The Call

I've pondered about this a great deal (not obsessively, I promise) over the past few months. I've conversed and debated about it in those months. Even though it's a gray issue, meaning there is no definite right or wrong answer, I think that for such a gray-colored issue, one side has a B to an A grade in reasoning and the other ranges from a C to an F. I'll be nice, I'll say a C to a D.

The problem is the fact I live in Nebraska (for now). This debate swirls around Nebraska football and their 2007 Cotton Bowl against the Auburn Tigers. It deals with head coach Bill Callahan's fake punt call at his own 29-yard line when the game was tied 7-7 in the first half.

The only argument I've heard from the other side is this, "Well, you know. If it had worked, we'd be calling him (Callahan) a genius. But, it didn't that time."

I suppose I've also heard this line, "Well, it was early in the game. He (Callahan) probably figured that his team would be able to come back."

But, I can't logically agree with either point. Auburn had 50 total yards at the half, yet were tied 14-14 going into halftime and eventually won the game 17-14. The Tigers netted 138 total yards of offense for the game. Coming in, it was expected to be a low-scoring affair. Both clubs had more speed on the defensive side of the ball than their respectable offenses could counter successfully on a consistent basis. With all this information at hand and the way the game was flowing to begin with, how can one say that Callahan would've felt that Nebraska could've caught up? In a game like that, you don't want to put your team in that kind of predicament. In a college basketball game between two very defensive-minded teams, such as UCLA and Pittsburgh, turnovers and offensive efficiency will be the determining factors to winning the game. If Pitt is careless with the basketball and attempts to play an out-of-style fast-paced game at the offensive end, this will most likely end in disaster for the Panthers. I dislike when teams play "not-to-lose," but in defensive-oriented games like these, sometimes that has to be the philosophy taken. It's all about putting the team in a position to win at the end and in these types of games, a coach can attain that by not putting his team in positions to lose at the earlier and middle portions of the game. So, Callahan, with his team tied early on and his defense having only allowed 30 total yards, had no business faking a punt at his own 29-yard line, putting his defense in a hole they didn't deserve to be in the first place. The only other touchdown Auburn had scored before that second, due to the fake punt, was via an interception which was returned inside the Red Zone. So, at that point, Auburn had zero, zero effective drives against Nebraska's defense. Their most efficient drive all day came in the second half on their go-ahead field goal. Nebraska's offense wasn't showing too many signs of life either, outside of their incredible opening drive score, which took approximately seven and a half minutes.

In response to the other argument, why in the world would Callahan have been declared a genius if Nebraska converted the fake punt? That would've spotted them at their own 30-yard line, with 70 yards to go for a touchdown and about 50 yards to go for a field goal attempt. With how Auburn's defense had stepped up after that initial drive by Nebraska and with how well they'd played for most the season in the staunch SEC, Nebraska would have had to attained yardage good enough for 5-7 additional first downs to have scored on that possession. If Nebraska was at midfield or the Auburn 40-yard line, then this may have made more sense. Auburn would've therefore needed to actually gain 20-30 yards to get into field goal range and 50-60 yards for a touchdown, while Nebraska would've need 40-50 yards for six points and about 20-30 to get into field goal range. Many times when coaches make big-time decisions, they have to weigh the potential gains and losses. In this case, I don't care how one slices it, the potential losses far exceeded the potential gains. It may be difficult for me to convince some fellow Nebraskans of this, but that was one of the dumbest calls I've seen in recent memory. On that kind of stage, with a team's defense playing so well, and just handing the opponent a go-ahead score, which they'd eventually win by, I can't for the life of me say that even if it would've worked, it could have been called genius. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on the part of some or denial on the part of others, I don't have the slightest idea. All I know is that on that day, Nebraska fans can legitimately say that the coaches lost the game. I don't say that often, but unfortunately, it occurred for the Huskers at the Cotton Bowl against Auburn this year.