A couple of thoughts about the fake field goal TD...

[AZOrange]

That was arguably the worst call I have ever seen. Everything about it was awful.

That said, it worked and sometimes it is better to be lucky than good and this team is still in position to achieve all of its goals, so whatever.

Agreed. It was something you do first quarter of a video game.

 

[rrlbees]

It wasn't "luck". Luck was the Nova kicker missing that chippie FG. We executed a play in the play book to perfection. Sometimes you create your own luck.

 

[TheCusian]

It wasn't "luck". Luck was the Nova kicker missing that chippie FG. We executed a play in the play book to perfection. Sometimes you create your own luck.

Seriously. On a night when execution was poor, we won the game on a nicely designed fake and people are dogging it.

 

[anomander]

I don't get how you can hate on any game winning TD.

I don't know man it scares me to death that is the decision our head coach actually came up with. Totally bizarre.

 

[TheCusian]

I don't know man it scares me to death that is the decision our head coach actually came up with. Totally bizarre.

I can see that. But maybe they saw something on tape or from an earlier try and thought the % was higher? Especially with your backup in and reeling for much of the 4th quarter...

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Agreed. It was something you do first quarter of a video game.

On second down.

 

[OrangeMojo]

So, keep in mind that I try to be really consistent in saying that the outcome of the call doesn't determine if it's good or not, since sometimes you can make the right call and it won't work out and other times you make the wrong call (like this fake FG) and it does, so you want to evaluate the likelihood of success before the event occurs to say if it was a good or bad call, and then weigh that against your other choices.

That said, fake kicks are almost never a high percentage play, so in a lot of cases the alternatives need to be really bad in order for them to be the "right" call by the percentages. I would say that the likelihood of being able to punch the ball in from six inches out is pretty high - I'm not really concerned that it had been so challenging up to that point. I think by the percentages it still likely you can get that push, and more likely that Wilson can sneak it in as opposed to Riley completing that pass.

But that said, the game isn't about percentages, it's about what actually happens, and crazy things can happen, and sometimes you just have to take a shot to try and win. Otherwise, we'd be just as content playing stratomatic baseball or whatever. I love going for it on 4th down for example because I think more often than not the gain is bigger than the loss, I'm just not a fan of fake kicks because I think those are less likely to work than lining up in an offensive set and running a play. Fake kicks can work though even if it is against the odds, and as much as I think the call sucks and was terrible and success was really unlikely, we saw a cool thing Friday night, and it worked out and was successful and that's the best you can ever hope for.

you must've been a big fan of the SU goal line play calling against Iowa a few years ago then

well one of these times this play has to get us into the endzone dammit!

 

[Finwad32]

I played in a tournament Sunday with Riley's father... They're so excited for what happened. Everybody there was so congratulatory, and he was so proud... Whether you're happy with the game or not didn't matter, they were psyched.

Yes, a ton of the fan base is disappointed that we had to utilize the fake FG to win the game, and, rightly so to an extent. At the end of the day, whatever, we're 1-0, no matter how it looked/looks... In two years the only thing that will be looked at is our record for 2014, well, we're off to the right start.

 

[OttoForLife]

You have to factor in the element of surprise

Welp I guess the new element of surprise will be an SU QB throwing a well-executed three yard slant. Personally, I'm on the edge of my seat.

 

[Chip]

It wasn't "luck". Luck was the Nova kicker missing that chippie FG. We executed a play in the play book to perfection. Sometimes you create your own luck.

Agree with this. I still think it's higher risk, but not luck.

That end of regulation FG going right, yeah, at least one person on this board is religious enough to make a difference, and for that I thank you.

 

[PhatOrange]

I really dont get the dogging of the fake field goal. We couldn’t run an inch because our OLine sucked and play calling sucked. I’ll take 7 any way I can get it. The only thing that bothered me was if it failed we likely lose the game, so I probably would’ve kicked the 3. But the stuff about wasting it so we could break it out later in the season is non-sense. You need to win the game at hand. Can’t worry about ‘later.’

 

[Chip]

you must've been a big fan of the SU goal line play calling against Iowa a few years ago then

well one of these times this play has to get us into the endzone dammit!

Yeah, but they're the Big 10's Iowa Hawkeyes. Not the CAA's Villanova Wildcats. And at least against Iowa, we did throw it once, right into Tim Lane's wide open hands, only to see it drop between Tim Lane's wide open feet.

I guess, given the situations of Wilson thrown in at QB, and Lasker thrown in at Guard, I can see why we did it. But man, in a game like that, you want to challenge your OL one last time, and have them crush it.

 

[Millhouse]

2) there is also no doubt in my mind the coaches must be disappointed they had to break it out against Villanova.

i'm glad they used it up against villanova. going forward, if they need two yards, they should do it with their regular offense. there's nothing magical about 4th down. they need to just start treating it like regular football

 

[OttoinGrotto]

you must've been a big fan of the SU goal line play calling against Iowa a few years ago then

well one of these times this play has to get us into the endzone dammit!

Play calling, yes. Result... um, not as much.

 

[upperdeck]

Nothing shows how far SU still has to go in that for 10 years we still have to scheme to get in the endzone from the 1 yard line. even with NFL Tackles we struggle to find a way to score.

 

[MikeSU02]

Agree with this. I still think it's higher risk, but not luck.

That end of regulation FG going right, yeah, at least one person on this board is religious enough to make a difference, and for that I thank you.

Our punter had to pump, then do a jump throw, leaning back, with his legs kicking out, almost had the ball deflected and threw to a WR that became open once the defender made a 50/50 guess to change to the deep drag route, to whom Dixon could not have reached, so the short drag became open.

This was absolutely lucky.

Again, I'm chalking it up to good karma. But a lot of things had to break right for us in succession to make that play work.

I don't really care. A win is a win. You grow as a team, we get better, blah blah blah. But please don't attribute that play to perfect execution.

 

[TBCuse11]

That was arguably the worst call I have ever seen. Everything about it was awful.

That said, it worked and sometimes it is better to be lucky than good and this team is still in position to achieve all of its goals, so whatever.

The play happened right in front of me and all i could think as the play developed was that there was no one open. still cant believe it was completed. pretty sad that we couldnt gain 1 yd in three plays before that. running game? D-

 

[SU2NASA]

I agree with everything you said here. It KILLS me that Cuse had to call a fake FG rather than line up and get a yard against a FCS school. It kills me that the coaches believed that this had to be done to beat Nova. I know that they proved over and over that they couldn't get that yard. It is just so disheartening. I am always a glass completely full with Orange Soda guy, but I cant get that fact out of my head.

What the f*** is soda?