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

[Jake]

1) there is no doubt in my mind the coaching staff purposely showed off the fake FG in camp and made a big deal about Darius Kelly being the holder and how he can make things happen when he's holding...in an effort to throw a false tell out there for opponents. The media only had 25 minutes to watch practice each day and they saw the fake FG twice? That's not a coincidence.

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

3) nice job by Dixon being patient and avoiding that one defender by jump passing the ball and a good decision to throw the short pass to Moore and not the longer one to Rhompson. Though he looked at the sideline about 3-4 times which nearly tipped the play. I'm sure there was some last seconds decision to perhaps call it off if the staff felt the play was covered.

 

[Chris02M]

1) there is no doubt in my mind the coaching staff purposely showed off the fake FG in camp and made a big deal about Darius Kelly being the holder and how he can make things happen when he's holding...in an effort to throw a false tell out there for opponents. The media only had 25 minutes to watch practice each day and they saw the fake FG twice? That's not a coincidence.

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

3) nice job by Dixon being patient and avoiding that one defender by jump passing the ball and a good decision to throw the short pass to Moore and not the longer one to Rhompson. Though he looked at the sideline about 3-4 times which nearly tipped the play. I'm sure there was some last seconds decision to perhaps call it off if the staff felt the play was covered.

also big improvement over the try last year where the holder caught the ball with his knee down

 

[Marsh01]

1) there is no doubt in my mind the coaching staff purposely showed off the fake FG in camp and made a big deal about Darius Kelly being the holder and how he can make things happen when he's holding...in an effort to throw a false tell out there for opponents. The media only had 25 minutes to watch practice each day and they saw the fake FG twice? That's not a coincidence. 2) there is also no doubt in my mind the coaches must be disappointed they had to break it out against Villanova. 3) nice job by Dixon being patient and avoiding that one defender by jump passing the ball and a good decision to throw the short pass to Moore and not the longer one to Rhompson. Though he looked at the sideline about 3-4 times which nearly tipped the play. I'm sure there was some last seconds decision to perhaps call it off if the staff felt the play was covered.

We were extremely fortunate that play worked. It was like making a 20 footer for par.

 

[rrlbees]

Purple

 

[Chris02M]

We were extremely fortunate that play worked. It was like making a 20 footer for par.

just as fortunate that the villanova kicker was turrible

 

[CuseGrad94]

1) there is no doubt in my mind the coaching staff purposely showed off the fake FG in camp and made a big deal about Darius Kelly being the holder and how he can make things happen when he's holding...in an effort to throw a false tell out there for opponents. The media only had 25 minutes to watch practice each day and they saw the fake FG twice? That's not a coincidence.

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

3) nice job by Dixon being patient and avoiding that one defender by jump passing the ball and a good decision to throw the short pass to Moore and not the longer one to Rhompson. Though he looked at the sideline about 3-4 times which nearly tipped the play. I'm sure there was some last seconds decision to perhaps call it off if the staff felt the play was covered.

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.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

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.

 

[CanadianSU]

Good practice for FSU and Clemson games, going need a ton of fakes etc

 

[JoeSU]

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.

I'm curious why you thought it was a bad call? It looked to me that we had not 1, but 2 open WRs (not wide open/uncovered, but a couple of yards of separation).
However, like others posted, it's a disgrace we couldn't score when we had it 1st and goal with the game on the line.

 

[elkeed]

It was only a few years ago we would have got beaten by 2 td's by these guys. As Bud would point out, Shaf has won 9 of 14 and is batting a blistering .643!!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I'm curious why you thought it was a bad call? It looked to me that we had not 1, but 2 open WRs (not wide open/uncovered, but a couple of yards of separation).
However, like others posted, it's a disgrace we couldn't score when we had it 1st and goal with the game on the line.

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.

 

[Crusty]

I'm curious why you thought it was a bad call? It looked to me that we had not 1, but 2 open WRs (not wide open/uncovered, but a couple of yards of separation).
However, like others posted, it's a disgrace we couldn't score when we had it 1st and goal with the game on the line.

1. Wasted on Nova
2. No faith in the D
3. No confidence we could make a yard - again.

Myself, I have more of a problem with the previous calls.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I hope people realize just how close that pass was to being a complete failure. It was anything but a sure thing. Dixon literally jumped in the air and likely changed his intended target mid-flight once the Nova defender hesitated towards the back of the end zone where we had a guy streaking.

Solid execution by him, but jesus.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I hope people realize just how close that pass was to being a complete failure. It was anything but a sure thing. Dixon literally jumped in the air and likely changed his intended target mid-flight once the Nova defender hesitated towards the back of the end zone where we had a guy streaking.

Solid execution by him, but jesus.

He made a more baller play than you could ever hope to get from your punter.

 

[OttoForLife]

Here's how I saw it: the staff decided to have the holder throw the ball with the game on the line vs. giving Wilson a shot near the goal line.

Right or wrong, I didn't like the call.

 

[TheCusian]

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

 

[MikeSU02]

I think we got lucky. That's it.

I'm happy it worked. There were extenuating circumstances. It's great to be 1-0.

But let's just lock up that play with the memory of the game and move forward.

Until the coaching staff shows me more, I'm counting that as good karma. Which is fine by me. I'll take it.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

It was only a few years ago we would have got beaten by 2 td's by these guys. As Bud would point out, Shaf has won 9 of 14 and is batting a blistering .643!!

That's almost whizbang status.

 

[orangepassion]

Here's how I saw it: the staff decided to have the holder throw the ball with the game on the line vs. giving Wilson a shot near the goal line.

Right or wrong, I didn't like the call.

You have to factor in the element of surprise

 

[Crusty]

You have to factor in the element of surprise

We could have accomplished that with a multitude of other plays.

 

[Chip]

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.

Yeah, I'm thrilled it worked, but I couldn't believe they were doing it. If that slap in the face doesn't get the OL going, nothing will.

If it didn't work, and we eventually lost on a FG the other way, it would take a win over ND for Shafer's name to be popular again.

 

[netman99]

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.

Crazy call... They were inches from the goal line and opted for a fake goal... Lucky was the theme of that win!!!

 

[upperdeck]

two schools of thought. but if you dont think we are going to stop the other team and you dont trust your offense, why not take the shot against the ST Defense? I dont think i would have done it, but i also think we had a better chance of making the fake than running it in.

 

[Moontan]

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.

The fact that "it had been so challenging" is exactly the reason to try something else. They repeatedly proved that they couldn't convert that play. They should've tried "something else" several times previously. This was a bit of a "Hail Mary" play.

 

[rocklloyd]

It was only a few years ago we would have got beaten by 2 td's by these guys. As Bud would point out, Shaf has won 9 of 14 and is batting a blistering .643!!

Sis-boom-bah