between a 1 and 2 point lead, but there is a massive difference between a 2 and 3 point lead).

If the 2 point had been successful - and it should have been caught - we are up 6, and it takes the 2-pt conversion out of JMU's hands.
I liked the call, and it should have been executed.

We make 1 we're up by 5. they go down and score, we're down 1... They kick we're down 2, they go for 2 (which is a whole lot easier to stop than an extra point). Even if they make two a field goal ties it, they don't a field goal wins it. I didn't like the call

 

[I-M-UR]

speaking of Broaddus and strange...why the heck was he punting from our own end zone when Helkowski seemed to be healthy in warm up before the game and at the half???

shocking call...can't imagine what we were thinking...

Go Spiders!

If it had been a 3rd and long and it was going to be a surprise quick kick; I get it but it was 4th an long deep in our own territory, I have no idea what that was. Who on earth made that call? JMU had no punts, not a good defensive game.

 

[wr70beh]

If it had been a 3rd and long and it was going to be a surprise quick kick; I get it but it was 4th an long deep in our own territory, I have no idea what that was. Who on earth made that call? JMU had no punts, not a good defensive game.

I give credit to the team we were playing for us not having a good defensive game. They've been doing that to opponents all year. We had a bye week to figure it out but couldn't. They pretty much scored at will.

Honestly I would have let them score a TD with more than 3 minutes left to go up 3, or at least called your timeouts when they were down inside the 20. The feel of this game was a possession game (whoever had the ball last with time left on the clock was going to win), and we should have played it as such. I know that they were depending on the defense to make a stop, but they hadn't made a stop (other than a turnover) all game. They should have played the odds.

 

[ur2K]

Brodus punting there was just stupid, plain and simple.

Championship teams have good special teams play, we aren't a championship team with the way our special teams play.

 

[Marley13]

Agree with wr70. Thought we should have either let them score quickly or used the TO's. Clock management wasn't great.

 

[iSpider]

There are many things that happened during the game which could have turned it around. The first thing that strikes me is that a few of JMU receivers made catches which were worthy of the highlight reel. The passes of Schor, for the most part, were placed exactly where they needed to be. I don't know if the receivers and he are that good, but they were almost perfect yesterday. Even so, we remained in the game with several chances to win.

Then there were the dropped passes by our receivers, the missed throws of KL, the failure of the ref to make an obvious interference call against the JMU guy defending Brown, and the failure of UR to capitalize on a score after we recovered the JMU fumble. However, the thing that bothers me the most is that we got the ball with 1:26 remaining and went 4 and out, yet we were able to score from our own 117-yard line with 1:00 remaining. Our end of game play is what doomed us. I guess one could argue that the TD with 1:00 remaining might be the result of JMU relaxing their D since they thought that they had the game in the bag. However, the main reasons IMO that we lost that game was our inability to capitalize after the fumble and our failure to drive down the field with the ball with 1:26 remaining.

The foregoing notwithstanding, our Special Teams continue to be extremely weak. I do not understand how DR can not realize this and address the issue after seeing it game after game for the last several years. We do not cover and we are not able to come up with any meaningful returns.

 

[SpiderRick]

I give credit to the team we were playing for us not having a good defensive game. They've been doing that to opponents all year. We had a bye week to figure it out but couldn't. They pretty much scored at will.

Honestly I would have let them score a TD with more than 3 minutes left to go up 3, or at least called your timeouts when they were down inside the 20. The feel of this game was a possession game (whoever had the ball last with time left on the clock was going to win), and we should have played it as such. I know that they were depending on the defense to make a stop, but they hadn't made a stop (other than a turnover) all game. They should have played the odds.

While I totally agree with your theory and suggestion, what coach in this world is ever going to deliberately let the other team score? Pride and ego over common sense....

 

[SpiderRick]

And since this thread is about strange calls....

I have mentioned more than a few times in the past about using trick plays to keep defenses guessing and to guard against predictability. And this board shouted me down every time. We had two plays yesterday that worked like a charm and resulted in 2 touchdowns. Your apology is accepted.

 

[I-M-UR]

While I totally agree with your theory and suggestion, what coach in this world is ever going to deliberately let the other team score? Pride and ego over common sense....

The New England Patriots did it and came back to score the winning touchdown so there is one, and a pretty good one

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

We make 1 we're up by 5. they go down and score, we're down 1... They kick we're down 2, they go for 2 (which is a whole lot easier to stop than an extra point). Even if they make two a field goal ties it, they don't a field goal wins it. I didn't like the call

They're not going to kick if they score a TD to go up 1 late in the 4th quarter.

Assuming a JMU TD:

We go up 4 (unsuccessful 2-pt try), worst case is a FG to tie.
We go up 5 (kick the PAT), best case a FG wins, worst case is a FG to tie.
We go up 6 (successful 2-pt try), a FG wins.
He was playing to win. If you go for 2 and fail, your worst case is no different than if you kick. But if you succeed, your worst case gets a whole lot better.

 

[3genspider]

And given way the game ended, if we had coverted on the 2 pt try we certainly would have had another 2 pt try to tie the game with no time on clock.

Watching the replay of the 2 pt attempt, 11 was pretty open, not a great throw, but have seen 11 make more difficult catches many times

Suspect 5 and 11 are both disappointed with their execution on that play.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

And given way the game ended, if we had coverted on the 2 pt try we certainly would have had another 2 pt try to tie the game with no time on clock.

Watching the replay of the 2 pt attempt, 11 was pretty open, not a great throw, but have seen 11 make more difficult catches many times

Suspect 5 and 11 are both disappointed with their execution on that play.

Yes - can't believe I left this out. Making it a 6 point game keeps it a one possession game if the opponent scores 2 touchdowns. But what are the odds of that?

 

[Spidermaniac]

They're not going to kick if they score a TD to go up 1 late in the 4th quarter.

Assuming a JMU TD:

We go up 4 (unsuccessful 2-pt try), worst case is a FG to tie.
We go up 5 (kick the PAT), best case a FG wins, worst case is a FG to tie.
We go up 6 (successful 2-pt try), a FG wins.
He was playing to win. If you go for 2 and fail, your worst case is no different than if you kick. But if you succeed, your worst case gets a whole lot better.

Excellent analysis!

 

[MidloTrader]

From the first couple of series, could see it was going to be another shootout and even said it's going to come down to the last possession or 2. Our O played well enough to win even with some miscues. With D getting 1 or 2 more stops during the game and/or special teams not giving short fields to Dukes for many of the kickoffs and punts, believe we would have pulled it out. Hopefully, this is another wakeup call and they come out mad and determined to beat our next 2 opponents by large margins.