The 49 yard Field goal try in the BCSNCG

[boomermagic]

Was that a bad call ? Should we have gone for it on 4th down instead ? Obviously, We would have IF we would have known what was going to happen but at the time was it a good choice ? I have to be honest I said out loud what the hell are we doing ?

[Boomer.....]

If he doesn't have the leg for it then Bob wouldn't have sent him out. His consistency is in question but he must have shown some things in practice that impressed Stoops.

[Dan Thompson]

Maybe, in the future, we can have a TE 'blocking' on the left side, have a ex-QB, or someone that can pass, as the 'holder'.

Let the kicker go through the 'kick', the hold throws a short pass to the TE or runs with it.

This play has worked every time, problem is I don't think we have ever done it.

[Jack T.]

Given our history of field goals and PATs, *I* questioned the call also. 49 yards is a long way for a *phenomenal* kicker, and I'm not sure our kicker is in that class yet.

[1890MilesToNorman]

At the time I thought there was a 20% chance of making that kick given the history, I think the call was questionable.

[yermom]

i thought we should have gone for it there, but kicked the one when the game was tied on 4th and goal

[BoulderSooner79]

I think we all cringed on that decision. No knock on Stevens, it just doesn't seem like the right time to set a PR. But I don't think it was a key moment in the game. Having the kick blocked or missing the kick or going on 4th and not making it would all have the same outcome. It was potentially a big play if we had gone on 4th and made it *and* scored on the drive. It could have been a big negative play if the block bounced backward and was returned for a score.

My preference would have been to go on 4th with my second choice of trying to punt them deep. I would have tried a sneak on 3rd an 1 knowing I would go on 4th to reduce the potential for lost yardage - i.e. the "conventional path". But given it was 4th and 5, I would have still gone for it and the odds are UF would have still gotten the ball at the same place, so I don't see it as a turning point.

[boomermagic]

I think we all cringed on that decision. No knock on Stevens, it just doesn't seem like the right time to set a PR. But I don't think it was a key moment in the game. Having the kick blocked or missing the kick or going on 4th and not making it would all have the same outcome. It was potentially a big play if we had gone on 4th and made it *and* scored on the drive. It could have been a big negative play if the block bounced backward and was returned for a score.

My preference would have been to go on 4th with my second choice of trying to punt them deep. I would have tried a sneak on 3rd an 1 knowing I would go on 4th to reduce the potential for lost yardage - i.e. the "conventional path". But given it was 4th and 5, I would have still gone for it and the odds are UF would have still gotten the ball at the same place, so I don't see it as a turning point.

I don't know that it was a turning point either but I would have tried for the first but then I would have kicked a field goal the first time we got inside their 5 and went up 3- 0.

[oupride]

That was 1 of 2 calls that made me uncomfortable. That one and the decision not to attempt the Field Goal right before the half.

[Spray]

Maybe, in the future, we can have a TE 'blocking' on the left side, have a ex-QB, or someone that can pass, as the 'holder'.

Let the kicker go through the 'kick', the hold throws a short pass to the TE or runs with it.

This play has worked every time, problem is I don't think we have ever done it.


At Mizzou, '99 I believe. Not sure who the holder was, and the pass was pretty deep, but it was one of the initial calls Bob made early in his head coaching career that showed his cajones.

[BoulderSooner79]

Maybe, in the future, we can have a TE 'blocking' on the left side, have a ex-QB, or someone that can pass, as the 'holder'.

Let the kicker go through the 'kick', the hold throws a short pass to the TE or runs with it.

This play has worked every time, problem is I don't think we have ever done it.

Given that UF had 5 weeks to scout us and knew our kicking situation, I doubt any kind of fake would have worked. At least if I were UF's ST coach I would have been defending a fake and not too worried about the kick. I think putting the ball in Sam's hands on a conventional play would have had a much higher chance of success than a fake.

[BoomerSoonerTexasscks]

At Mizzou, '99 I believe. Not sure who the holder was, and the pass was pretty deep, but it was one of the initial calls Bob made early in his head coaching career that showed his cajones.

They did it @Missouri in 01 too. Chester made a great play and pulled the ball down in double coverage. The grass in Columbia was a foot tall and we had already missed two maybe three kicks. Good call by Bob. The only thing I would like to see is Bob go for a few more fakes. It seemed like he went for those alot more often when he first started coaching. Maybe he thought he had inferior talent and needed too. I think now he figures that he was the better talent and he can leave it to his playmakers to win without the tricks. I do wish he did it more now. I think it would keep teams off balance. But thats why he gets paid the big bucks and I'm on a message board

[boomermagic]

They did it @Missouri in 01 too. Chester made a great play and pulled the ball down in double coverage. The grass in Columbia was a foot tall and we had already missed two maybe three kicks. Good call by Bob. The only thing I would like to see is Bob go for a few more fakes. It seemed like he went for those alot more often when he first started coaching. Maybe he thought he had inferior talent and needed too. I think now he figures that he was the better talent and he can leave it to his playmakers to win without the tricks. I do wish he did it more now. I think it would keep teams off balance. But thats why he gets paid the big bucks and I'm on a message board

I know we work on trick plays or Gadget plays whatever you want to call them but we almost never run one. I kept thinking we would use a gadget play but we didn't I wonder what we were saving them for ?:D

[boomermagic]

Given that UF had 5 weeks to scout us and knew our kicking situation, I doubt any kind of fake would have worked. At least if I were UF's ST coach I would have been defending a fake and not too worried about the kick. I think putting the ball in Sam's hands on a conventional play would have had a much higher chance of success than a fake.

Yep, I would have liked to have seen us go for a first and Florida couldn't scout a trick play IF you run one we have never used before.. Anyway, you know what they say about hinsight ?

[rainiersooner]

At Mizzou, '99 I believe. Not sure who the holder was, and the pass was pretty deep, but it was one of the initial calls Bob made early in his head coaching career that showed his cajones.

I'm pretty sure it was Bradley.

[rainiersooner]

Maybe, in the future, we can have a TE 'blocking' on the left side, have a ex-QB, or someone that can pass, as the 'holder'.

Let the kicker go through the 'kick', the hold throws a short pass to the TE or runs with it.

This play has worked every time, problem is I don't think we have ever done it.

I believe Winchester is the holder - and he was a QB in high school (or, to state it another way, whoever the holder is, he was a QB in high school). When Bob called the field goal - I was POSITIVE we were going to see a fake field goal and a pass to Gresham. Oh well!

[Dan Thompson]

Maybe we could add Brown on the left as a 'blocker'. Now the hollder can run, pass to the TE, hand-off to Brown, or do a shovel pass to Brown.

[Spray]

They did it @Missouri in 01 too. Chester made a great play and pulled the ball down in double coverage. The grass in Columbia was a foot tall and we had already missed two maybe three kicks. Good call by Bob. The only thing I would like to see is Bob go for a few more fakes. It seemed like he went for those alot more often when he first started coaching. Maybe he thought he had inferior talent and needed too. I think now he figures that he was the better talent and he can leave it to his playmakers to win without the tricks. I do wish he did it more now. I think it would keep teams off balance. But thats why he gets paid the big bucks and I'm on a message board

This is what I was thinking of. And you're dead-on that Bob rarely resorts to trickeration now because over 60 minutes of football we will out-talent our opponent 99% of the time. Fakes are fun, but they're low-percentage and the better team (statistically speaking) is better off playing field position and the war of attrition.

[Scotty]

I know we work on trick plays or Gadget plays whatever you want to call them but we almost never run one. I kept thinking we would use a gadget play but we didn't I wonder what we were saving them for ?:D


Well, we DID run one against texas this year, though i don't remember how that turned out?;)

[KaleoHolley]

I think at the time of that play, Coach Stoops was tired of marching the ball down the field and gettting zero points on the board, so IMO he was trying to "steal" points and get something for all those redzone blunders. It was bad call after he missed it, at the time i didn't hate it.

[OUMallen]

i thought we should have gone for it there, but kicked the one when the game was tied on 4th and goal

This.

[Half a Hundred]

I believe Winchester is the holder - and he was a QB in high school (or, to state it another way, whoever the holder is, he was a QB in high school). When Bob called the field goal - I was POSITIVE we were going to see a fake field goal and a pass to Gresham. Oh well!

I can only guess that Bob thought at that point in the game that if Stevens makes that kick, Florida would have to respect the FG enough that later when possibly more pertinent, OU might be able to pull off that very trick play.

It was a gamble, but a calculated one, I think.

[Novamanxl]

I personally don't like Jimmy. He kicks the balls waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to low. Watch him closely next year, his balls are about 7ft off the ground when they reach the line of scrimmage. The only reason there weren't more blocks is because we didn't have to kick more field goals.

P.S.
Yes, I know the sentence is comical.

[Spray]

Give him an offseason. If Stevens is still the starter to open next season I think his progress will be very apparent (if he really doesn't have it, Tress Way will be kicking and we will probably be bitching about him). Most kickers at the collegiate level usually struggle their first year. I can remember complaints about Tim Duncan and Garrett Hartley their first years.

Firts seasons of our recent kickers:
In 2005, Hartley was 14-22 on FG and 37-38 on XPs.
In 2002, DiCarlo was 16-22 on FG and 58-62 on XPs.
In 1999, Duncan was 11-16 on FG and 49-51 on XPs.

[ouengineer97]

Was that a bad call ? Should we have gone for it on 4th down instead ? Obviously, We would have IF we would have known what was going to happen but at the time was it a good choice ? I have to be honest I said out loud what the hell are we doing ?

IMO, we should have done one of 3 things:

1. Punted / or pooched kicked
2. Fake field goal and try to convert.
3. Line-up in standard formation and try to convert

I believe any of the 3 had more chance than of success than kicking a 49 yd field.

I stated as much screaming at the field and hoping it was going to be a fake field goal or pooch kick at the game.

[boomermagic]

IMO, we should have done one of 3 things:

1. Punted / or pooched kicked
2. Fake field goal and try to convert.
3. Line-up in standard formation and try to convert

I believe any of the 3 had more chance than of success than kicking a 49 yd field.

I stated as much screaming at the field and hoping it was going to be a fake field goal or pooch kick at the game.

Agreed !

[gotpoi73]

given uf's penchant for blocking kicks and our lack of production from the kicking game, i would have liked to have seen us go for it

[OUAlumni1990]

That was 1 of 2 calls that made me uncomfortable. That one and the decision not to attempt the Field Goal right before the half.

yes

I remember the days of Switzer. If the opposing defense was good, he ALWAYS kicked on 4th down which was the right decision. Anything else is arrogance.

[oubose]

49 yard field goal, I'm sorry but were OKLAHOMA we don't settle for field goals, we score TD's. Don't worry will be back again this year1

BOOMER SOONER!!!

[The Remnant]

If I were betting money, I would lay it on OU's Offense converting a 4th and 5 over the kicker hitting it from 49 yards.

[Mjcpr]

I didn't disagree with going for it on 4th down at the goal line but I hoped they'd give our Heisman winning QB a shot on 3rd down. It's easy to say take the field goal now.

I never agreed with the 49 yard attempt though. We'd been horrible all year, not sure anyone thought that was going to be good.

[jdsooner]

Poor play calls at critical times hurt us.

Why not a qb sneak from inside the one on third down?
Why not a rollout pass or run on fourth down?
Why didn't we try a lob pass from the 10 to Gresham that would either be caught or incomplete? If incomplete, kick the fg.
And yes, it was a horrible call to try the field goal in that situation.

[Soonerus]

Hey, nobody's perfect...

[sooneredaco]

Hey, nobody's perfect...

Wrong! Tebow is perfect! I've heard that his **** smells like roses.

oh and as far as the 49 yard field goal is concerned....... horrible idea as far as I'm concerned.

[PLaw]

Was that a bad call ? Should we have gone for it on 4th down instead ? Obviously, We would have IF we would have known what was going to happen but at the time was it a good choice ? I have to be honest I said out loud what the hell are we doing ?


I'm not smart enough to know if it was a bad call or not - I just know we need a major improvement for all our special teams play in 2009.

BOOMER

[KingDavid]

I thought for sure it was going to be a direct snap to Stevens followed by a quick kick to try to pin the Gators deep. I was stunned when they actually tried a field goal.

[NawlensGator]

It was a good call in my opinion. No way you make that 1st down. Should have done the same thing on 4th and goal. You still wouldn't have beat the spread though.

[Soonerchaz]

I personally don't like Jimmy. He kicks the balls waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to low. Watch him closely next year, his balls are about 7ft off the ground when they reach the line of scrimmage. The only reason there weren't more blocks is because we didn't have to kick more field goals.

P.S.
Yes, I know the sentence is comical.

I think this is spot on. I understand that a FG of that length requires kickers to drive the ball some...but overall...Jimmy's kicks are way too low. Ever notice the height that some of these kickers get on extra points? The ball just explodes off their foot. Several of Jimmy's extra points were much too low.

[JLEW1818]

or when you have the Heisman winner on your team, maybe let him have the ball in his hands?

[Jason White's Third Knee]

Punt. I didn't mind the goal line plays, but for crap's sake, punt when you are that far back and have a midget for a kicker...