My only criticism of the whole thing is if you are playing for overtime, why do you throw a pass on third down? If you make a decision stick with it don't change in midstream. The result from throwing on third down can be just as disastrous as on first or second. He didn't have conviction in his decision and was second guessing himself. What else would you expect from the fans?
A lot of people dont realize how long the defense was on the field in the first half, either. When you score on your first play from scrimmage (TOP of 0:08), and score your second touchdown on a 4 play drive (TOP of 1:20), and score your third TD on an INT return (TOP of 0:00), sure everyone is doing their job, but you are asking the defense to do their job for twice as long. We dominated the first half (say what you want about Clausen vs. Ainge), but in doing so, UT held the ball for over 18 minutes. We didnt play enough players to sustain that type of defense, and we paid for it.
Unfortunately the adjustment was for the offense to go into a shell and not be aggressive and then wait and see if the defense could hold onto the lead. When you're leading 21-0 at the half, common sense says don't make any adjustments, just keep doing what made you successful.
Due respect Geekboy, if I had a few days to invest, that's exactly what I would do! I'm not sure you are able to empathize with me but who's aking for that?
I agree that that was mind-boggling. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why a pass was thrown in that situation. If it was a coaching decision, I'd love to hear the reasoning. Of course, we all know that Saban didn't call the pass that Booty threw to a UAB defender.
There is little to lose and much to gain on a Hail Mary on the last play. Miles clearly didn't want to risk an interception by throwing when there was time on the clock, thus the running plays. But on the final play, you put up the long ball. Even if they intercept, they have no time to get the offense in.
