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Saban really screwed up.

liveanddiedeac

liveanddiedeac

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They keep showing the last play of the Iron Bowl and the more I see it the more I think it was an incredibly stupid decision to try to kick the field goal by a great coach. If you look at the odds of making that 57 yarder with a back up kicker and compare it to the odds that it could get blocked and returned for a TD and then add the odds that it could be returned for a TD, I just don't think it made any sense at all. It really makes me question whether they were even aware of the possibility that Auburn could return the thing, because as has been talked about, the personnel you put on the field for a FG team is ill-suited to cover a kick return. I guess at least we can say that for one second of game time, Alabama wishes they'd had our coach instead of theirs, because we all know Grobie would've took a knee and gone to OT without even trying to get in FG range...:thumbsup:
 
siff said:
Yes. He screwed up at least one more time. Bad day for Nick.
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Yep. Not letting his senior kicker attempt a 30-yard FG when he was up 7 with 6 mins to go was another horrible decision. Yes the kid had missed two earlier but something tells me he would of buried that one, and gotten his confidence back. No doubt Saban opting to go for it led to Cade missing the 45 yarder on the next possession.
 
BillBrasky said:
Yep. Not letting his senior kicker attempt a 30-yard FG when he was up 7 with 6 mins to go was another horrible decision. Yes the kid had missed two earlier but something tells me he would of buried that one, and gotten his confidence back. No doubt Saban opting to go for it led to Cade missing the 45 yarder on the next possession.
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Exactly
 
BillBrasky said:
Yep. Not letting his senior kicker attempt a 30-yard FG when he was up 7 with 6 mins to go was another horrible decision. Yes the kid had missed two earlier but something tells me he would of buried that one, and gotten his confidence back. No doubt Saban opting to go for it led to Cade missing the 45 yarder on the next possession.
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Yeah and it makes it even more confounding why he'd try a 57 yarder with a backup who's just watched the starter miss 4 FG's.
 
Jimbo Fisher doesn't think that Saban screwed up:


“I would kick it,” Fisher said. “I mean, Nick knows his players better than anybody. We can all doubt, but you don't know what that guys is capable of. He watches him every day, and he's been hitting 60‑yarders and he had the wind at his back, why not try and win that game on the road and have a kick, and the odds of that happening. Now, you've got to go over and cover him. I'll guarantee Nick has coached that up, I promise you that. We do it here, and that's the way we handle that. There's chances in everything you do. If he makes it, he's a hero. You play to win the game, you don't play not to lose the game.”
 
CHillDeac said:
Jimbo Fisher doesn't think that Saban screwed up:


“I would kick it,” Fisher said. “I mean, Nick knows his players better than anybody. We can all doubt, but you don't know what that guys is capable of. He watches him every day, and he's been hitting 60‑yarders and he had the wind at his back, why not try and win that game on the road and have a kick, and the odds of that happening. Now, you've got to go over and cover him. I'll guarantee Nick has coached that up, I promise you that. We do it here, and that's the way we handle that. There's chances in everything you do. If he makes it, he's a hero. You play to win the game, you don't play not to lose the game.”
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How many coaches he you ever heard say about another coach, "yeah he really screwed up with that decision, what was he thinking????" Depending on a backup kicker to make a 57 yarder where the odds of him making it were probably about the same as Auburn blocking or returning it for a TD, is not really playing to win the game in my opinion. Not in the overtime era anyway.
 
Was that call any worse than punting on the other teams 38?
Atleast saban played to win, Grobe plays to not lose.
 
I agree, the worst decision was not kicking the chip shot 30 harder with 6 minutes to go. Two scores is tough to make up at that point. I was convinced that Auburn going just prior to that was a bad decision. I thought at that point it was just about over. Glad I was wrong.
 
DeaconBrews said:
fify
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Dr-zoidbergs-butthurt-cream-300x225.jpg


Just put a little on a couple times a day.
 
Kicking teams, as has been stated as nauseum, are constructed to block and only block. Punt teams are built to get downfield fast and tackle. Can't change that much because a long kick has lower trajectory, and you can't risk a block. Tough situation, but if the backup were capable of making long FGs with regularity, he'd have been on the field for the earlier misses.
 
Really easy to second guess in hindsight. Would anyone be thinking Saban screwed up that decision if the kicker nailed the FG?
 
Pilchard said:
Really easy to second guess in hindsight. Would anyone be thinking Saban screwed up that decision if the kicker nailed the FG?
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No, of course not, but I think if you really at the odds of the kid making the kick vs. the odds that Auburn could score off a block or return, it just wasn't near being worth the risk. Of course, it's also easy to judge the decision when being able to think about it for 2 days, instead of having to make the decision in a matter of minutes or seconds. Still, in my opinion it was a pretty bad decision, by a great football coach.
 
siff said:
Kicking teams, as has been stated as nauseum, are constructed to block and only block. Punt teams are built to get downfield fast and tackle. Can't change that much because a long kick has lower trajectory, and you can't risk a block. Tough situation, but if the backup were capable of making long FGs with regularity, he'd have been on the field for the earlier misses.
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I think that is an excellent point as well. Another point is the starting kicker had missed one FG all year to that point, the fact that he missed 3 in that one game would make one think maybe the conditions that day weren't good or something, making it even less likely the backup is going to nail a 57 yarder.
 
Saban was on the road and thought he had a starting FG kicker incapable on making a kick. The crowd was extremely fired up and Auburn had all the momentum at the time. That is not a good combination for him to try and win a game in OT.

He had to have known his players and knew the kid had a leg capable of making a 57 yarder.

His mistake was not addressing to his kick team what to do if he didn't make it. It was evident the Alabama players were not prepared for Chris Davis to return it and it caught them by surprise. They were late moving down field and to their right to cover the return. On the other hand Malzahn had addressed the return with his team. After the timeout Auburn took to ice the kicker, Davis (Auburn's normal punt returner) replaced #24 in the back on the endzone who was originally back there on the FG team. Many Auburn players set up a wall of blocks for a left return which they were prepared to do. Gus was a step ahead of Saban and it cost Alabama a chance in OT.
 
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