An increased use of analytics has improved many college football coaches’ use of timeouts, but that doesn’t mean they still can’t make basic mistakes within the game, and plenty did that over the weekend. For this Week 2 Football IQ segment with John Adams, too many pass-happy coaches abandoning the run were the story.

Hugh Freeze takes two shots on 3rd and 2 and 4th and 2

This failure honestly goes back to when the Auburn Tigers refused to take a transfer quarterback in the offseason, instead sticking with Payton Thorne. Add pride to another sin Hugh Freeze is guilty of. That list is getting long for such a sanctimonious college football head coach who throws his morality in your face. Anyway, on to his team’s 21-14 loss to the Cal Golden Bears.

In the first quarter, Tied at 7, Auburn had the ball 3rd and 2 just past midfield. Rather than try to get the first Freeze’s staff called two pass plays downfield, one a shot to the end zone, with Thorne, who threw four picks. JUST GET THE FIRST! Freeze then blamed lack of execution in his postgame presser, but in some cases, players shouldn’t have to execute. This was one of them.

Kirk Ferentz passes twice inside the five

For years, the Iowa Hawkeyes have prided themselves on being the physical team that sticks to an old-school style of playing, with defense, an elite offensive line and great running. As a result, when Iowa faced the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday and brought up a 1st and goal from the three-yard line, you just knew they would play power football and punch it in, right?

It was even more obvious since Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara was 13-of-29 for 99 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions on the day while their running back, Kaleb Johnson, had 25 carries for 187 yards and two TDs. Well, out of the blue, Kirk Ferentz and his staff decided to get creative. They threw it twice. That resulted in them having to settle for a field goal, which cost them as they lost 20-19.

Spencer Danielson mismanages first half clock

They’re getting a lot of praise for putting up a fight against the Oregon Ducks, but the Boise State Broncos should have won that game over the weekend. Their loss comes down to a common problem in college football, time mismanagement. Late in the first half, Boise got a first down inside the Oregon 3. They had two timeouts and 20 seconds left.

Rather than use one of those timeouts, Spencer Danielson let them run five seconds off the clock. As a result, they could only get off two plays, which is why they had to settle for a field goal. Since both plays were incomplete passes, Danielson left both timeouts on the field. A TD there secures the win for BSU. Basic red zone clock mismanagement like that is a killer and needs to be called out.

Sam Pittman clock mismanagement, 4th down attempt

Despite outgaining the Oklahoma State Cowboys by around 300 yards, Sam Pittman managed to cost the Arkansas Razorbacks a game. It started midway through the fourth quarter. On a 4th and 4 at the Oklahoma State 23 and with the scored tied at 21, Pittman went for it and didn’t convert. You absolutely HAVE to take the points there, especially since your offense had stalled since the first quarter.

Then, though, came the final drive of regulation. Now, the Hogs tied it to send the game into overtime. However, they ran 20 seconds off the clock on after two completions because they took too long to spike one and get set for the other. That took away a shot to win it in regulation. These basic mistakes are inexcusable, and Pittman cost his team a huge chance to win.

Marcus Freeman 2nd and 1 pass

Both recurring themes for Week 2 of college football, offenses too pass-happy and clock mismanagement, were on display in the Northern Illinois Huskies’ upset of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. One was Marcus Freeman not using a timeout late to gain more yards, but it appears he was out of timeouts and NBC messed up the count on the ticker. Either way, being out of timeouts was bad.

Worse, though, was earlier in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame was up 14-13 and had the ball 2nd and 1 near midfield. Their running back, Jeremitah Love, was averaging seven yards a carry, and their quarterback Riley Leonard, had an awful day. So what did they decide to do? Well, they thought they’d get creative and take a shot.

Leonard threw it into double coverage and was picked off. He finished 20-of-32 for 163 yards, no TDs and two picks. WHY would you throw it there, though? Your defense is winning the game, and you’re running it well. Just get the first down. Once you do, you can run it down to right at about three minutes or make NIU use their timeouts in a defensive struggle. This was the worst of all decisions this week.