Another week goes by, and another round of stupid decisions by college football coaches ends up proving costly. One team suffered the upset loss of the year, and three others blew chances at epic upsets, all because their coaches made historically dumb calls. Here are the five worst coaching moves during Week 9 of 2023.
5. Old Dominion 3rd and 14 draw after timeout on late drive
Ricky Rahne had the Old Dominion Monarchs in position Saturday to upset the James Madison Dukes, one of eight undefeated teams left in college football. Trailing 30-27 with just over 1:40 to go, ODU had the ball 3rd and 14 at their own 46. Back to back stupid decisions then proved costly. First, Rahne burned a timeout.
Burning timeouts late on offense when you’re down is ALWAYS stupid. Possessions matter more than the right play. It got even worse, though, after the timeout. ODU ran a draw play. Seriously. They willingly settled for 4th and 11. Of course they didn’t get it, and thanks to that burned timeout, they only got the ball back with 32 seconds to go instead of over a minute.
4. Indiana plays for tie in field goal range at Penn State
Tom Allen’s Indiana Hoosiers put up a fight against the Penn State Nittany Lions. James Franklin’s team, up 24-21, threw an interception and spotted Indiana the ball 1st and 10 at the Penn State 20 with five minutes to go. Allen, in his genius, ran it three times and settled for the field goal despite Indiana averaging under two and a half yards a carry.
Allen only made himself sound worse in the postgame press conference. He first said they were running it “really, really well,” even though they weren’t, and he said the main focus was to not risk a takeaway since they were already in field goal range. Well, that allowed PSU to open its playbook up for a game-winning drive, and they scored a touchdown to win it.
3. Oklahoma abandons run, calls timeout to punt
Brent Venables reverted back to not looking like a head coach. The Kansas Jayhawks pulled off the upset of the weekend in college football, beating the Sooners 38-33, but the bonehead move of the game came early in the second half. OU was up 21-17 and had the ball 3rd and 3 on the Kansas 48. Tawee Walker was averaging over six yards a carry and running it down their throat.
So what does Venables do? Well, he calls a sweep to Gavin Freeman for no gain. Then, inexplicably, OU has a delay of game penalty. Venables then stupidly takes a timeout because his team wasn’t lined up. Then he punts. WHY WOULD YOU WASTE A TIMEOUT JUST TO PUNT?!?!?!?! This is so stupid. Of course they could have used that timeout late when they ran out of time.
2. Oregon State calls fake FG…to the kicker
Les Miles and the LSU Tigers got away with it once and altered the college football world’s decision-making. However, if you’re going to call a fake field goal, it should rarely go to the kicker, and it should never go to the kicker if you need more than just a first down. However, Oregon State Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith did just that over the weekend at the Arizona Wildcats.
At the Arizona 16 with three seconds left in the first half and the score tied, Oregon State was set to kick a field goal to go into halftime up 13-10. It was a 33-yard kick and, from where they lined up, 23 yards to the end zone. However, Smith still decided to call a fake and have his KICKER, Atticus Sappington, try to run it in. He failed. Arizona ended up winning the game by a field goal, 30-27.
1. Cal burns timeout to talk two-point play
Justin Wilcox’s Golden Bears put up a fight against the USC Trojans on Saturday. With 58 seconds left, trailing 50-43, Cal scored a touchdown. Understandably, Wilcox decided to go for two and the win. At the time, Cal had all three timeouts left, so even if they didn’t get it, they still had the shot at the onside kick, and they could use those timeouts to get the ball back for another chance.
Well, Wilcox killed that last chance. He decided to burn a timeout to talk about the two-point play. As a result, when Cal didn’t get it, the only chance they had was the onside kick, which they didn’t get. Burning timeouts in that situation is the stupidest thing a coach can do. Cal would’ve gotten the ball back with about 40 seconds and a chance with a game-winning field goal. Instead, USC ran out the clock.
