We should have gone for 2! Not too,hard to figure out.

I was thinking that too after the last td. Then again, considering we were gashing them I figured we'd get at least another td - then Baldwin puckered up and kneeled on the ball in the 4th quarter.

I don't agree. You only go for two if there is a compelling reason to do so. The blame goes on the awful playcalling on our last possession before the Ohio go-ahead TD. They might as well have just taken a knee because the Ohio defense knew exactly what was coming. Just awful play calling when a first down likely would have about ended the game.

AggieMeister wrote:I don't agree. You only go for two if there is a compelling reason to do so. The blame goes on the awful playcalling on our last possession before the Ohio go-ahead TD. They might as well have just taken a knee because the Ohio defense knew exactly what was coming. Just awful play calling when a first down likely would have about ended the game.

Ohio had the screenplay and had studied the script carefully. They knew what to expect in this situation as it has happened so often this season.

I had a strong feeling that we should have gone for two on one of those 3rd quarter TDs. There was no compelling reason not to do so--really nothing to lose. Either way, TD wins it and FG doesn't tie. One point less made no difference, but two points more made so, so much.

AggieMeister wrote:I don't agree. You only go for two if there is a compelling reason to do so. The blame goes on the awful playcalling on our last possession before the Ohio go-ahead TD. They might as well have just taken a knee because the Ohio defense knew exactly what was coming. Just awful play calling when a first down likely would have about ended the game.

We should have gone for 2 on the very first touchdown. They matched us TD for TD but had 1 more point because of a field goal vs a safety. Losing by 2 is no worse than losing by 1. We should of had OTvertime at the worst. Coaches should have know that.

The first touchdown by Turbin should have been reviewed, we should have made the field goal, we should've run wildcat with Morrison when AK went down. Should have blitzed every down and kicked onside kicks every kickoff! Shoulda coulda woulda is just pissin in the wind. It sucks we lost. Here's my question that's foremost in my mind looking forward..... is Turbin gone?

We should have kicked the FG in the first quarter. That nearly cost us the NMSU game and we learned nothing from it. Take the points and play the game.

AggieHoops wrote:

AggieMeister wrote:I don't agree. You only go for two if there is a compelling reason to do so. The blame goes on the awful playcalling on our last possession before the Ohio go-ahead TD. They might as well have just taken a knee because the Ohio defense knew exactly what was coming. Just awful play calling when a first down likely would have about ended the game.

We should have gone for 2 on the very first touchdown. They matched us TD for TD but had 1 more point because of a field goal vs a safety. Losing by 2 is no worse than losing by 1. We should of had OTvertime at the worst. Coaches should have know that.

Agreed. Going for two is not about feeling, it is about simple math! There was ZERO risk in going for two to try and make up the point differential from the safety. Instead the coaches seemed almost oblivious to what should have been a common sense call. Also, not taking the FG at the beginning from the 1 yard line proved to be the difference once again. Our coaches did not learn from these same mistakes made in other games just this year!

xtremeat wrote:The first touchdown by Turbin should have been reviewed, we should have made the field goal, we should've run wildcat with Morrison when AK went down. Should have blitzed every down and kicked onside kicks every kickoff! Shoulda coulda woulda is just pissin in the wind. It sucks we lost. Here's my question that's foremost in my mind looking forward..... is Turbin gone?

Not to nit pick, but strangely enough this was actually a good thing for us. We ended up getting 9 points instead of just 7 because of the safety. (This is obviously not the case if you assume we stop them and then get another touchdown on the next series...which would probably be a valid assumption)

As for you last question: Yes. I'm believing that until I hear definitively otherwise.

With Baldwins awful play selection (reminiscent of Guy area plays) on last possession we should have taken a safety. Given them 2 points then instead of punting from the end zone you are punting from the 20. Field position better for our D and force them to go farther. Baldwin needs to take course or be sent to a work shop on the value of first downs with under 5 min to play. Auburn, BYU, Colorado State.....

Great season by our boys non the less!!!!! Can't wait for next year!

Aggiejump, I actually sat there in the stands doing the math and thought the safety wasn't a totally bad idea considering the situation

The main point is that going for two on some TD or other--ANY of them--carried ZERO risk.

Punting from our twenty (after giving up a safety) would have only gained an extra five or ten yards as we actually benefited very well from the actual punt because the Ohio returner ran laterally and ended up losing a few yards.

I think taking the safety would have been a good idea as well. The punter would have been punting from the twenty instead of in his own endzone. I would take the chance of the coverage on the return for at least kicking it from 20-25 yards further up the field.

Giving the other team points is never really a good idea. I only contemplated it because I was worried about our record in the fourth quarter

We need more Nevadas and less BYUs, CSUs, and OUs.

I thought we should have taken the safety at the end if only because after the past 30 years of Aggie luck, I assumed Ohio was going to block the punt and score 7 right then.

In reality, taking a safety would have been a more practical decision.
1- You have a punt 25 yards up the field, putting Ohio in worse field position
2- Either way, Ohio has to score a TD to win...23-17 or 23-19 is essentially the same score
3-You get a punt off with no pressure and a running start for your team to get down field coverage

I was making the argument as we lined up to punt. I wonder if the thought even crossed the coaching staff's minds?

I thought at 22-10 was the time to go for 2 to give yourself insurance against a 2nd touchdown. At 8-0, that early, you keep it 9 points/2 possessions.

Agreed on going for two. 13 point Aggie leads are a sign of bad things to come.

El Matatan wrote:

xtremeat wrote:The first touchdown by Turbin should have been reviewed, we should have made the field goal, we should've run wildcat with Morrison when AK went down. Should have blitzed every down and kicked onside kicks every kickoff! Shoulda coulda woulda is just pissin in the wind. It sucks we lost. Here's my question that's foremost in my mind looking forward..... is Turbin gone?

Not to nit pick, but strangely enough this was actually a good thing for us. We ended up getting 9 points instead of just 7 because of the safety. (This is obviously not the case if you assume we stop them and then get another touchdown on the next series...which would probably be a valid assumption)

As for you last question: Yes. I'm believing that until I hear definitively otherwise.

This is actually an outstanding point. There was an interesting article about this in a business journal a while back; I can find it if anyone is interested. But the article showed fairly convincingly that NFL coaches kick far too often on fourth down because they underestimate the value of field position. When you have 4th and short on the goal line like we did in that situation, it is almost always better to go for a touchdown rather than a field goal. If you get the touchdown you get 4 more points. If you don't, then you have given your opponent the ball with horrible field position. In this case, it led to a safety followed by a touchdown, so giving Ohio the ball on their own goal line turned out to be even more valuable than a touchdown. Granted, that involved a bit of luck, but kicking a field goal in that situation would have cost us six points when all was said and done.

Having said that, I think this same logic indicates that we probably should have taken a safety on our final offensive drive. Forcing Ohio back 20-30 yards on their final drive was worth a lot more than 2 points at that point in the game. And we definitely should have gone for two on one of those touchdowns. Oh well.

Nice to hear everyones takes on the two point conversions and the safety. We have some good football minds sharing thought and ideas. I wonder if the coaches at time both on the sideline and in the press box get "tunnel vision" and are so caught up in the game that the "arm chair quarter back" in the stands or watching at home may have a better thought process at that moment in time being not as stressed and engaged as the active coaches...say go for two or take the safety or in the CSU game don't field the last punt no man back... I have found myself watching the Aggies or other NCAA or NFL football and more times than not I can actually manage the clock better, or other situational strategies better from home or from the stands than some teams and coaches. I guess being a good student of the game is what they call us that do this. Now I am not bragging myself up or the others that do the same thing but it makes me wonder if a coaching staff or if any coaching staffs have a strategist or game management specialist (industry would call it Quality Control). You would almost need a "coach or two" sitting up in the box as a casual observers just watching the game and as the game progresses and feel the ebs and flows and momentum swims just like I do from my seats or from the couch "solve the worlds problems" and offer quick consultations to the working coaches in the press box to call down via the head phones to sidelines for evaluation. Best Coach I was ever around the had the best situational game was our once OC Jim Zorn. He was a wizard at clock management and game strategies as game progressed. Thoughts????? Do we have a guy that does this do other teams have guys that do this?

I hope Gary has a notebook and is keeping a "lessons learned" listing of all the little things that could have have been done better say the CSU game on last punt by CSU don't even have a man back thus no risk of fumble....those sort of improvements can be implemented and improve game results.