I'm glad Wes Bynum nailed a FG, as time expired, for Auburn to beat Florida. I'm just a little disappointed in how the scenario played out. With the game tied at 17, Auburn drove to the Florida 26 and called time out with 3 seconds left to set up a game-winning FG.
Stealing a page from Mike Shanahan (and Lane Kiffin), Urban Meyer convinced an official to let him call a time out just as Auburn was preparing to snap the ball for the FG attempt. The official granted the TO, but didn't get the players on the field to not run the play. Bynum's kick eeked through just inside the right upright for the apparent game-winner. Not so fast.
The announcers had predicted Meyer's actions and praised him for doing everything possible to help his team. As the kick sailed towards the goal, I was hoping it would continue to drift to the right - wide right - knowing full-well that it wouldn't count anyway.
Why hope for a miss? In the NFL, the tactic has worked twice. The first time, the Raiders missed the second try (against the Broncos). The Raiders won a game the next week by blocking the second attempt by the Browns. In the Auburn v. Florida game, the tactic didn't work, but it wasn't detrimental either. Auburn won the game, but they would have won if Meyer had not called time out, too. If Bynum had missed the first one, Meyer would have deprived his team of a chance at winning in OT by calling the TO and giving Bynum a second chance (assuming he nailed it on his second attempt). The only thing that would have been better is if Meyer's TO had nullified a blocked kick return for a TD by his Gators. Can you imagine the uproar in Gainesville if the head coached had turned a win into a loss by calling an unnecessary TO?
Unnecessary time outs are just a waste of time, in my opinion. Does the kicker really need more time to think about it? Bynum was probably thinking about it from the time Auburn got the ball for their last drive ... I was. What else does the kicker have to do? That's why he was over on the sidelines staying loose! College football made a big stink a while back about the lengths of games. Here is one way to cut a little bit of time, and it won't adversely affect the game. And, even if they don't make a rule against the unsportsmanlike practice, I'd like to see coaches take the initiative to rule against it themselves by NOT calling TO. It's the right thing to do ... maybe not the trendy thing to do ... but the right thing.
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A Coach who calls a timeout just before his opponent kicks a winning field goal, only to force them to kick again again, should be assessed a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
For coaches to mind fuck their opponent, rather than beat them on the field shows not only lack of class; but a true violation of the spirit of the rules. I'm glad it backfired on "Urban Myth". I too wish Florida would have blocked the first kick and returned it for a TD, only to have Auburn nail the second kick for the win.
I cannot think of a more pussified way to win a football game than to resort to mental masturbation by using loophole in rules.
I guarantee you neither Pete Carroll nor Jim Tressel would ever engage in such a tactic.
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