For the first time this year, a significant number of college football coaches many of us believe in had to make our Football IQ list. This week, it was much more about the poor play-calling, but there was still plenty of clock mismanagement and fails elsewhere. Here are the five worst head coaching decisions made during Week 6.
5. Lincoln Riley abandons the run
The USC Trojans led the Minnesota Golden Gophers 17-10 with the ball and 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Woody Marks of USC had 20 carries for 134 yards. Miller Moss, their quarterback, was 19-of-30 for 153 yards. From that point forward, Riley never called a run. He dialed up 12 straight passes, resulting in two interceptions and an intentional grounding. Minnesota won 24-17 in the worst strategy ever.
4. Justin Wilcox switches from man to zone
Against the Miami Hurricanes, the Cal Golden Bears built a 35-10 lead. They did it with man coverage and blitz schemes on defense. Justin Wilcox then switched to a cover 2 leaning toward prevent in the third quarter, deciding too early to run out the clock. As a result, Cam Ward led Miami back to win 39-38 and avoid the rash of top 10 upsets in college football over the weekend.
3. Barry Odom plays for overtime
In a shootout against the Syracuse Orange, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels had the ball with all three timeouts left, 23 seconds to go and the score tied at 38. Barry Odom decided to take a knee and play for overtime. Syracuse won in OT 44-41, knocking UNLV off the top of the Group of Five teams in the running for the College Football Playoff.
2. Josh Heupel lets Arkansas score, runs down clock
Up 14-13 at the Razorbacks, the Vols could have gotten the ball back down 16-14 with 35 seconds left needing a game-winning field goal. Josh Heupel let the Hogs score a touchdown, though, so he could get it back with nearly 80 seconds left and two timeouts while needing a touchdown to win. He then ran 24 seconds off a play and failed to use the timeouts at the right time, costing the Vols 19-14.
1. Kalen DeBoer runs out two players with the same number
Set to get the ball back in the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Alabama Crimson Tide ran out two players with the same number on a punt return. That resulted in a penalty, which gave Vandy a first down, and they eventually scored on the drive. It was enough to secure their 40-35 upset, and it’s a mistake you can’t make in college football.
