I saw the criticism of Luke Fickell on Twitter right after the loss to Georgia yesterday while I was attending a small New Year's Day family gathering. I had watched the first half and DVRd the second half and did not watch it until this morning, but oh my God! It's hard to find more inept clock management. After Georgia idiotically punted on fourth-and-3 from its own 42 with 3:07 left and only two timeouts, Cincinnati got a first down, forcing the Bulldogs to use their remaining two timeouts on first and second down. But earlier, on the two plays it took to get the first down (both of which went out of bounds, but I'm OK with that because getting the first down was paramount and the clock stops only briefly before starting again when there are more than two minutes left), Cincinnati snapped the ball with 12 and 9 seconds left on the play clock, which is inexcusable. Then, facing a third-and-2 with 1:41 left, Cincinnati absolutely, positively needed to run the ball. This is not a debate. It's a fact. Even if they were stopped at their own 38, the clock would have run down to 55 seconds before they punted. Assume a 35-yard net gain on the punt, and Georgia would have taken over at its own 27 with about 45 seconds left and zero timeouts. Certainly, it would have been possible for the Bulldogs to get the 38 yards they would have needed to try a field goal, but it would have been difficult.
Instead, Cincinnati went with a roll-out pass with short and long options. When the long guy broke free for a second, Desmond Ridder launched the ball downfield, and a Georgia defender made a nice decision coming off his man to get back to knock it down. If Ridder had thrown it earlier or thrown a little longer it probably would have been a game-winning completion, but the risk/reward quotient was heavily against Cincinnati. Let Ridder, a nifty runner, keep the ball and try to pick up two yards. I'd say the odds were 50-50 he would have gotten the first down, but either way, the clock had to keep moving.
Afterward, Fickell got chippy when asked about his decision, saying his team played to win. That's a moronic, arrogant comment that reflects incredibly poorly on him. He was just plain wrong, and hopefully when he gets past the immediate moment, he will be man enough to admit the mistake that likely cost the AAC in particular and group of five conferences in general a lot of positive publicity. Plus, he was not even asked about snapping the ball with 12 and 9 seconds left on the clock early, which was beyond idiotic.
Fickell has done an incredible job with Cincinnati, but if I'm a big-time Power Five school looking for a coach, I would be hesitant to hire him. Cincinnati finished second to last in the nation in penalties this year--a typical spot for the Bearcats under Fickell--and many of the penalties are of the dumb variety (false starts, the late hit by the offensive lineman that got him ejected for targeting and probably ended up costing Cincinnati the game). The offense is pedestrian, relying on Ridder to make plays but with no real sophistication in the scheme. The defense is very well coached, but it is hard to win championships these days without an explosive offense.
The Peach Bowl matched two coaches with similar issues. Kirby Smart has done a heck of a job at Georgia, but he, too, is limited by his approach and some awful decision-making at times. I cannot believe Georgia punted on fourth-and-3 near midfield with two timeouts left and only 3:07 remaining. Smart was incredibly lucky to get away it, and now he probably is convinced it was the right decision and will lose a game in the future with a similarly conservative approach. There are times to be conservative--you run the ball when an opponent has no timeouts left and you need only two yards for the first down--and times you need to take a risk. I don't get into those ESPN percentage-chance-of-winning stats that are pervasive during games now, but I guarantee you the chance of Georgia winning by going for fourth-and-3 was better than by punting.
Instead, Cincinnati went with a roll-out pass with short and long options. When the long guy broke free for a second, Desmond Ridder launched the ball downfield, and a Georgia defender made a nice decision coming off his man to get back to knock it down. If Ridder had thrown it earlier or thrown a little longer it probably would have been a game-winning completion, but the risk/reward quotient was heavily against Cincinnati. Let Ridder, a nifty runner, keep the ball and try to pick up two yards. I'd say the odds were 50-50 he would have gotten the first down, but either way, the clock had to keep moving.
Afterward, Fickell got chippy when asked about his decision, saying his team played to win. That's a moronic, arrogant comment that reflects incredibly poorly on him. He was just plain wrong, and hopefully when he gets past the immediate moment, he will be man enough to admit the mistake that likely cost the AAC in particular and group of five conferences in general a lot of positive publicity. Plus, he was not even asked about snapping the ball with 12 and 9 seconds left on the clock early, which was beyond idiotic.
Fickell has done an incredible job with Cincinnati, but if I'm a big-time Power Five school looking for a coach, I would be hesitant to hire him. Cincinnati finished second to last in the nation in penalties this year--a typical spot for the Bearcats under Fickell--and many of the penalties are of the dumb variety (false starts, the late hit by the offensive lineman that got him ejected for targeting and probably ended up costing Cincinnati the game). The offense is pedestrian, relying on Ridder to make plays but with no real sophistication in the scheme. The defense is very well coached, but it is hard to win championships these days without an explosive offense.
The Peach Bowl matched two coaches with similar issues. Kirby Smart has done a heck of a job at Georgia, but he, too, is limited by his approach and some awful decision-making at times. I cannot believe Georgia punted on fourth-and-3 near midfield with two timeouts left and only 3:07 remaining. Smart was incredibly lucky to get away it, and now he probably is convinced it was the right decision and will lose a game in the future with a similarly conservative approach. There are times to be conservative--you run the ball when an opponent has no timeouts left and you need only two yards for the first down--and times you need to take a risk. I don't get into those ESPN percentage-chance-of-winning stats that are pervasive during games now, but I guarantee you the chance of Georgia winning by going for fourth-and-3 was better than by punting.
