Remember the old You Make the Call bits they would do and ask about a rule or a choice a player or coach would make and then show the outcome? I'd like to do that with Belichick and Wells.

Here is the situation, in the biggest game of the season your team is down 28-3 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, it is 4th and 3 and the ball is near midfield. Do you A) go for it on 4th down because this is your last shot and it doesn't matter if you lose by 30 or 1 you still lose and you won't get a better opportunity than this or B) punt the ball hoping to pin the other team inside the 20, keep the game close and hope for a miracle.

Of course Belichick chose A, no guarantee but it was the only hope. Yes, it was a miraculous finish but choosing to go for it there gave his team the smallest of chances to make a comeback and wouldn't you know it they did and won the game. By going for it you knew the Patriots were inspired and thought they had a chance to win and played like it.

If there anybody on this board who believes Wells would not have punted in this situation? Seriously, does anybody believe Wells would have gone for it?

That my friends is the difference between a winning mentality and a try not to lose mentality. One is inspiring one is deflating. I know it is only one difference but it seems like a difference that would be very easy to fix, yet it doesn't get fixed.

Coloraggie wrote:Remember the old You Make the Call bits they would do and ask about a rule or a choice a player or coach would make and then show the outcome? I'd like to do that with Belichick and Wells.

Here is the situation, in the biggest game of the season your team is down 28-3 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, it is 4th and 3 and the ball is near midfield. Do you A) go for it on 4th down because this is your last shot and it doesn't matter if you lose by 30 or 1 you still lose and you won't get a better opportunity than this or B) punt the ball hoping to pin the other team inside the 20, keep the game close and hope for a miracle.

Of course Belichick chose A, no guarantee but it was the only hope. Yes, it was a miraculous finish but choosing to go for it there gave his team the smallest of chances to make a comeback and wouldn't you know it they did and won the game. By going for it you knew the Patriots were inspired and thought they had a chance to win and played like it.

If there anybody on this board who believes Wells would not have punted in this situation? Seriously, does anybody believe Wells would have gone for it?

That my friends is the difference between a winning mentality and a try not to lose mentality. One is inspiring one is deflating. I know it is only one difference but it seems like a difference that would be very easy to fix, yet it doesn't get fixed.

The thing is, it feels like Wells is inconsistent with it. There are times like the Boise State game his first year, where they were trying to run out the clock at the end of the first half, and he called a time out to force them to punt, and we blocked the punt (and I think scored). There he was really aggressive, but a lot of times I've seen him be really conservative on things.

Let me know when we have Tom Brady at qb and/or an efficient offense.

Aggiefan160 wrote:

Coloraggie wrote:Remember the old You Make the Call bits they would do and ask about a rule or a choice a player or coach would make and then show the outcome? I'd like to do that with Belichick and Wells.

Here is the situation, in the biggest game of the season your team is down 28-3 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, it is 4th and 3 and the ball is near midfield. Do you A) go for it on 4th down because this is your last shot and it doesn't matter if you lose by 30 or 1 you still lose and you won't get a better opportunity than this or B) punt the ball hoping to pin the other team inside the 20, keep the game close and hope for a miracle.

Of course Belichick chose A, no guarantee but it was the only hope. Yes, it was a miraculous finish but choosing to go for it there gave his team the smallest of chances to make a comeback and wouldn't you know it they did and won the game. By going for it you knew the Patriots were inspired and thought they had a chance to win and played like it.

If there anybody on this board who believes Wells would not have punted in this situation? Seriously, does anybody believe Wells would have gone for it?

That my friends is the difference between a winning mentality and a try not to lose mentality. One is inspiring one is deflating. I know it is only one difference but it seems like a difference that would be very easy to fix, yet it doesn't get fixed.

The thing is, it feels like Wells is inconsistent with it. There are times like the Boise State game his first year, where they were trying to run out the clock at the end of the first half, and he called a time out to force them to punt, and we blocked the punt (and I think scored). There he was really aggressive, but a lot of times I've seen him be really conservative on things.

Your point still stands but we didn't score. Got the ball on the 12 and couldn't score. - a couple incomplete passes and then Diaz got blocked.

brian5562 wrote:Let me know when we have Tom Brady at qb and/or an efficient offense.

All the more reason to go for it on 4th and short near midfield as productive possessions will be harder to come by.

Wells faced a similar situation in 2015 at SDSU and punted a couple times I believe.

Aggiefan160 wrote:

Coloraggie wrote:Remember the old You Make the Call bits they would do and ask about a rule or a choice a player or coach would make and then show the outcome? I'd like to do that with Belichick and Wells.

Here is the situation, in the biggest game of the season your team is down 28-3 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, it is 4th and 3 and the ball is near midfield. Do you A) go for it on 4th down because this is your last shot and it doesn't matter if you lose by 30 or 1 you still lose and you won't get a better opportunity than this or B) punt the ball hoping to pin the other team inside the 20, keep the game close and hope for a miracle.

Of course Belichick chose A, no guarantee but it was the only hope. Yes, it was a miraculous finish but choosing to go for it there gave his team the smallest of chances to make a comeback and wouldn't you know it they did and won the game. By going for it you knew the Patriots were inspired and thought they had a chance to win and played like it.

If there anybody on this board who believes Wells would not have punted in this situation? Seriously, does anybody believe Wells would have gone for it?

That my friends is the difference between a winning mentality and a try not to lose mentality. One is inspiring one is deflating. I know it is only one difference but it seems like a difference that would be very easy to fix, yet it doesn't get fixed.

The thing is, it feels like Wells is inconsistent with it. There are times like the Boise State game his first year, where they were trying to run out the clock at the end of the first half, and he called a time out to force them to punt, and we blocked the punt (and I think scored). There he was really aggressive, but a lot of times I've seen him be really conservative on things.

We actually ended up missing a field goal when that happened. Still, I like that kind of coaching better than simply letting the clock run out. Better to give yourself a chance and miss than not even get a chance at all.

Reminds me of the BYU game in 2015

GameFAQSAggie wrote:Wells went for it on fourth down 19 times last year, so you can't say he doesn't go for it on fourth.

I knew this would come up but look at the situations. I've found 18 times we went for it and another 5 we should have. if I take away 3 4th down tries on one drive there was 16 drives that we went for it 4th down there were other times we should have that I listed. 6 of the attempts were either inexcusable given the situation or so late as to have zero chance of changing the game result.

Two things really stood out to me looking through the play by play. First on 16 drives that we attempted 4th down conversions we ended up with 20 points on 2 FG and 2 TD. This is a terrible rate of return but surprisingly we converted on 50% of opportunities. The second thing was trying to find situations where we were down and had possibilities but so many 4th and 15 plus yardage, absolutely incredible and no wonder why we went 3-9.

Go For it 4th Down:
1. at USC 4th and 3 at USC 31. Score USC 7-0, 9:35 in 1st. Result - completion to Houston for first down. Missed FG on drive.
2. at USC 4th and 2 at USU 33, Score USC 31-7, 12:00 in 4th. Result - incomplete to Horne. USC scores TDon possession.
3. at USC 4th and 8 at USC 32. Score USC 38-7, 7:00 in 4th. Result - sack. USC score next possession.
4. at AF. 4th and 2 at AF 28, Score USU 7-3, 3:30 in 1st. Result-incomplete to Rodriguez, AF punts next possession.
5. at AF, 4th and 1 at AF 27, Score USU 7-3, 13:00 in 2nd. Result - Lindsay 1 yd run for 1st down, FG on possession.
6. at AF, 4th and 17 at AF 18, Score AF 17-10 15:00 in 4th. Result - Thompson for 12 yards, AF ball at 6. They punt.
7. at AF, 4th and 3 at USU 32, Score AF 24-13 4:30 in 4th. Result - Incomplete to Roberts. AF FG on possession.
8. at BSU, 4th and 1 at USU 34, Score BSU 21-3 10:30 in 4th. Result - Hunt run for 1 yrd for 1st down. Score TD on possession.
9. at BSU, 4th and 27 at USU 27. Score BSU 21-3 9:15 in 4th. Result - PI on BSU for 1st down. Score TD on possession.
10. at BSU. 4th and 4 on BSU 48. Score BSU 21-3 8:08 in 4th. Result - Complete to Houston for 1st down. Score TD on possession.
11. at CSU, 4th and 10 on CSU 27. Score CSU 31-24 6:15 in 4th. Result - incomplete to Lewis.
12. vs. FS 4th and 1 on FS 29. Score 7-7, 11:00 in 4th. Result - Lindsay for 2. End up punting 4 plays later.
13. vs SDSU, 4th and 10 at SDSU 23. Score SDSU 40-6 8:00 in 4th. Result 23 Yd TD to Colston-Green!
14. at WY, 4th and 16 at WY 40. Score WY 35-7 12:00 in 3rd. Result Incomplete Pass.
15. at WY, 4th and 6 at WY 30. Score WY 45-28 7:05 in 4th. Hobbs complete to Tarver for 1st down. Next play interception.
16. at WY 4th and 14 at USU 44. Score WY 52-28 3:06 in 4th. Hobbs incomplete to Lewis.
17. vs UNM 4th and goal at UNM 1. Score 21-21 5:35 in 4th. Lindsay run for no gain. UNM gets ball and get game winning FG.
18. vs UNM 4th and 1 at USU 34. Score UNM 24-21 0:40 in 4th. Lindsay run for 14 yards. We screw time management to lose.

Here is my analysis. I will give him credit on #1. #4 I'll give him credit but forgoing a 45-yd FG to get a 7 point lead while still in the first half might be reckless. #5 was good. #7 was fine. #8, #9, #10 were all desparation on the same drive. I'll give him credit for 1 but not for three on same drive. #11 was good. #12 I can go with but why not go for it in another 4 downs? I can't blame #14 but it was 4th and 16 which is tough to make, especially with that much time left in the game. #15 I'll give him credit. #18 I'll give him credit but 1000 out of 1000 people would go for it, down by 3 with under a minute there is no choice.

#2 wasn't worth it deep in your own territory, even if you convert, you aren't going to score the way things are going. #3 the game was already over so it doesn't take much guts. #6 is inexcusable in my opinion. #13 sure he went for it but I'm not giving credit for having guts down 33 midway through 4th. Too little too late. FYI, we punted next possession on 4th and 4. #16 not going to give a lot of credit because it was so late it wouldn't matter if it is converted or not. #17 was sheer stupidity. We have the chance to take the lead late in the game and we give it to a scat back who can't score. Then UNM scores, we get the ball back but not much time and clock management dooms us.


Reasonable Opportunities were we punted on 4th Down, 2nd Half, Less than 10 Yards to Go: - I haven't looked at first half because it is early and excused most FG attempts but Wells foolishly went for it 4th down many times rather than kick a FG and went for FG when he could have gone for it.
at USC, 4th and 8 at USC 40. Score USC 21-0. 12:00 left in 3rd Qtr. Result - Touchback USC ball on 20. USC wins easily.
at Air Force, 4th and 4 at AF 43. Score AF 17-10. 6:00 left in 3rd Qtr. Result - AF ball at 10.
at CSU, 4th and 9 at CSU 36. Score CSU 31-24. 10:33 left in 4th. Result - Touchback CSU ball at 20.
vs. UNM, 4th and 9 at UNM 39. Score 21-21 14:45 in 4th. Punt to UNM 6, we only get one more possession and can't do anything with it.
vs. NEV, 4th and 1 at NEV 4. Score USU 34-24 7:50 in 4th. FG to put us up 13. We lose by 1. Going up 13 didn't do us any good, but I suppose that is hindsight, but a 17 point lead wins and even a 10 point lead with the whole field to go is probably better than a 13 point lead.
vs. BYU 4th and 5 at USU 25, Score BYU 28-10 5:47 in 4th. Of course a punt and we never see the ball again. Chances to win are slim but we don't care.

I'm admittedly lazy sometimes and this is one of those times. In comparison, how many 3 and outs were there?


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WAaggieFan wrote:I'm admittedly lazy sometimes and this is one of those times. In comparison, how many 3 and outs were there?


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I'm going to draw the line and being lazy there too because I'm only an engineer and I have trouble counting that high. If I was retired and had all the time in the world I'd go through and count how many plays were for positive yardage, no yardage and negative yardage. But today is Friday so I'm not going to sweat it.