Aussie Football Instincts

Submitted by Lordfoul on

Watching the game with my Dad, he mentioned after the soul-wrenching final play that it appeared Blake O'Neill, in his panic, reverted to the instinct of an Aussie Rules Football player, in that he felt he needed to kick the ball or take a penalty.  I guess there is no "falling on the ball" in Aussie Football, so the act of simply covering up and holding onto the ball would not have occured to Blake in the heat of the moment.

Anyone on the board have a firm understanding of Aussie Football that could speak to the veracity of this idea? 

Edit:  It was just a question.  I love me some Blake O'Neill and agree that he is a great punter. I don't know much of anything about Aussie Football so I was hoping for someone who does to give an opinion.  Instead I get "Rabble, rabble, rabble... let it go."  Fair enough, the wound is still to fresh to talk about things rationally.

MGoBoard
Football
Blake O'Neill

ford_428cj

October 19th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^

He was set up to fail

There, I said it.  That play, even executed properly, was a set up to fail.  Sparty was bringing the house, everyone in the stadium and TV land knew it with perhaps the exception of Baxter and Harbaugh.  So what did Michigan do to counter the 11 man rush?  They kept three back to man the moving fence and they managed to block just two of the 11 Spartans.

That very high risk type of punt formation, one designed to maximize downfield coverage while risking the chance of a blocked punt, was completely at odds with the given situation.  Sparty had no intention of fielding that punt, so why was Michigan sending six to cover the punt?

 

Spot on for above. Part of the reason why Blake dropped it also. He knew we were setup wrong when he seen they were bringing the house & we didnt have enough blockers ...then he tried to rush it .

Joined: 10/28/2012

MGoPoints: 997

jblaze

October 19th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^

but if O'Neill caught the ball, I think he would have got off the kick. Maybe he was more nervous because of the M and MSU formations, but if he catches it, Game Over.

The coaching may have been bad (I have no idea), but he dropped the ball.

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 19389

ford_428cj

October 19th, 2015 at 12:31 PM ^

He takes some steps to right before kick. They were close earlier getting to him. Not sure if they would have got him or not - but would have been close. Traditional punter in that situation - would be better in hindsight IMO

Joined: 10/28/2012

MGoPoints: 997

Michology 101

October 19th, 2015 at 1:52 PM ^

I feel all Aussy style kickers should still be trained in traditional punting. I'm not saying that Blake isn't. Though in my opinion, it looks like he's shifting his legs to prepare himself to take some Aussy steps to his right and that made him lose a little focus on catching the low snap. This can be costly when a team is giving you an all out punt block rush. Him trying to see whether or not he had space to run to the right, played a part in the fumble. He should've been told to do a traditional punt in that situation. All we needed was a punt, no stylish Aussy punt for field position. A traditional punter wouldn't have been thinking about any running steps, just catching the ball and punting.

Joined: 06/02/2014

MGoPoints: 3798

FireJimDelaneyNow

October 19th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^

In Aussie Rules football, there is a a penalty for "Holding the Ball."  The other team gets the ball immediatelty and play continues.  They are taught never to hold the ball and either try to kick it or punch it to another player.  You are not allowed to hold the ball if you are being tackled.  So i think your instinct argument has substance.

Joined: 09/30/2014

MGoPoints: 348