We all just witnessed (I hope you were watching) a classic football game. No, I'm not talking about the track meet in the Colleseum where the game was 3/4 finished before it saw it first punt. I am talking about the 4 yards and a cloud of dust battle in the bayou. Epic plays, great defense, a wild atmosphere...and the worst coached football game I have ever seen.
I was just told by Kirk Herbstreet on SportsCenter not to criticize Les Miles for the decisions he made in this game. On behalf of Kansas St., Notre Dame, and Oregon fans everywhere I am going to criticize Les Miles. I know this might sound hypocritcal of me criticizing Les for taking risks since when I coach football I make those same risky decisions and often get burned also - EXCEPT THAT I ONLY COACH FOOTBALL IN VIDEO GAMES! You are probably saying something about hindsight being 20/20, but my foresight was also 20/20. On 4th and 12 when I saw the holder pitch it to the kicker only for him to slaughtered by the 'Bama defense, I was wondering about Miles' sanity and the kicker's ability to survive that dog pile. The onside kickoff in the 2nd half was actually taken straight out of my Madden playbook. Fourth down and a long 1 in the 4th quarter when they brought in the "wildcat" package I almost woke up my wife with shouts of "No, no, no" (my wife was also almost awoken by these same shouts we heard all the way from Manhattan, South Bend, and Eugene). You don't get that fourth down with that package against that defense. Of course they went nowhere.
It was the last 3 minutes where it really broke down for Les Miles. It was 3rd down and fairly long with just over 2 minutes on the clock. If they go nowhere on 3rd down they are looking at a 49 yard field goal (not happening). If they run it and gain a few yards then they are still looking at a 45 yard attempt. At that point LSU was up by 3. At that moment in the game LSU's QB was on fire. To run the ball burns 40 seconds and gives you almost no chance of getting a first down and a slim chance of making the field goal. THROW THE FOOTBALL, LES! GIVE THE BOYS A CHANCE TO WIN! They ran it for about 4 yards. No one was surprised they didn't run it for a first down (which would have essentially ended the ball game since Saban had burned all his timeouts already). No one was surprised they went for the field goal. I was a bit surprised LSU didn't fake the field goal since no one was surprised when he missed the field goal anyway (and by the way, jumping ahead, they would have lost even if he had made the field goal since 'Bama marched down and scored a TD instead of a FG - more on that later). But here was the strange part about this decision - Les Miles was in the middle of coaching the most aggressive (albeit reckless) game I have ever seen...and then he wussed out. He fakes a field goal of 4th and 12, he calls an onside kick in the 3rd quarter, yet he can't pass the ball on 3rd down with under 3 minutes to ice the game, beat his rival, and possibly earn a spot in the BCS championship game?
So Alabama gets the ball back, down by 3, no timeouts, and under 2 minutes on the clock. They start on about their 30 yard line, need to get to the other 30 or so for a chance at a tie. At this point I am still feeling real good if I am LSU. Gary Danielson reminds us that McCarron is 1 for 9 in the 2nd half with 0 yards. The Alabama offense had gone nowhere the entire 2nd half. So what does Les Miles do? HE BACKS THE HECK UP AND GIVES THEM ALL THE SPACE IN THE WORLD!? Instead of continuing his aggression and shoving it right down their throats, he goes prevent. Pass complete, pass complete, pass complete, 'Bama in field goal range. What happens next is the irony to cap off an incredibly ironic game - LSU blitzes (finally) and Saban had called a screen. TJ Yeldon takes it 28 yards for an historic Crimson Tide TD.
WOW!
LSU gets the ball back with under a minute and they are so deflated that they can't even think straight, and they quickly made a mess of the final ticks and the Tiger faithful in Death Valley looked like someone had just pulled a cruel joke on them. The tragedy of the game, and Nick Saban admitted it after the game, was that LSU dominated the game. The boys on the field in purple and gold did almost everything right. Even with all of the bad decisions, with 2 minutes left they looked like they were going to win this game - but their coach didn't give the boys a chance to win.
Having said all that, unless they get jobbed by the BCS, Oregon will win the National Championship.
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