Ad Disclosure
The best and worst coaching decisions from Championship Saturday
By Randy Capps
Published:
Aside from the always fun Army-Navy game this weekend, the 2015 college football regular season is over.
It really has flown by.
Championship Saturday was highly entertaining, with Alabama’s 29-15 win over Florida in the SEC Championship Game serving as the appetizer for a playoff-shaping night of football.
As always, coaches made key decisions that impacted the outcome of games. Here’s a look at the good, and the not-so-good, moves from the weekend that was:
GOOD MOVE
There are a multitude of reasons that the Crimson Tide outclassed the Gators in the SEC title game. Derrick Henry was great, the Alabama receivers made some outstanding grabs on 50-50 balls and the special teams units blocked a punt and a field goal.
But Kirby Smart’s defense dominated this contest.
Florida managed seven first downs and 180 yards of total offense. One of its touchdowns came on a punt return, and the other was on a long pass with the game long decided. The Gators failed on every one of their 11 third-down conversion efforts, and their lone fourth-down try, too.
Florida quarterback Treon Harris has been struggling the last month or so, and the Crimson Tide snuffed out the running game (15 yards on 21 carries) and put the game in his hands.
He couldn’t handle it, and Smart has another feather in his cap to share with would-be Georgia players on the recruiting trail this month.
BAD MOVE
On the flip side of that coin, Florida’s late-season offensive struggles have been well documented. And those problems pale in comparison to those plaguing the Gators’ place kicking efforts this fall.
Why offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier didn’t dial up something new (or at least new looking) for this game on offense? It was always going to be tough to move the football against the Tide, but Florida did nothing on offense that surprised anyone.
It’s also fair to ask why Florida lined up for a 40-yard field-goal try when faced with a fourth-and-6 from the Alabama 23-yard line trailing 2-0 in the second quarter.
At that point, Gator kickers had missed four straight field-goal attempts and were just 6 of 16 on the season. Alabama’s D.J. Pettway blocked the kick, ending the Gators’ scoring hopes on the drive.
It wasn’t a particularly surprising result.
GOOD MOVE
Even if his most of his games happen while East Coast fans are sleeping, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey is one of college football’s best players.
On Saturday night in the Cardinal’s win over USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game, he got a little help from a creative play call from his coordinator Mike Bloomgren.
After 10 straight runs placed Stanford on the Trojans’ 11-yard line, Bloomgren called this play:
Christian McCaffrey has 2 career completions, both for TD. This one to Kevin Hogan gave Stanford 10-0 lead on ESPN: https://t.co/CaM0U2nj7D
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 6, 2015
A nice change-up, and well executed, too.
BAD MOVE
Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker is a Michigan State graduate, so he probably has some mixed emotions on the Spartans edging his Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game.
The “what,” hurts quite a bit. The “how” stings even more.
Iowa was 9:13 away from a perfect regular season, a Big Ten title and a date in the College Football Playoff. The Spartans had the football on their own 18-yard line, trailing 13-9, in what had been a slugfest.
Michigan State then embarked on a 22-play, 82-yard drive that bled more than nine minutes off the clock and resulted in the game-winning score.
Iowa allowed five third-down and one fourth-down conversion on the march that finally ended with this L.J. Scott touchdown:
Will Parker ever watch the tape from that drive, knowing that his defense had 22 chances to keep the Spartans out of the end zone?
It’s a cruel way for a team’s — and a coach’s — national championship dreams to end.
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
