Why not?

[t4pizza]

Why not try for a td pass on that final third down instead of spiking the ball? We had 12 seconds when the snap got off. Everyone was lined up properly, could have easily gone for a pass to the end zone. If incomplete the clock stops and we have time for FG, if complete it is a TD and we win. I am not talking about a hail mary as we were close enough for a regular play and if its not open TL can get rid of it. There was enough time and our QB is experienced and knows how to get rid of a ball in less than 12 seconds. This is yet another example of poor 2 minute execution that has plagued us recently. I watch a ton of football and most analyst say that in 2 minute situations, there are several plays called in a row after a timeout. Why do we seem not do that? Why not have an endzone play called where TL could fake a spike and hit a game winning TD late if the 2nd down play gained yards. Everyone could have known coming out of the time from the first spike that if the 2nd down play works, rush to the line, fake spike and hit one of our open guys in the end zone or throw out of bounds. I am very certain we could execute that in 12 seconds if just given the chance. I know a lot of ppl point to Rubino, or penalties, or dropped passes, but it seems like after every close last minute loss I am left looking at Satt and wondering why. No question he knows a ton more about football than I ever will, and I like him and am very happy he is our coach, but I think this is one area of his game that he needs to improve on and quickly.

[MtnMan09]

What if there is a problem with the snap; what if Lamb takes a Sack; what if he hits Hennigan on the one yard line and hes tackled before he gets in? Then the servers supporting this board literally melt down from the hot takes being served up because we didn't kick a field goal.

[appbio91]

That kind of play calling wins national championships ask Clemson.

But honestly I was yelling spike it because I thought Rubino would drill it. I think Scott ran it like he wanted to and it worked perfectly (except that last part).

[EastHallApp]

Where to start?

- We were on the 27 yard line. The odds of completing a pass into the end zone are very poor, especially when the D knows you can't throw it in the field of play. That essentially IS a Hail Mary, if a shorter-than-usual one.

- Running an actual play would require at least 2-3 seconds before the ball is even snapped. Then you allow time for receivers to run 30 yards and try to actually get open. Perhaps Lamb has to scramble to buy time, as he frequently did. It's conceivable the clock could have run out even on an incomplete pass.

- You'd most likely be throwing a jump ball, risking an interception.

- As noted, a sack ends the game. A completed pass inbounds ends the game. A false start by a hurried offensive lineman potentially ends the game (with the accompanying 10 second runoff).

- The Clemson comparison doesn't hold water. The clock was stopped before they ran that game-winning play. They were on the 2 yard line. And they were down 3, not 1, so a FG would not have won them the game.

Clock management has definitely been a problem for us in past games, but I thought we handled the last two minutes great in this game.

[WVAPPeer]

Gee - didn't Coach Moore decide to go for the FG instead of running another play with no timeouts? Gee - a TD would have sealed the win and Gee - he left too much time on the clock - unbelievable how there is always second guessing every decision and my second guess is that the huge majority have never ever been in that situation ---

[EastHallApp]

Gee - didn't Coach Moore decide to go for the FG instead of running another play with no timeouts? Gee - a TD would have sealed the win and Gee - he left too much time on the clock - unbelievable how there is always second guessing every decision and my second guess is that the huge majority have never ever been in that situation ---

OK, that actually was bad clock management, but I get your point.

[Rick83]

Gee - didn't Coach Moore decide to go for the FG instead of running another play with no timeouts? Gee - a TD would have sealed the win and Gee - he left too much time on the clock - unbelievable how there is always second guessing every decision and my second guess is that the huge majority have never ever been in that situation ---

OK, that actually was bad clock management, but I get your point.

I assume you're referring to the '07 Michigan game? After our game leading field goal, now NFL QB Henne threw to now Super Bowl hero Manningham to set up their ill-fated field goal attempt?

[WVAPPeer]

Brilliant --- and what if the worst happened and we ran another play and there was no FG??? - the history of college football and Appalachian State University would not have been changed for the better !!!

[EastHallApp]

Brilliant --- and what if the worst happened and we ran another play and there was no FG??? - the history of college football and Appalachian State University would not have been changed for the better !!!

I don't think we should have run another actual play, just think we should have taken a knee to burn clock and/or force Michigan to use their remaining TO. We had something like 30 seconds left, no risk of not getting another play off in that scenario.

[t4pizza]

Guess I am the only one that thinks Taylor could either get a good pass into the endzone or out of bounds in 12 seconds. Guess it is only other teams that have the capacity to do such things. I will give you that a sack would end the game, but I think TL has enough sense to not get sacked in that position and just throw it out of bounds if nobody is open. In that scenario there is still time to kick a FG bc clock stops on incomplete pass. I understand the thinking behind how we played it, but considering that our regular holder was out and we had already had issues in the kicking game, it just seems to me that taking a shot might have been a good idea.

[EastHallApp]

It's just measuring risk against reward. Sure it's possible he throws a TD if we try that. I just think the likelihood of a bad outcome probably outweighed that of a positive one.

If the rationale is "other teams do it," my guess (not that I've researched it or anything) is that the large majority of other teams would do the same thing in that situation. Seemed like a no-brainer to me at the time.

[NewApp]

What if there is a problem with the snap; what if Lamb takes a Sack; what if he hits Hennigan on the one yard line and hes tackled before he gets in? Then the servers supporting this board literally melt down from the hot takes being served up because we didn't kick a field goal.

Amen!

[WVAPPeer]

pizza - I agree that Taylor would have done the right thing - however other variables come into play - bad snap? - unexpected blitz not picked up, Taylor has to get rid of ball, refs could call intentional grounding - we could get a holding call - offensive pass interference which might still be a loss of down -- sure there are more bad scenarios ---

[NewApp]

Gee - didn't Coach Moore decide to go for the FG instead of running another play with no timeouts? Gee - a TD would have sealed the win and Gee - he left too much time on the clock - unbelievable how there is always second guessing every decision and my second guess is that the huge majority have never ever been in that situation ---

Another Amen.

[NoLongerLurking]

I rewatched the game. We lost again.

[AppinVA]

I rewatched the game. We lost again.

Keep watching until the result changes.

[Bearboy]

Pizza... I'm totally in agreement with you! We choked on the decisions there at the end! Somewhere you have to lay it all on the line and go win a game! That's 2 huge games the last 2 years that we played it close to the vest, and neither turned out the right way! It's the play to win, rather than playing not to lose adage.

[bigdaddyg]

Unreal that some guys have advocated "going for it" at that point. WAY too much downside. Gutsy move when we punted then big time defense to get the ball back. Coaches made the right decisions

[appst1992]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the 2nd down running play we ran on that last drive. What two minute offense has a running play wide? That lost a lot of clock time and set up the situation of relying on the pass interference to keep the drive alive. Special teams and clock management were the nail in this one. And no, I still haven’t gotten past this game.

[Rekdiver]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the 2nd down running play we ran on that last drive. What two minute offense has a running play wide? That lost a lot of clock time and set up the situation of relying on the pass interference to keep the drive alive. Special teams and clock management were the nail in this one. And no, I still haven’t gotten past this game.

Bingo.....( but I have gotten over the game)