With the scoreboard reading “:48″, down 12-10 and the ball on the Alabama 28-yard line with no timeouts left, Lane Kiffin was faced with a game-changing decision.
Look to continue the drive and move the ball for a shorter field-goal attempt — if not score a touchdown — or play go uber-conservative and milk the clock against the No. 1 team in the nation and take your FG shot from the current field position.
Kiffin chose the latter option. A draw play kept the clock running and UT clocked the ball with four ticks left, setting up a 44-yard field goal. And we all know what happened next.
As a result, how he handled the last seconds of the game is eating at Kiffin.
“I’ll go back over that a million times,” Kiffin said. “I’m already killing myself for it. You’d like to think you can kick a field goal to win the game.”
Such is the life of an SEC head coach.
Personally, Kiffin made the right call. Run another play, you risk a penalty that might’ve taken away an attempt at a game winner. Or a turnover that would’ve stripped you of any chance at a game winner.
The fact that the field goal was ultimately blocked doesn’t change the fact that the end of the game was played perfectly by the Volunteers.
And now I’m going to need to go take a shower for being so complimentary of the Kiffster. And because I just willingly typed the word “Kiffster”…
SEC…the most overrated conference in all the land…. Bigten is the best this year….
The Big Ten!!!! The only conference were Iowa is the only undefeatd. If the SEC is so overated which conference has lost the most National Championships to the SEC and not just lost but was embarassed! If you didnt know its the Big Ten (heck the SEC owns the state of Ohio, because of how we beat them). So you go big ten the most overated conference in recent history and try and put Iowa against Alabama, Florida, LSU heck I will be nice and say they could maybe compete against South Carolina or Auburn.
Nelson . . . if I may. “Overrated” is a bit extreme, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s face it – when did we last see a “Golden Gopher”, “Spartan” or “Fighting Illini” take home the coveted National Championship trophy? When? Did you say something? I must have missed it with all the overrated “hoopla” ringing in my ears. Do your homework, son. Take a REAL look at the SEC. Go ahead, “google” the teams that comprise this conference. Ever hear of the “Gators”? How about “The Crimson Tide”? “Volunteers?” anything? You’re a fan of the “big10″, I get it. I don’t have a problem with fans from other conferences, we in the SEC need other teams to beat up on during our non-conference play . . . as such, those teams need a fan base to put gas in the team bus – I get it. But don’t slam the SEC as being *gasp* overrated. ESPECIALLY when the numbers back us up! Every conference has a powerhouse (or two) but take a long hard look at the teams that comprise the SEC. Crunch the numbers and then re-evaluate your “overrated” remark.
Nelson, you have lost your ever frickin mind! The Little 10 is the weakest major conference in America!! Wonder why Ohio middle school can’t ever beat Fkorida or LSU or Tennessee? Look at your conference against non-conference opponents…its embarrasing! The little 10 was good 10-15 years ago, but has gone down hill fast.
Playing the #1 team on the road with a chance to win, your kicker has already missed two field goals over 40 yards. This is a no brainer! Kiffin should be kicking himself in the butt! Plenty of time to try a short pass to pick up at least 5-6-7 yards to help make it easier on his pathetic kicker. Coach choked. For all his big talk coming into the season, he has blown it when he has had a chance against the conference elite.
“gatorman” . . . it was a good call. How many FG’s have you seen blocked . . . EVER? Look at the QB, what are his stats? He’s not had a good year, or even a stellar career for that matter. The kid has played under 4 different Offensive Coordinators during his college tenure. I think it was a good call, and COULD HAVE been a great call. You didn’t go to college did you? If so, you would have ALREADY known that the closer to the uprights the HIGHER you have to kick the football. The kicker has had a problem getting air under the ball, any closer to the goal and it would have only added to the difficulty. But hey, that’s SEC “smash mouth” football. You’re just upset that the rest of us in the SEC have picked ‘Bama as the #1 team in the country and not you guys. Hey, we make it a career to hate Florida, don’t be so sensitive. You’re a gator for pete’s sake.
tennfan68:
First of all in college there are a lot of blocked kicks. Know your football before posting!!!
Stop talking down to people like you are some authority. Let’s try another fact which shows how incompetent your coach is during a game and one you conveniently overlook!!!
Your kicker just came back from a knee injury and was way short on an earlier 47 yard field goal. If your coach was as “SMART” as you say he is, he would have taken this into consideration, but since he isn’t your players suffered from an “idiot” game day coaching decision.
Get used to it!!!
Bottom line….Championships talk…..until you have them you haven’t a shred of credibility.
@gatorman
Your trash talk belies your own insecurities. Talk smack while you can. Your days of being on top in the SEC East are numbered.
Go Vols!
Go Horned Frogs!
tennfan68, if you weren’t so arrogant about it I would have left it alone, but you are clearly an idiot when it comes to kicking a football. If you are closer to the uprights it is not that you HAVE to kick it higher, it is that you CAN kick it higher. An upright is only 10 ft off the ground, these players are jumping higher than that, so the angle of the kick has nothing to do with the crossbar, it is in relation to how high can it be kicked while still having the distance to make it there. Ever wonder why so few extra-points are missed? It’s because it is straight on and close, meaning the kicker can kick it very high, over the blockers, without worrying about distance. If Kiffin had been thinking he would have realized his kicker had missed a 47 yd kick short, and had another blocked, but he made his XP. He needed to get closer to be able to get the kick higher while still having the leg to get it there.
Since you mentioned college, I’d love to know which college you went to, I’ll be sure to have my kids avoid it…
What’s interesting to me is that a coach with a LOSING record (Kiffin) would claim a team he almost just beat as the best team in the nation. What the…? If the “best” team in the nation almost just got beat by a 3-4 (1-3) team, how does that qualify them as #1? Again, Kiffin talking with just his mouth, and not using the brain to filter out any stupidity.
I wish he would do what the title of this article states. He’s a piece of sh!t
tennfan68,
You need to get into the ball game. You say that Tebow has not even had a stellar career. I don’t know what kind of cool aid you are drinking but you need to put it down. Tebow has won a Heisman and two (2)… count them two (2) national championships. It is okay to not pull for him or even like him for that matter, but at least give him his due.
As for the FG attempt, even Kiffen himself is saying he made the wrong decision. As you know what, it was. Why? Because is was blocked.
That is what happens when you puss out and play it safe… you deserve to get beat. God knows I’ve dealt with that with Tressel. Drives me freakin nuts but when you put the game in the hands (or legs as it were) of the kickers, you are going to lose more often then win. It also deflates your team in just about every single area
South Eastern Cheaters!!!! New year but more of the same from the SEC. It’s pretty obvious that the officals in this conference are doing everything possible to keep Florida and Alabama undefeated so that they will have two teams in BCS bowls and since ESPN now owns the SEC it doesn’t get the coverage that it deserves.
A couple of “points” need to be made . . . First to “2thsnd1″ read my post again MORON! I was talking about the TENNESSEE quarterback! NOT Tebow . . . Geez pay attention people! Maybe you’re the one who didn’t go to college?
Second – “bluths” our kicker had surgery . . . again, READ PEOPLE, READ! He’s had trouble getting the ball off the ground since then and BESIDES THAT, I’ve seen LOTS of extra points missed. In fact I fondly recall beating FLORIDA *ahem* Gatorfan1 – when a Florida kick sailed “wide right, wide riiight” and the play was immortalized by John Ward. But what YOU’RE saying is that all a kicker has to do is hammer the ball up from 40 (some) yards and just let “math” do the rest? Tell me what college YOU went to and how many footballs you’ve kicked through the uprights . . . and the ones in your yard don’t count. Finally – “Gatorfan1″ – did you even WATCH the game we’re talking about here? If not – run away little man, run away. If you HAD watched the game, you’d know the 47 yard kick wasn’t “way short” it was only about a foot, even CBS Verne said “mere inches” check into YOUR information before you post. As a typical gator, you make a lot of noise . . . but I see very little evidence of intelligence. But for the oddest post of all – the award goes to (drum roll) “uglycasanova”. Son . . . did you REALLY write that? If so, do you believe it? So how, when 2 SEC teams are playing against each other are the officials cheating another team from another conference to keep 2 teams in BCS bowls? C’mon now, you don’t REALLY think that . . . do you? If so, is THAT the real reason Mt. Cody didn’t get a flag for taking off his helmet EVEN THOUGH Alabama recovered the ball? Oh yeah, I went there . . . conspiracy theorists, that’s your queue.
@ bluths – almost forgot . . . you say: “An upright is only 10 ft off the ground, these players are jumping higher than that, so the angle of the kick has nothing to do with the crossbar, it is in relation to how high can it be kicked while still having the distance to make it there.” Really? So then you MUST have heard Mt. Cody say he didn’t jump – he just reached up there. Bottom line – they did what they could do with what they had . . . it was still a heckuva game. (gatorfan1 and 2thsnd1 – that means it was great to watch)
I just read the article labeled “Kiffin ‘killing’ himself over loss”. Then I started reading all the comments and they have NOTHING to do with the article. Just a “who has the better conference” whining session. So, I will comment on the article. …. . I agree with the author that Kiffin made the right call. He was correct when he stated ….”Personally, Kiffin made the right call. Run another play, you risk a penalty that might’ve taken away an attempt at a game winner. Or a turnover that would’ve stripped you of any chance at a game winner.” …. 20/20 hindsight, Kiffin would have called it differently, but with the limited amount of talent that Vols have this year, he made the right choice. Now, could you folks out there get off your conference protecting butts, read the article, and comment on the article. Jeezzzz.
I don’t think tennfan68 is too off base here. The Vols’ QB played better than he has recently, but with Alabama’s great DB’s, every pass attempt would be a huge risk. The Vols’ RB who gouged us, #2 [sorry, no time to look up], had been effective. There were no timeouts left, so the options were limited. I heard the kicker was hurt, but it still was the best option. What it shows is that 350 [I bet a little more than] pounds goes a long way. It was a great game to watch, and, despite Lane “all I’ve got is a hot wife whose dad was a UF QB and a dad who’s one of the best defensive coordinators in the game” Kiffin’s lame “still by far No. 1″ comment, the Gators beat UT 23 – 13 and the game wasn’t as close as the score, and Bama squeaked by 12 – 10. In the “who beat whom by how much” analysis of mutual opponents, Bama “wins” as against Arkansas, and UF “wins” as against UK and UT. No matter, it will all be decided December 5 in Atlanta.
tampalawyer . . . THANK YOU! You actually read what I wrote! *WHEW* I think Kiffin and Myer or Meyer or however he spells his name are in a giant mud-slinging contest and I don’t know why. Either way, it makes for great headlines, it fires up the teams and makes Monday morning Quarterbackin’ a lot easier!
Enjoy the rest of your season folks!