Who made the fake punt call?
There was plenty of guessing by the announcers of whether it was RR or the punter or someone else who made that fake punt call. When it's 4th and inches and you have Minor RAGE standing on the sidelines, why not give it to him? I don't even mind the punt because you know Zoltan will most likely put it fairly deep down the field. Having a punter 12 yards behind the LOS try and pick up a few inches just seems like the last play you should try especially at like your own 18.
Thank God BG unloaded on Caper and we held them to a FG. Just goes to show how many times our defense has kept us in our games this year.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:01 PM ^
Rich said the Space Emperor did.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:02 PM ^
The fake was not called. Zoltan made a bad read.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^
In the post-game conference RRod said it was supposed to be a punt, but Zoltan made a read and decided to keep it. I guess you could say that RRod should have told him to kick it no matter what, but in that situation it seems pretty obvious that he should have kicked without hesitation.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^
But, they did call the rugby punt, no?
Why even call the rugby punt in that situation?
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 PM ^
That's a QB sneak every time, or you put. The sneak is almost 100% successful when you only need six inches. Sorry, that s/b PUNT!
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^
in the postgame presser RR said zoltan had the read. i don't know if that means he had the read on that play or has it on all plays. hard to know what to make of it. you want him to be able to take off it is an easy first but you have to be sure he knows that given that field position, it has to be a sure thing, not a "i think i can make it."
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 PM ^
he did a pretty good job of not completely throwing him under the bus...
"zoltan made the read, and he's usually pretty good at it"
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:09 PM ^
he also said that's not the reason we lost the game and moved on to the next question
handled it just fine, imo
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:07 PM ^
Ah well. Mesko the magnificent will return for another day. Too bad about that.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:10 PM ^
I was actually more upset with the play before that one. They had a Tate run, and he was stopped short of the first down marker by about 1 yard. Now this will sound like a reaction in hindsight, but right at that moment I thought they should have run it with Minor, because, more often than not, he can outmuscle defenders to gain one extra yard.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:45 PM ^
After brown makes 9 yards on first and second you run a sweep with Tate? I get the concept of the extra blocker if Tate takes it but I'd rather have a fresh Minor than a tired Tate on 3rd and 1. All of this compounded of course by the fake punt - even if this is completely Zoltan's call we used it to perfection twice last year and those videos don't simply disappear after the season ends - Dantonio had it completely sniffed out.
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 PM ^
I doubt Dantonio actually anticipated a fake there. It just happens that a punt rush (which they punt on) can work pretty well against that type of fake.
October 4th, 2009 at 8:06 AM ^
I agree with you. In that situation, line up in the "I" and give it to Minor on a dive. I said it right after the play before. "Just line up in the I, give it to Minor, and pick up the first down."
I give the "D" credit for holding them to 3 on the quick series after the fake punt (whether it was called or not), because that gave us a chance to get back in the game. Give up 7 there and that game was all over.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:13 PM ^
Still i think the coach called the read. Dont give the kid a chance to fuck up. Just call a straight punt. No rollout punt.
Sour grapes: but i think that Tate got the first on the 3rd down run right before the "punt"
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 PM ^
but nothing from the BTN clowns. Also, STATE was 1/2 yard short on the QB scramble just a bit before that, but no measurement or question about it. BTN SUX!!!!!!!
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:55 PM ^
To your last point: I think their (BTN) first down markers were not always super-accurate (when they were actually functioning). So Cousins may have actually gotten that one you mentioned, but it just didn't look like it due to the imperfect production quality.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:28 PM ^
I know there's a reason I'm not a coach, but I would have liked to see them go for it on 4th and inches. At that point we were already losing and it could have really been a confidence booster to pick up the first down.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 PM ^
We were at our own 17. If you go for it and get it, OK, you keep the ball, but you've still got a long, long way to go. If you fail, it's a turnover in your own redzone. Unless it's the very end of the game and a first down is critical to the outcome, the risk outweighs the reward.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:58 PM ^
Would go for it in that situation...and you know how that turned out.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:05 PM ^
play of all time....