Anyone here or at hornsfans mentioned this?

[Collier11]

Macks idiotic move of not taking a knee with 12 seconds left at the 23 yd line right before half cost them the game most likely? That was the dumbest thing he could have possibly done and he did it...

[Crucifax Autumn]

Hilarious since they are whining about Bama not taking a knee.

[sortiz1965]

That's what $5MM a year buys the horns, huh? Moronic coaching decisions.

[Sooner in Tampa]

Stupid yes, moronic...I don't know. A shuttle pass is about as simple as you can get...the moron was the RB...what a dooshcanoe

Moronic was also that dumb *** fake punt attempt to start the game...3 and out and you are gonna try a fake punt? WTF???

[rainiersooner]

Well, this article sums it up pretty nicely!!! Bahahaha!!!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/01/08/texas-brown/index.html?eref=sihp


PASADENA, Calif. -- Someone asked Texas coach Mack Brown a pretty basic question on Wednesday, the day before his Longhorns played Alabama in the BCS Championship. And Brown gave a surprising answer. The question was what he thinks about when he's lying awake the night before a big game.

The answer that first came to mind: "Are they going to onside kick to start the game?"

That seems to say a lot about how coaches think. Onside kick to start the game? That's what a coach worries about late at night when the demons shriek? But, yes, it seems that coaches do worry about the most ridiculous things. They dream about catastrophes. They see doom around every corner and vampires in every dark alley; they hear ghosts in the attic. This is part (a big part) of what it is to be a football coach -- always expecting the worst to happen.

Sure, this is why coaches, more often than not, punt on fourth-and-one. It is why they surround their practice facilities with barbed wire fences. It is why they run draw plays on third-and-long. It is why they go into the prevent defense. It is why they answer questions with the reluctance of an 8-year-old in trouble. Fans may boo, sportswriters may roll their eyes, talk radio show hosts may rant for hours.

But none of them sees disaster whenever they close their eyes. Football coaches do.

And so we find ourselves at the end of the first half of Thursday's BCS National Championship Game. This was a strange, uneven, confused game. The reason was that during Texas' first possession, while deep in Alabama territory, Tide defensive end Marcell Dareus hit Texas quarterback Colt McCoy -- who many pegged as the single most important player in the game. It was a clean hit, but that didn't make it any less savage. McCoy badly hurt his shoulder. And, after a month of hype leading into this game, nothing made sense. Everyone had an idea of what this game would look like with Colt McCoy in the game; nobody had any clue what it would look like with him out of it.

Texas took a 6-0 lead -- the Loghorns were inspired, they recovered a pooch kick, they were playing at their peak. But then it became clear to everyone on both teams that Texas' backup quarterback, true freshman Garret Gilbert, was (justifiably) scared out of his mind. Gilbert had not thrown a pass in a game since before Thanksgiving, and now he was playing the awe-inspiring Alabama defense in front of 94,000 peole at the Rose Bowl and ... he just wasn't ready for that. The game went about as you might expect. Texas' offense went dead. Alabama's offense found a rhythm. The Crimson Tide made a couple of big plays against the stout but disappointed Texas defense. Alabama took a 14-6 lead.

And then, with 29 seconds left in the half, Alabama kicked a field goal to add to the lead, making the score 17-6. It had to be hard for Texas players and coaches to watch Alabama just grind them into submission. But there really wasn't much to be done about it. McCoy was in so many ways the soul of this Texas team. The Longhorns clearly lost all hope of winning when they realized he would not play. All Texas coaches could really hope to do was get to halftime and try to infuse some belief and energy back into the players.

The kickoff was returned to the Texas 28. There were 23 seconds left in the half. There was no reason to think Texas, with its backup quarterback, was going to score against Alabama with 23 seconds left. The Longhorns just wanted to run out the clock. Texas' Tre' Newton took a handoff and ran for nine yards -- enough to discourage Alabama from calling timeout. The clock ticked: 17, 16, 15 ... and then it stopped.

Texas had called timeout.

Texas ... had ... called ... timeout.

Inexplicable? No, that word doesn't quite cover it. Mack Brown called timeout. Why? Was he thinking his team could score against Alabama in the last 15 seconds of the half from his own 37? His quarterback was 1-for-9 with an interception for minus-four yards.

Well, anyway, who notices clock management at the end of halves? No, the timeout made no sense. But, hey, so what? Texas would undoubtedly pull out some safe play -- soon it would be halftime. There was no reason to get up in arms about it all.

Then, Gilbert dropped back and, as the rush came on, he indeed tried to throw the safest pass in the game -- the shovel pass. Some call it the shuttle pass. Others the shuffle pass. Whatever it's called, nothing bad can happen. It can't be intercepted. If the ball is dropped, it's counted as an incomplete pass. It's safe.

Only, Mack Brown is a football coach. And he knows -- knows with every fiber of his being -- that NO PLAY is safe. Are they going to onside kick to start the game? No play is safe, and Gilbert threw the pass and it was bobbled and then, suddenly, it was in the arms of Alabama's Marcell Dareus. No! The same Marcell Dareus who had hit Colt McCoy. No! The same Marcell Dareus who had become an Alabama sensation before he ever showed up on campus because fans had watched a video of him working out on YouTube. Alabama fans are passionate enough to get excited about a player based on a workout video on YouTube. The workouts showed that Dareus is a freakish athlete.

And then Dareus was running toward the end zone with the ball. Texas players lunged for him, but Dareus was spinning and ducking and pulling away. He looked like some kind of superhero. "I kind of blanked out," he would say. "I was doing moves I didn't think I could do."

When he was done, he was in the end zone, and it was a touchdown. He threw the ball in celebration. There were three seconds left on the clock.

And suddenly, it all became clear. That timeout that seemed like a bit of goofy but harmless clock mismanagement was, in fact, insanity. That shovel pass that seemed like a pointless but safe play actually was catastrophic. Suddenly, Mack Brown and his coaches had gone from bumbling to pulling off one of the most dramatic coaching blunders in big time bowl history. There were FIFTEEN SECONDS LEFT. They were NOT GOING TO SCORE. They were not really even TRYING TO SCORE. And they GAVE ALABAMA A TOUCHDOWN. What could have been going through their minds?

Mack Brown would later say he and his coaches were just hoping to pop a play. But what is much more likely true: They lost focus. They broke concentration. They got sloppy. And that sloppiness changed the whole rest of the game. Alabama tried to protect the big lead, and got sluggish. Texas, in desperation, asked Gilbert to grow up fast, and he did throw two touchdown passes and a two-point conversion to allow Texas to improbably pull within a field goal, 24-21.

Alabama then turned up the intensity again, forced a fumble and two interccptions in the final four minutes, and won going away.

What do we take away from the game? It's hard to say. Alabama does have a great defense and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram is a fabulous runner. The Crimson Tide are worthy national champs. Texas does have a great defense and you do sense that if McCoy had played, the game would have had a very different look. That's not to say Texas would have won ... but the game would have had a very different look. Alabama coach Nick Saban is obviously a great football coach -- and the SEC has now won four straight national titles.

And, finally, there were those last few seconds of the half. Coaches worry endlessly -- needlessly, it often seems -- about little breakdowns, small failures, fluke plays. Well, I guess that's why. Mack Brown is a terrific football coach, but in the big moment he forgot the cardinal rule of being a football coach: bad stuff happens if you aren't paying attention. You imagine he will remember it during the many sleepless nights to come.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/01/08/texas-brown/index.html?eref=sihp#ixzz0c1gjRyIY
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[Aries]

If the punter throws that ball about 3 yards further upfield, everyone is talking today about what a gutsy call it was, and how it caught Texas off-guard. The play was there, it was just under thrown.

All the same, I would not have made the call at that point.

[boomermagic]

If the punter throws that ball about 3 yards further upfield, everyone is talking today about what a gutsy call it was, and how it caught Texas off-guard. The play was there, it was just under thrown.

All the same, I would not have made the call at that point.

Actually, The same can be said for Mack's call of the shuffle/Shuttle/Utah pass.. If texas had broken that for a touchdown it would have been a GREAT CALL.. It is 6 one way and half dozen the other.. If the texas qb had just taken a knee everyone would have thought Mack was giving up.. I am very glad Bama won though..

[SoonerBorn68]

Poor Mack. Abused for taking a knee against OU and then skewered for not against 'Bama.

I like it.

:D

[SoonerAtKU]

My confusion is why people are saying Gideon did a good job intercepting that fake punt. If he just swats it down, Texas gets free yards and maybe scores a TD on that drive instead of having Colt injured. Then he blows coverage all night and can't tackle worth a crap. He's played badly in every big game they've been in. I know he's just a kid, but this guy is out of his depth big time.

[soonerspudman]

Macks idiotic move of not taking a knee with 12 seconds left at the 23 yd line right before half cost them the game most likely? That was the dumbest thing he could have possibly done and he did it...

My thoughts exactly at the time and now. With Alabama in a prevent the odds of scoring with that play are about 1 in 1,000. That play is really only designed to catch D-lineman abandoning their lanes during a pass rush and to gain 10 yards or so, it's not a game-breaker under any circumstance.

Not enough time on the clock, too far to go, fortunate to still be in the game. Take a knee and go re-group. If you absolutely have to take a shot, fling a hail mary way downfield.

[olevetonahill]

Poor Mack. Abused for taking a knee against OU and then skewered for not against 'Bama.

I like it.

:D

What Im thinkin bro :D

[SoonerBorn]

My confusion is why people are saying Gideon did a good job intercepting that fake punt. If he just swats it down, Texas gets free yards and maybe scores a TD on that drive instead of having Colt injured.

I wondered at the time why he didn't just swat it down. I guess if you aren't anticipating a fake, you're head just isn't thinking that way.

[Go Down, Moses]

Actually, The same can be said for Mack's call of the shuffle/Shuttle/Utah pass.. If texas had broken that for a touchdown it would have been a GREAT CALL.. It is 6 one way and half dozen the other.. If the texas qb had just taken a knee everyone would have thought Mack was giving up.. I am very glad Bama won though..



I agree. I'm glad Bama won but it's hilarious to see everybody on this BBS criticizing a playcall with the benefit of hindsight.

Well, heck yeah ... If Stoops/Wilson hadn't called the play that Bradford got injured on in that BYU game but had instead called a running play, Bradford wouldn't have been injured and we probably would have won 3-4 more games.

Ain't hindsight wonderful?

[goingoneight]

While I raff so harr about Tejas coughing up a pick-6 on a shovel screen... the call is considered "brilliant" if they get so much as a field goal considering the fact that they would later bring the game within 3 points.

Get a FG or at Tejas' best, a TD and 2-pointer, it's 17-14.

Bad as the young freshman started out, there was every oppurtunity to win that game if not for execution.

"When you throw the ball, one of three things happens... two of them are bad."
-The King

[goingoneight]

My confusion is why people are saying Gideon did a good job intercepting that fake punt. If he just swats it down, Texas gets free yards and maybe scores a TD on that drive instead of having Colt injured. Then he blows coverage all night and can't tackle worth a crap. He's played badly in every big game they've been in. I know he's just a kid, but this guy is out of his depth big time.

He was chasing down Julio Jones. Chances are if you're running with an All-American, you don't always think about swatting the ball down versus stealing it from him.

Same for Marcus Walker. He steps OOB, it's a FG for OU to win the Fiesta Bowl versus Tater Smurf State.

[cvsooner]

Are you kidding? Gideon, after the Tech game, probably has nightmares about NOT intercepting any pass that hits his hands.

[SoonerAtKU]

That's a really good point, cv. He's had sticky hands all year, something like 6 ints, so it's probably been a real focal point for him. Hard to overcome training like that when you've been the goat for a whole year due to dropping one.

[cjames317]

Well I've heard a lot of "I don't normally bitch about officiating, but ...."

[goingoneight]

They don't normally bitch about officiating because it always favors them.

I'm surprise Marcell didn't get ejected for tackling McCoy!

[UTgolfer]

Macks idiotic move of not taking a knee with 12 seconds left at the 23 yd line right before half cost them the game most likely? That was the dumbest thing he could have possibly done and he did it...

Couldn't agree more. Everyone in the stands was beyond upset for not taking a knee at that point.

[Collier11]

It just didnt make sense, who cares if a shovel pass is a safe play, you arent gonna take a shovel pass 80 yds and you are already down by 11

[UTgolfer]

Agreed....Mack/Greg Davis didn't make a good decision there

[PLaw]

That's what $5MM a year buys the horns, huh? Moronic coaching decisions.

Winnah!! He should repay the citizens of the state of texas every penny for that call.

[PLaw]

I agree. I'm glad Bama won but it's hilarious to see everybody on this BBS criticizing a playcall with the benefit of hindsight.

Well, heck yeah ... If Stoops/Wilson hadn't called the play that Bradford got injured on in that BYU game but had instead called a running play, Bradford wouldn't have been injured and we probably would have won 3-4 more games.

Ain't hindsight wonderful?

No that play call was right - OU was driving and in scoring position, but an AA LT got his a$$ beat and Sam's college career ended.

[stoopified]

I agree. I'm glad Bama won but it's hilarious to see everybody on this BBS criticizing a playcall with the benefit of hindsight.

Well, heck yeah ... If Stoops/Wilson hadn't called the play that Bradford got injured on in that BYU game but had instead called a running play, Bradford wouldn't have been injured and we probably would have won 3-4 more games.

Ain't hindsight wonderful?Get with the program,this is a bash Mack and the Orange Cows thread,its not meant to be thoughtful and rational.

[Collier11]

I agree. I'm glad Bama won but it's hilarious to see everybody on this BBS criticizing a playcall with the benefit of hindsight.

Well, heck yeah ... If Stoops/Wilson hadn't called the play that Bradford got injured on in that BYU game but had instead called a running play, Bradford wouldn't have been injured and we probably would have won 3-4 more games.

Ain't hindsight wonderful?

I wouldnt exactly call that hindsight, more like common sense. They had 12 seconds to go, were already down 11 and had the ball at the 20 yd line. What exactly did Mack plan on happening? While anything is possible, taking a shovel pass 30 or 40 yds to get in position for a Hail Mary, let alone 80 yds to score is not gonna happen. If you take a knee you are down 11 at ht and tex might win that game. Its not like they were on the 38yd line or the 45 yd line. It was idiotic

Hindsight bitching is more like the Sugar Bowl where we threw the ball 4 times after gashing their Dline with the run for an entire drive. If that last pass by JW to Kejuan is 6 inches shorter we go to OT, in hindsight we should have kept running the ball.

Or last yrs natl title game where we got stuffed on the goal line two different times running the ball when we probably should have been throwing to Gresham

[westcoast_sooner]

I said at the time "take a knee, go to the locker room and regroup." Just smart football IMO. Maybe it's conservative, but there are times to gamble and times not to. And THAT wasn't time to gamble.

Every coach makes decisions he shouldn't. In the end, this one play probably didn't determine the outcome of the game, but it sure would have been more interesting had Mack simply gone to the locker room - assuming that the rest of the game played out the way it did.

[oudavid1]

Stupid yes, moronic...I don't know. A shuttle pass is about as simple as you can get...the moron was the RB...what a dooshcanoe

Moronic was also that dumb *** fake punt attempt to start the game...3 and out and you are gonna try a fake punt? WTF???

Well the Fake Punt was a check off by the punter, not Saban, The whorns showed like they were bringing 10 guys so it would have worked but they were gonna try and set up the return, the dumb mistake was by blake gideon (who dropped the game winning pick against Texas Tech last year) who picked it off at the 37 yard line when they would have had it at the 20 yard line. what a dbag

[jkjsooner]

I used to complain about guys who intercept passes on 4th down but at some point I realized why coaches never do so. You want guys to be flying around trying to make plays. You need to play smart of course like not jumping offsides on 4th and 5 but when it comes to defending the pass you want guys concentrating on making a play not whether catching the ball is strictly the best thing to do. It's easy to question those things from the stands. It's a little harder when you're in the heat of the action covering an All American receiver.

Plus, a coach who jumps on a guy for getting an interception probably isn't going to be on good terms with his players for long.

[TahoeSOONER]

Ole' yeller teeth sucks, nothing new.

I'm more surprised that texas lost to a team that threw the ball 11 times and set the Heisman RB out the entire 3rd Qtr.

[SoonerDood]

I'm more surprised that texas lost to a team that threw the ball 11 times and set the Heisman RB out the entire 3rd Qtr.

most overlooked stat of the game.

[fireater]

A bone headed move (at the moment) by CNSaban created the situation for the steers to take a shot a scoring points.

On fourth and short, with over 30 seconds left in the half, Saban called a TO with plenty of time left on the playclock, then elected to go for the FG, giving ut plenty of time to try to steal a score before the half. And the stormtroopers were to get the ball back first to start the second half.

If you watch the play again, Darieus may have gotten his hand on the ball while it was being 'shuffled'.

Being skewered by his fans a few years ago against OU may have also influenced his thought process.

[Jacie]

My confusion is why people are saying Gideon did a good job intercepting that fake punt. If he just swats it down, Texas gets free yards and maybe scores a TD on that drive instead of having Colt injured. Then he blows coverage all night and can't tackle worth a crap. He's played badly in every big game they've been in. I know he's just a kid, but this guy is out of his depth big time.

Perhaps the greatest looking play in the history of Oklahoma Sooners football was caused by a sa*et defensive player catching a ball he should have let hit the ground. Said whorn now plays on Sundays. The result of catching a ball coming at you in football is the right thing to do most of the time. In that split second a player has to react to an airborn football, thinking of alternative consequences to catch-don't catch occurs as an afterthought.

[SoonerAtKU]

Yup. "Vasherized"

[Collier11]

Thats the great thing about sports, without Vasher we dont have Superman. Without Gideon making a "good" play, ut doesnt lose Colt. It is just so unpredictable

[SoonerAtKU]

I guess I just assumed there was sort of a checklist you ran through as a dback on any given play if you have a second. 4th down = knock down a pass, know where the down marker is, know your assignment, check off if there's an alternate call, etc.

I guess it's different everywhere and coaches have different expectations of their players/

[BoulderSooner79]

I've seen players knock down passes on 4th down, but it's pretty rare. Most are probably thinking run-back, but that clearly wasn't the case with Gideon as he was falling as he caught it. You would think the NFL players would be craftier, but I think their contracts get in the way. At least some DBs have bonuses based on number of INTs.

[TopDawg]

I guess I just assumed there was sort of a checklist you ran through as a dback on any given play if you have a second. 4th down = knock down a pass, know where the down marker is, know your assignment, check off if there's an alternate call, etc.

I guess it's different everywhere and coaches have different expectations of their players/

Exactly. Any good baseball coach will drill that into his players' heads. Before every pitch you should be thinking about where you'll throw the ball if it's hit to you.

"Know the situation."

Now, in his defense, it might be a bit of a stretch to ask someone to think about what will happen if the other team fake punts on their first possession of the game on 4th and 23 from deep in their own territory (or whatever the situation was). It's not like it was a HUGE field position change. In this particular instance, I don't really fault him.

By the way, Collier...the ball was at the 37 yard line on that Texas play. I still think it's a bad call, but not quite so bad from the 37 as from the 20. When I saw it on the night of the game, I thought it was the running back's fault. But after watching a replay of it, it appears as though the QB's hand was only about 1 yard from the RB's hands when he threw it and he put a little mustard on it. I can't really blame him...he's an inexperienced QB and the D-line was closing in fast...but I don't really blame the RB either. I blame Mack.

[OUmillenium]

I wondered at the time why he didn't just swat it down. I guess if you aren't anticipating a fake, you're head just isn't thinking that way.

Because after dropping the game-winning int v Taco Tech last year -> the *, he has been trained/training to never drop another gift int again. So his brain is turned off and his training takes over.

Kind of the opposite of Mark Bradley v SUC.

[picasso]

"Let me answer that for...(wipes spittle)...Mack err me..."