Nick Saban second-guesses coaching decision at the end of Oklahoma-Tennessee on College Gameday
The legendary coach didn’t agree with a late-game decision from last week’s clash between the Sooners and Vols.
The Tennessee Volunteers suffered a painful 33-27 loss to Oklahoma last weekend, one that likely has torpedoed their College Football Playoff hopes this season.
While Tennessee fans would like to forget the poor showing during their bye week, Nick Saban brought up a moment at the end of the game during his weekly coaching segment on College Gameday on Saturday.
Specifically, he called into question the time management at the end of the game, and he wasn’t directing his critique towards the oftentimes time-management-challenged Josh Heupel.
Nick Saban says Oklahoma should have run the clock down on the one-yard line late in the fourth quarter instead of scoring against Tennessee
In the fourth quarter, with two minutes left and after recovering an onside kick, Oklahoma held a 26-24 lead and was facing first-and-10 in Tennessee territory. OU’s Xavier Robinson broke free for a 43-yard run, and he kneeled down inside the 1-yard line.
It was a smart play, as it forced Tennessee to burn a timeout and allowed Oklahoma to run off more time. Instead, Brent Venables decided to score on the next play, a move that Saban disagreed with.
“They break a big run,” Saban said. “So, is this guy going to make a first down and score and go up two scores, or should he go down on the one-yard line? I think he should go down on the one-yard line because the only way Tennessee can win the game is if they get the ball back.
“But here’s the situation now. They had to call timeout. There’s one forty-seven to go. They have one timeout. They could actually take about eighty seconds off the clock here if they just kneel on the ball or take the ball to the one-inch line and go down – and Tennessee is in let-them-score mode because it’s the only way they can get the ball back.
“So, here’s what happens. After they declared down, now, the very first play, they score, so.”
“Inconsistency in the philosophy,” Rece Davis added.
“Right, and you could see this guy from Tennessee didn’t even try to tackle the guy, but if Mateer would go down right here, then they would kneel on the ball,” Saban continued. “Tennessee might get the ball back with twenty seconds to go in the game. But they get the ball back now with a minute forty to go in the game, and they go down and kick a field goal with fifty-two seconds. They still have one timeout. So, they actually have a chance to win the game because they were allowed to get the ball back with time. They make the field goal. They had the opportunity to get an onside kick and have a chance to win the game.”
Saban makes a fair point there, particularly as it relates to a conflict in philosophy. Robinson made a smart move when he went down at the one-yard line after he blew through Tennessee’s defense. It forced a timeout and put OU in a position to run the clock down to 20 seconds or less before trying to score.
Instead, Tennessee ended up with a puncher’s chance at the end of the game, as they drove down for a field goal with around 50 seconds left and had a shot at grabbing an onside kick that would have given them a chance at winning the game from near midfield. That’s a far better look than the alternative had Oklahoma melted the clock away.
It ultimately didn’t matter, as OU recovered the ensuing onside kick and kneeled the clock out, but it did highlight a questionable decision that gave Tennessee a bit more life in the final minutes than they otherwise likely would have.
Of course, if Tennessee hadn’t shot off all 10 toes during the previous 58 game minutes, then perhaps we’re not talking about this situation at all.
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