Week 7 in college football is worthy of celebration, as we can actually praise one head coach for his genius. Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks taking a substitution penalty to further run down the clock against the Ohio State Buckeyes was a stroke of brilliance. That doesn’t mean there weren’t once again a litany of idiotic coaching decisions, though. Let’s dive into those with our weekly Football IQ segment.
Shane Beamer burns 3rd and 18 timeout
We all saw the fight the South Carolina Gamecocks put up against the Alabama Crimson Tide. They should have had more of a chance. With over six minutes to go, trailing 20-19 and on the Bama 38-yard line, Shane Beamer called a timeout on 3rd and 18 after an incomplete pass. Burning a timeout on its own is stupid. If SC had that, they would’ve had more time at the end to set up a field goal.
However, Beamer burned it because he accidentally let the play clock run down when figuring out the third down decision. Then his staff dialed up a three-yard pass to bring up a 51-yarder. The field goal was missed. If you’re going to burn a timeout, you’ve got to have a better play than that. College football kickers are so erratic, and South Carolina’s, Alex Herrera, has never made a 50-yarder.
Mark Stoops declines penalty to bring up 1st and goal
In the Kentucky Wildcats’ loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores, there was a drive in the third quarter in which UK, trailing 17-7, drove deep into Vandy territory. The ‘Cats were able to bring up a 2nd and goal from the 1, but Vandy committed a penalty, which could have given them a 1st and goal from the 2. You take the extra down, always.
Stoops took the yard. Then, on that second down play, UK had a false start, making it 2nd and goal from the 6. They had to go for it on fourth down, which resulted in an interception. If UK took the penalty, they could have kept it on the ground for three straight plays and would have at least had another chance not involving desperation if there was a penalty.
Justin Wilcox plays for 40-yard FG
Two weeks in a row, the Cal Golden Bears have lost games because of Justin Wilcox. He really is living up to being Derek Dooley’s assistant. This time, against the Pittsburgh Panthers, Wilcox’s team was trailing 17-15 late. They drove to the Pitt 25-yard line with over three minutes to go. In Wilcox’s genius, he played the clock at that point to run off as much as possible.
Three straight run plays brought up a 4th and 7, and Wilcox attempted a 40-yard field goal with Ryan Coe, who has been 4-of-10 on kicks that long and beyond for his career. Of course, Coe missed it. Wilcox was dumb enough to play for that field goal when Pitt would still have time, but to do so with that kicker given how untrustworthy college football kickers are was absolutely insane.
Lincoln Riley runs down the clock
Another brilliant stroke of clock mismanagement, Lincoln Riley kept the USC Trojans from beating the Penn State Nittany Lions himself. Riley and USC had the ball at the Penn State 49-yard line with just under 90 seconds to go and the score tied at 30. Inexplicably, he ran it and let the clock run down to 48 seconds, then he let it run down to 14 seconds after a six-yard completion.
All of a sudden, with Riley’s clock mismanagement, USC had it 3rd and 6 on the Penn State 45 with 14 seconds to go. Remember, Riley also had two timeouts. He was then forced to call a desperation pass to get into field goal range, which PSU intercepted. They went on to win in overtime as a result, but Riley made one of the worst coaching moves ever.
Billy Napier mismanages EVERYTHING
Butch Jones had a habit of costing the Tennessee Vols against the Florida Gators with a litany of bad coaching decisions in each game. He did it in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Well, Billy Napier may have outdone him on Saturday. Napier got in shotgun on 4th and an inch near the goal-line and was stopped. Then his team committed a substitution penalty on a field goal at the half, resulting in a runoff, costing UF points.
Finally, late in the game, after scoring a touchdown go come within one, Napier went for the extra point. He was on the road and had an injured quarterback! You’ve got to go for the win there! Instead, he backed off. It was a comedy of errors and the worst coaching performance of this past weekend in college football.
