What do you think the Mississippi State coaches hoped we'd do at theend of game?

[cypert2]

Lots of people on here are blaming BB for the FG attempt to end the game. Others are saying he did "exactly what every other coach in America would of done." What do you think the Mississippi State coaches were hoping we'd do.
A. Let BA and the offense keep operating like they had the whole game and go for another first down or a touchdown, and if not successful then go for a field goal on fourth down, or
B. Play it out like BB did and make no attempt at another first down or touchdown, and just try to run a little clock and get the ball between the hash marks for a field goal attempt.
I guarantee you the Mississippi State coaches would choose option B. So, if you do exactly what the opposing coaches hope you do, is that good coaching? It's actually a shame we weren't four points behind. If we would of been we'd have won the game.

[Hogopolis]

I had the same thought.  If Arkansas misses their pt try and state didn't miss their extra point Arkansas would have a needed a TD and the way BA was playing they would have got it. 

[rzrbackrob]

Once the ball gets inside the 20, most teams would run the ball up middle to run time off, make other team use their remaining time outs, kick a chip shot field goal, and expect the D could hold for the win.

But as we have seen, the Hogs this year are not most teams.
Once the Hogs got a first down inside the 20, two things have to be considered.

1. Can your Defense hold Dak to less than 50 yards in 40 seconds?
If the answer is no, then proceed to option # 2.

2. Can your senior QB keep the ball safe and have a reasonable shot to make another first down or even score a touchdown?
If yes, then put it in Senior QB hands with perfect situation to run play action. Might even run one up middle to keep the defense honest. If BA does not convert, then kick a FG on 4th down and hope for a miracle from your Defense.

[Hoggish1]

Lots of people on here are blaming BB for the FG attempt to end the game. Others are saying he did "exactly what every other coach in America would of done." What do you think the Mississippi State coaches were hoping we'd do.
A. Let BA and the offense keep operating like they had the whole game and go for another first down or a touchdown, and if not successful then go for a field goal on fourth down, or
B. Play it out like BB did and make no attempt at another first down or touchdown, and just try to run a little clock and get the ball between the hash marks for a field goal attempt.
I guarantee you the Mississippi State coaches would choose option B. So, if you do exactly what the opposing coaches hope you do, is that good coaching? It's actually a shame we weren't four points behind. If we would of been we'd have won the game.

Sadly, this is correct.  But only because the FG failed.

[woodrow hog call]

Two things they wanted (Miss St coaches)
1. Time on the clock for Dak to use
2. Some or all of their time outs.

CBB was not going to give them both and in fact had made a good coaching
Decision to eliminate all of their time outs, and as much time as he could.
If we execute one more football play we most likely win, CBB looks smart for
The way he used the clock, and everybody is happy.

One play.

[gchamblee]

handing the ball to alex collins is not surrendering. he is a darned good back who is capable of getting us the first down when given 3 shots most of the time.

[HogimusMaximus]

Take a knee.

[hawg IQ]

handing the ball to alex collins is not surrendering. he is a darned good back who is capable of getting us the first down when given 3 shots most of the time.

I think we are all sick. We need to give Miss State credit, but our defense is deplorable and I don't know why really? I wanted to throw on those two downs. I don't have no faith in Field goals, too many things can go wrong. I felt like B Allen could make a pass there to win. I hear myself saying that after cussing the guy for most of the season.

  I guess some weak bowl is better than none !!

[wupigsuey]

I bet they either didn't want us to score at all or wanted us to score as quickly as possible so they had plenty of time to get back down the field. Once scoring looked inevitable, I bet they wanted us to throw it to the end zone. Either they get a pick or we score leaving them plenty of time. Everyone knew our defense couldn't hold them.

[jkstock04]

If I were a miss state fan we ran it just like I would've hoped...because by shutting the offense down and kicking a field goal with 46 seconds left it still would've gave us (state) a chance to go down the field and kick a game winning field goal.

With the way our (state) offense was clicking I would've liked those chances vs the Hogs staying aggressive and going for the TD. Because a TD there puts the game 100% out of reach.

Brandon Allen was lighting them up like a freakin xmas tree. It really sucks that they took the ball out of his hands. He's gotta be super frustrated about that this morning...no doubt he thinks/knows he could've won that game for us.

[HoopS]

We played right into their hands.

They used their TO's to save clock
We took our foot off the gas to force them to
But had we just made one more first down, via giving BA a chance to continue torching their D, they'd have been out of timeouts, and we would have been even closer and would have had the option to either play for a TD or kick an even shorter FG. Either way, there would have been no time remaining.
Even if we make the FG, there was enough time left with their QB equally hot and our secondary struggling for them to quickly connect on a couple plays and take it away at the end anyhow.

This is not hindsight on my part.

I was begging us to leave it in Allen's hands rather than put it on Hedlunds foot and then require our D to keep them out of FG range. We choose to milk their TO's and put our struggling kicker in the most pressure packed situation he'd been in since the last time he was kicking late in a game with it on the line at OM, which he also got blocked.

MSU was quoted today in the paper as knowing we kicked it low. They had a plan to attack it if we gave them the chance and we did.

Meanwhile they still haven't covered Sprinkle or Henry more than once or twice all night.

[12247]

My concern is that we would make the field and still lose because they would go far enough down field to make a field goal themselves.  Our decision to go for the field goal just shortened the field for them by 40 or so yards.  I would have tried to make the first down, thus removing clock time even if I had to settle for a field goal later.

I think we took the worst of 3 choices.  We could do as we did, or try to score a TD or work for a first down and hopefully be able to decide what to do on the next set of downs.  We set a course to losing even if we make the field goal.. Anyone want to bet Dak couldn't move them into position for a decent field goal try in 40 or so seconds.

[buldozer]

It was a judgement call to kick or go for a TD, but the play call on 4th down earlier was more suspect....

[jkstock04]

MSU was quoted today in the paper as knowing we kicked it low. They had a plan to attack it if we gave them the chance and we did.

Meanwhile they still haven't covered Sprinkle or Henry more than once or twice all night.

I couldn't really see it because I was on the opposite end of the field, but supposedly (what I've read on here) someone let a defender go free to make the block.

[HoopS]

I couldn't really see it because I was on the opposite end of the field, but supposedly (what I've read on here) someone let a defender go free to make the block.

they did. And he got thru clean. We still kick low.

We are weak in that dept in general for whatever reason.

I know that I wasn't comfortable at all with the chip shot. I just wasn't. And clearly my gut was right. We had a blazing HOT QB and didn't give him a chance to lead us to victory at the end.

Even if we just took a couple short throws it would have melted their TO's and man our TE's were killing them.

[jkstock04]

they did. And he got thru clean. We still kick low.

We are weak in that dept in general for whatever reason.

I know that I wasn't comfortable at all with the chip shot. I just wasn't. And clearly my gut was right. We had a blazing HOT QB and didn't give him a chance to lead us to victory at the end.

Even if we just took a couple short throws it would have melted their TO's and man our TE's were killing them.

Agree 100%. Like I said above I would wager Brandon Allen is as frustrated as he is sick this morning.

[hogcard1964]

Lots of people on here are blaming BB for the FG attempt to end the game. Others are saying he did "exactly what every other coach in America would of done." What do you think the Mississippi State coaches were hoping we'd do.
A. Let BA and the offense keep operating like they had the whole game and go for another first down or a touchdown, and if not successful then go for a field goal on fourth down, or
B. Play it out like BB did and make no attempt at another first down or touchdown, and just try to run a little clock and get the ball between the hash marks for a field goal attempt.
I guarantee you the Mississippi State coaches would choose option B. So, if you do exactly what the opposing coaches hope you do, is that good coaching? It's actually a shame we weren't four points behind. If we would of been we'd have won the game.

BB got ripped apart by McFarland last night on the SEC network.

[bphi11ips]

They hoped we wouldn't score.

[BassinHawg]

Play not to lose like we did!

[cypert2]

handing the ball to alex collins is not surrendering. he is a darned good back who is capable of getting us the first down when given 3 shots most of the time.

Agree that Collins is a darn good back, but at that point it was obvious what we were doing and had zero chance to run the ball up the middle for a first down. Anybody could see we were running the ball to kill some clock and position the ball in the middle of the field for a field goal attempt. BB decided to shut down what is unarguably or best unit, the offense, and put all chance in winning on what is our shakiest unit, the field goal team. Can anyone say they were confident we'd make the field goal? I sure wasn't.

[PonderinHog]

Miss the chip shot and get the hell out of town! 

[bphi11ips]

Agree that Collins is a darn good back, but at that point it was obvious what we were doing and had zero chance to run the ball up the middle for a first down. Anybody could see we were running the ball to kill some clock and position the ball in the middle of the field for a field goal attempt. BB decided to shut down what is unarguably or best unit, the offense, and put all chance in winning on what is our shakiest unit, the field goal team. Can anyone say they were confident we'd make the field goal? I sure wasn't.

I absolutely thought we'd make it.  The kick was fine.  The protection was not.

[PossumFan]

I agree that in MOST cases, running clock and playing for the FG inside of a minute is the right call. But you can't always go by the book .... gotta adjust for the way the game has been going. The way MSU was moving the ball, I did not want Hogs to give them the ball back with 40 seconds left and needing only a FG to win ... even with no timeouts. So I was hoping for a little more aggressive play-calling there at the end. This is not hindsight ... it's absolutely what I was yelling at the TV at the time.

I'm a little disappointed that in justifying his approach to that situation, Bret said you put the ball in the air you're always vulnerable to a pick. Again, that's conventional thinking, but he should have more confidence in Allen based on the way he had been playing the whole game.

I like Bielema a lot, totally support him and hope he will be at Arkansas for a very long time ... but I don't like the way he managed the end of this one.

[BassinHawg]

BB got ripped apart by McFarland last night on the SEC network.

As he should have!

[hawgfan4life]

The fact that you people are debating what the correct coaching decision in that situation is simply amazing.  You critics assume everything was going to go perfect had BA thrown the ball.  There are so many potential bad things had we played that way, and everyone of you complaining would have been vehemently complaining that BB shouldn't have went against the best coaching practice in that situation had one of those bad options occurred and cost us the game.

If BB coached the way some are complaining, it would be stupid and would cost us more games in the future than it would win.  The hard, cold fact is that we missed a play that should be more automatic than any possible pass play BA might have used, and the FG would have likely won us the game, because they would have been out of timeouts with only seconds to play.

The coaching was perfect at the end of the game.  The execution by one player on the FG was not and Miss State made a play.  BB can't execute for the players on what is as simple a play as there is in football.  Fundamental blocking rule on FG is NEVER give up your inside.  Our OL player allowed him inside and the kick was blocked.  BB didn't do the blocking and I promise you those players have NEVER been told to let someone come through their inside right there.

Debate the 4th and 1 call.  That one is debatable.  Stop questioning the last series of plays.  That was as good of football as could be managed.  Debating that call is as asinine an argument as can be made.

[bphi11ips]

The coaching was perfect at the end of the game.  The execution by one player on the FG was not and Miss State made a play.  BB can't execute for the players on what is as simple a play as there is in football.  Fundamental blocking rule on FG is NEVER give up your inside.  Our OL player allowed him inside and the kick was blocked.  BB didn't do the blocking and I promise you those players have NEVER been told to let someone come through their inside right there.

Debate the 4th and 1 call.  That one is debatable.  Stop questioning the last series of plays.  That was as good of football as could be managed.  Debating that call is as asinine an argument as can be made.

This.

[PonderinHog]

This.

Welcome back, BTW.

[PossumFan]

The hard, cold fact is that we missed a play that should be more automatic than any possible pass play BA might have used, and the FG would have likely won us the game, because they would have been out of timeouts with only seconds to play.

If you really believe this you must have been watching a different game than I was. Given the way Dak was torching the Hogs' defense, I had NO confidence that they would have kept him from getting into FG range. There was plenty of time left, even without any timeouts remaining. You don't think we would have played that soft coverage and let him hit 3 or 4 easy out routes, getting out of bounds, and maybe one big one down the seam? I would have been OK with a FG, but only if the Hogs had played for another first down to burn some more clock.

[buldozer]

What do you think the Mississippi State coaches were hoping we'd do.

Exactly what we did..... give them the game.

[BPsTheMan]

I don't know why this is being discussed. It's like some of you are just learning how the game is played.


We did, exactly, what, every other coach...would have done. It's that simple.


If other SEC teams are reading this, they're saying "Hog fans don't know much about football"

[jkstock04]

If you really believe this you must have been watching a different game than I was. Given the way Dak was torching the Hogs' defense, I had NO confidence that they would have kept him from getting into FG range. There was plenty of time left, even without any timeouts remaining. You don't think we would have played that soft coverage and let him hit 3 or 4 easy out routes, getting out of bounds, and maybe one big one down the seam? I would have been OK with a FG, but only if the Hogs had played for another first down to burn some more clock.

46 seconds with no timeouts. Wouldn't have been easy...but with our defensive scheme it would've been doable for them.

That's the exact scenerio they were playing for when they started calling timeouts.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

I bet they either didn't want us to score at all or wanted us to score as quickly as possible so they had plenty of time to get back down the field. Once scoring looked inevitable, I bet they wanted us to throw it to the end zone. Either they get a pick or we score leaving them plenty of time. Everyone knew our defense couldn't hold them.

The error, if there was an error:  It wasn't a choice of throwing to the end zone or the FG.  It was not running play action with MSU defense expecting the TD pass to Henry or Sprinkle and dumping it short to AC to let him try for the first down and then maybe the end zone and if no TD then run down the rest of the clock and effectively make the FG an extra point. 

The other error, if an error, was is relying on a defensive lineman exhausted by constant blitzing to block for the FG attempt.  With more depth on the offensive line next year to where we have more reliable reserves I expect the FG kick team blocking game to improve.  Hedland has already shown he is accurate.  He just needs to improve his strength and range.

The defense just needs some healthy linebackers and some larger more physical backs.

Arkansas' coaching is just fine.  The big "If" is whether AA or one of the freshman has learned enough understudying BA to be ready to go.  My guess is that as soon as one of them is ready Arkansas is going to be back in the hunt next year.

[cypert2]

I don't know why this is being discussed. It's like some of you are just learning how the game is played.


We did, exactly, what, every other coach...would have done. It's that simple.


If other SEC teams are reading this, they're saying "Hog fans don't know much about football"

Your right. Every other coach that uses the ABC book of coaching would of done what BB did. Like I read over and over on here he did what "99% of coaches in America would of done." But football is situational and 90% of the coaches in America don't have on offense playing as good as ours is now, or a senior QB that makes as good decisions as BA does, and 90% of the coaches in America don't have a fg unit as weak as ours. Should of kept rolling with what got us there instead of relying on our fg team. If not for the HH miracle in oxford this would make two of our last three conf games they would of cost us.

[pigmania]

Miss St. coaches got what they hoped for and that was for us to attempt to kick a FG. They knew our weakness at FG blocking and they capitalized on it.

[Medic821]

4th and 1 and throw to the end zone......That is the one that jumps out to me.

[Dr. Starcs]

The 4th down call was THE turning point IMO.

We still had an opportunity to win, but we convert there and score a td, the fg at the end is meaningless.

[woodhog14]

I absolutely thought we'd make it.  The kick was fine.  The protection was not.

The kick was not fine. Look how low it was..

[spiritof92]

I bet they either didn't want us to score at all or wanted us to score as quickly as possible so they had plenty of time to get back down the field. Once scoring looked inevitable, I bet they wanted us to throw it to the end zone. Either they get a pick or we score leaving them plenty of time. Everyone knew our defense couldn't hold them.

You beat me to it.  Mullen was most likely wanting the Hogs to hurry up and score so he could get his offense on the field and end the game.

[Danny J]

I don't know why this is being discussed. It's like some of you are just learning how the game is played.


We did, exactly, what, every other coach...would have done. It's that simple.


If other SEC teams are reading this, they're saying "Hog fans don't know much about football"

We are NOT every other team....we struggle kicking FG's as a whole. Besides...did you watch the end of the Auburn game? Did you feel comfortable leaving Dak with 50 seconds left to drive the field and kick a winning FG?

It is almost as though you believe we are the NE patriots. We are not. You must have been watching a different game.

[Danny J]

Your right. Every other coach that uses the ABC book of coaching would of done what BB did. Like I read over and over on here he did what "99% of coaches in America would of done." But football is situational and 90% of the coaches in America don't have on offense playing as good as ours is now, or a senior QB that makes as good decisions as BA does, and 90% of the coaches in America don't have a fg unit as weak as ours. Should of kept rolling with what got us there instead of relying on our fg team. If not for the HH miracle in oxford this would make two of our last three conf games they would of cost us.

This ^^^^ guy understands football. It is fluid..not every game is the same. Not every team has a good FG unit. It is not to be played out of some scripted textbook that every coach should follow.

Our freaking QB was smoking hot...threw for 7 TD's...just drove the ball from the Arkansas 10 to the MSU 15 without one drop. He was on fire. What do we do? We put it in the hands of our shaky FG unit. Even the guys on the SEC network, who have no dog in this fight, were scratching their heads.

[Hoggish1]

Anyone want to bet Dak couldn't move them into position for a decent field goal try in 40 or so seconds.

I'll bet you he couldn't.  How much 'ya got...!

[Overtheroadtruckdriver]

They hoped we wouldn't score.

When did you get back and how was your vacation?

[bphi11ips]

Welcome back, BTW.

You're a good man.

[DukeOfPork]

Lots of people on here are blaming BB for the FG attempt to end the game. Others are saying he did "exactly what every other coach in America would of done." What do you think the Mississippi State coaches were hoping we'd do.
A. Let BA and the offense keep operating like they had the whole game and go for another first down or a touchdown, and if not successful then go for a field goal on fourth down, or
B. Play it out like BB did and make no attempt at another first down or touchdown, and just try to run a little clock and get the ball between the hash marks for a field goal attempt.
I guarantee you the Mississippi State coaches would choose option B. So, if you do exactly what the opposing coaches hope you do, is that good coaching? It's actually a shame we weren't four points behind. If we would of been we'd have won the game.

Actually, if that was my team, I would have rather had my opponent still throwing the ball because at that point it is a chip shot field goal of extra point range and if they are still throwing it then there is the chance for a turnover.

I guess it depends on how much you want to Monday Morning Quarterback this thing.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen a play-action rollout on 3rd down and if nothing is there, just have BA go down.  Then we kick the field goal, albeit from the hash instead of down the center.

[lamont7906]

I'm sorry this is not hindsight but you go for the 7 the only why is 75 yards is a lot harder to get than 50 for a chance at a feild goal. You score a touch down you keep everything underneath like we try to do anyways. Not scoring you still have the other option. I look at it like in over time you don't run the ball three time and kick a feild goal do you? No you try to score and put the pressure on the other team making them travel 75 t

[DukeOfPork]

I'm sorry this is not hindsight but you go for the 7 the only why is 75 yards is a lot harder to get than 50 for a chance at a feild goal. You score a touch down you keep everything underneath like we try to do anyways. Not scoring you still have the other option. I look at it like in over time you don't run the ball three time and kick a feild goal do you? No you try to score and put the pressure on the other team making them travel 75 t

That is some tortured logic.

It's nothing like overtime.  In overtime, the other team has an unlimited amount of time to drive 25 yards.

Bielema is open to criticism over various decisions he has made, but the average Hogvillian is not worthy of making those arguments.  It's like you guys don't even watch football.

[mckinneyhog5]

The 4th and 1 was suspect?  But BA had the hot hand...  but he should have thrown it instead of running time off the clock and sett8ng up for the FG.  Do you people ever hear yourselves?  Some of you are insufferable.

[redeye]

I guarantee you the Mississippi State coaches would choose option B. So, if you do exactly what the opposing coaches hope you do, is that good coaching? It's actually a shame we weren't four points behind. If we would of been we'd have won the game.

I completely disagree.  An opposing coach figures you're in close FG range, so you have the game won.  He wants you trying to score a TD, so his team has an opportunity to recover a fumble or make an interception.

Supposedly, the MSU player who blocked the punt wasn't told to do that, but did it anyway, so it's not like they planned it all out that way.  If you wanna blame our coaches, blame them for not having a better FG unit, but don't blame them for making a sound coaching decision.

[westside_player]

Your right. Every other coach that uses the ABC book of coaching would of done what BB did. Like I read over and over on here he did what "99% of coaches in America would of done." But football is situational and 90% of the coaches in America don't have on offense playing as good as ours is now, or a senior QB that makes as good decisions as BA does, and 90% of the coaches in America don't have a fg unit as weak as ours. Should of kept rolling with what got us there instead of relying on our fg team. If not for the HH miracle in oxford this would make two of our last three conf games they would of cost us.

You make a real articulated argument for going against the book regardless of 90% assumptions. BUT, you can't assume just because Allen has been accurate lately, that he's going to lead another touchdown especially in that high pressure of a situation.  The odds that something could go wrong going for 6 and hurt your FG chances from a close range in that situation, outweigh that the odds that you can make a FG  slightly tougher than an extra point.

[SPAL]

I love it when people make absolute guarantees about what a coach is thinking.