Funny How a Game or Two Changes Perspective

[jkstock04]

Exactly. The first, second, and third down plays seemed to be running plays designed to set up a field goal. Try to win the game outright rather than set up a field goal.

I have watched the Hogs over the years and have trouble remembering a end of game field goal winning many games, but remember LOTS of mishaps on special teams. The one that comes to mind was the game at Starkville a few years back when Bobby Petrino went for a field goal as the game was ending ... and it missed .... The game went to overtime.

I have no problem with a NFL team with pros like Indianapolis setting up a game winning field goal -- the odds totally favor a pro kicker and pro line making the kick. With a college team, especially one that is not exactly proficient on special teams, I can't imagine why your strategy would be to play for the field goal. I have not seen data on it, but I would bet that the odds of failure are high enough that it is not worth being your main goal.

Some people shown this years statistics...that we had a 80-some percent chance of making that field goal.

I don't have a problem with kicking a field goal there..my issue is shutting down the offense and what has been working all game in order to kick a field goal. In my mind we still could've ran the normal offense and if we don't get the TD then kick the field goal.

In the Ole Miss game we won by being VERY aggressive and going for two points. According to these stat nerds we should've just kicked the extra point right? But no..we went for the win and didn't want to put the game back in our defenses hands.

[S.A.D.C]

I guess I trust BA more than you do. I'm quite sure that under those circumstances, if he didn't have a receiver wide open he would throw the ball away.

But more can go wrong there than just a pick...I trust BA as well and wouldn't have been worried about an INT.  But there are other negative plays throwing the ball opens you up to.  If you take a sack there then you are outside of the effective field goal range.  If you have an incomplete you stop the clock giving them more time and Time Outs against our sieve of a defense. 

I don't even agree with the decision...I actually would have rather seen them let BA have at least a shot at the endzone or first down.  But I can see why they made the choice that they did. 

[Fatty McGee]

I thought at the time...Bielema's auditioning for the NFL. He is doing the thing that an NFL coach would do, not doing what his team needs him to do. He is showing the NFL guys watching him that he knows what to call at the right time. This is the situation where an NFL team plays for the field goal. You keep pushing there, and say something goes wrong. The NFL guy says, "That was an unwise risk. Should have settled for the field goal."

Eh, even in the NFL advanced stats are starting to take hold.  He'll be behind the curve for an innovative owner.

[ArkansasI]

I thought at the time...Bielema's auditioning for the NFL. He is doing the thing that an NFL coach would do, not doing what his team needs him to do. He is showing the NFL guys watching him that he knows what to call at the right time. This is the situation where an NFL team plays for the field goal. You keep pushing there, and say something goes wrong. The NFL guy says, "That was an unwise risk. Should have settled for the field goal."

Weird... I thought the same thing.

In fact, without an inkling of personal knowledge (pure conjecture on my part), any disconnect I have felt between Bret and Arkansas is my belief that he may be angling for an NFL job.

[KillerK4]

Bielema had to take a chance on something. Trying to score a TD or playing for the field goal... He chose the field goal. Why? I have no clue. I, like many of you, disagreed completely with the decision. I would have preferred to win or lose on the arm of BA.. A field goal would have given us the lead by two, leaving plenty of time for MSU to get in position for their own game winning field goal... Score a TD there and you force them to score a TD to win it...

It's strange to me that he became so conservative at that point considering he went for the win at Ole Miss and his history of fake punts and such.

You could feel it in the stadium. Everybody seemed to know what was coming. It was a very uneasy feeling watching us run into the pile 3 times and the sense of impending doom approaching... It was enough to make a guy sick... I still have a nauseous feeling. I hope Bielema does too

[ricepig]

Bielema had to take a chance on something. Trying to score a TD or playing for the field goal... He chose the field goal. Why? I have no clue. I, like many of you, disagreed completely with the decision. I would have preferred to win or lose on the arm of BA.. A field goal would have given us the lead by two, leaving plenty of time for MSU to get in position for their own game winning field goal... Score a TD there and you force them to score a TD to win it...

It's strange to me that he became so conservative at that point considering he went for the win at Ole Miss and his history of fake punts and such.

You could feel it in the stadium. Everybody seemed to know what was coming. It was a very uneasy feeling watching us run into the pile 3 times and the sense of impending doom approaching... It was enough to make a guy sick... I still have a nauseous feeling. I hope Bielema does too

How much trouble were they having scoring TD's?? I guess it only works when it works, like most every decision.

[PossumFan]

Bielema had to take a chance on something. Trying to score a TD or playing for the field goal... He chose the field goal. Why? I have no clue. I, like many of you, disagreed completely with the decision. I would have preferred to win or lose on the arm of BA.. A field goal would have given us the lead by two, leaving plenty of time for MSU to get in position for their own game winning field goal... Score a TD there and you force them to score a TD to win it...

It's strange to me that he became so conservative at that point considering he went for the win at Ole Miss and his history of fake punts and such.

You could feel it in the stadium. Everybody seemed to know what was coming. It was a very uneasy feeling watching us run into the pile 3 times and the sense of impending doom approaching... It was enough to make a guy sick... I still have a nauseous feeling. I hope Bielema does too

I wasn't wanting him to take a shot at the end zone or anything, just try something that would improve the odds of picking up another first down. I would have been OK with taking the FG, just not with so much time left. Forty seconds usually isn't enough, especially with no timeouts, but it would have been enough for Dak against the Hogs' soft coverage.     

[hogsanity]

How much trouble were they having scoring TD's?? I guess it only works when it works, like most every decision.

IT was not so much they were having trouble scoring td's, but so much bad can happen trying to pass the ball. A tipped ball gets picked, a Dl gets beat and called for holding, a sack, and incomplete pass stops the clock. 3 of those things take you out of effective fg range, one takes any chance to win away, and even if you score a td, the defense had not stopped msu for the entire 4th q.

I do wish they had gone after 1 more 1st down, but there are no sure things. Yes, we assume they would have gotten another td, but there is no way to know that for sure. What I d know for sue is they put up 50 points AND LOST, and that is just bad.

[Biggus Piggus]

Weird... I thought the same thing.

In fact, without an inkling of personal knowledge (pure conjecture on my part), any disconnect I have felt between Bret and Arkansas is my belief that he may be angling for an NFL job.

I am not trying to claim Bielema's headed for the pros or anything like that. Just trying to explain the logic. Based on the personnel and the situation, it was illogical.

[S.A.D.C]

I am not trying to claim Bielema's headed for the pros or anything like that. Just trying to explain the logic. Based on the personnel and the situation, it was illogical.

Not the choice I would have made either. Thought they should have gone for the endzone/first down at least once.  But stop saying the strategy they took was illogical.  It wasn't.  It's only illogical if you believe that nothing "negative" would have happened if they tried something different.  If they  had taken a sack there making the FG not even an option or if they had scored with too much time left, or threw and incompletion and stopped the clock on their own and the defense would have gotten shredded again we would all be sitting here saying the "logical" thing to do would have been to run it and take as much time/force MSU to use their timeouts.

[elksnort]

I guess I am straddling the fence, but I can see merits to both sides (if there are just two sides). Settling for the fg seems like the normal thing to do, but when you think about it, we were in a shoot out. When you are in a shoot out, you got to keep shooting. Hey, we lost a game we could have won, but as some others are posting, there reverse is true also with Ole Miss and Auburn. So, we are 6-5 with a great chance to finish 7-5 and go to a bowl game. Frankly, I am happy with this. And I am particularly happy the Brandon Allen got over the hurdle and show what a damn good quarter back he can be and is.

[Biggus Piggus]

I have watched many pro coaches go so-called risk averse too, with prevent defense and playing for field goals with time left to do more. All those coaches are long gone, to be replaced by more who mostly do the same stupid darn.

[WilsonHog]

I guess I trust BA more than you do. I'm quite sure that under those circumstances, if he didn't have a receiver wide open he would throw the ball away.

I trust BA 1,000 times more than I trust the reaction of our fans if he had thrown it and it had been picked. I am sure that everyone would have been completely on board with not setting up for the field goal if an interception had happened, right?

Me? I would have taken one shot at the end zone, or even at another 1st down. If that pass wasn't completed, I would have used 2nd and 3rd to set up the field goal.

[LZH]

And this team needs a special team coach.  Not having one has been a glaring issue all year. 

We haven't had a quarterback coach, either, for three years. Brandon Allen seems like he has had to do a lot of improvement on his own. Not sure I understand your point....why would the special teams on BB's watch be any different?

[Pork Twain]

Tom,

One thing we have learned for sure in our time here is that, no matter what, short of a W, Hogville posters know better than the coaches and are better than the players.

[ArkansasI]

I am not trying to claim Bielema's headed for the pros or anything like that. Just trying to explain the logic. Based on the personnel and the situation, it was illogical.

I didn't mean to imply that you were...  My only point being, I've never been as concerned about Bret leaving for another college as I think he may be interested in an NFL job.  There was a time when I believed Bret was uncertain about his decision to come to Fayetteville - this was when we were regularly getting beat and Bret was making decisions to fake kicks like we were playing junior high football.  Those decisions screemed of a lack of confidence.

While I am as confounded as any about many of Bret's coaching decisions, I have managed to convince myself that he is a great coach for Arkansas.  Listening to his press conferences builds my confidence in him - I think he is truly a good guy, is passionate about his players and recruits players that are easy to root for. 

I don't want him to leave while this thing is getting assembled.  So, I don't like the idea of him interviewing for an NFL gig - even if it's just in my mind.  No doubt he should have played more aggressively to end the MSU game.  No doubt whatsoever.  Should have been trying to put 8 on the board.