Clock mismanagement is usually the biggest failure shown by college football head coaches, and that was no different during Week 10 of the 2023 season. However, there were still a couple of bad play-calls that made the list for our weekly Football IQ segment. In fact, a substitution fail, dumb fourth down call and waste of a possession are all on there. Let’s dive in.
Colorado doesn’t onside kick vs. Oregon State
Deion Sanders is getting slammed for letting the clock run down to two seconds late before calling a timeout, but mathematically, there was no way the Buffaloes could have stopped the clock and gotten the ball back. The issue was when Colorado scored with under two minutes to go to cut it to 26-19 and Coach Prime did a standard kickoff. You’ve GOT to onside it there.
Kansas State goes for it on 4th and goal
I generally don’t mind going for the win, but when it’s 4th and goal from the four-yard line in overtime, and you’re down by a field goal, you’ve got to kick it there. Chris Klieman made the aggression blunder of the season in college football. Four yards is just too much. In this situation, it’s one of the times that, even if an upset is on the table, you take the points.
Oklahoma burns a timeout…to kick a field goal
Two weeks in a row, Brent Venables’ Sooners have been guilty of clock mismanagement. It was bad enough he didn’t try to score at the end of the first half. However, in the second half, late in the game, he was about to go for it on 4th and 12 down 27-21 to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in field goal range. He let the clock run down and then took a timeout to kick a field goal. OU lost 27-24.
Missouri doesn’t try to score before halftime
When you’re playing the best team in college football, possessions matter more than anything else. The Tigers had over 30 seconds and two timeouts at the end of the first half to try to score against the Georgia Bulldogs. However, Eli Drinkwitz played for halftime, which proved costly late in the game when Mizzou needed two scores.
Florida substitution penalty on FG
Here was a comedy of errors. The Gators completed a pass for a first down into field goal range with eight seconds left. All they had to do was clock it an kick the field goal. However, Billy Napier rushed out the field goal team with the score tied at 33 and took a substitution penalty. That resulted in a missed field goal, and the Arkansas Razorbacks won in overtime.
