This is the part that Michelle doesn’t get about my playing sports. I have been agonizing all weekend about what I could have done differently in the Lavabo Bowl so that we could have won. I keep running that last INT in the redzone over and over again…
For those who weren’t there, I knew what I was doing when I threw the ball. The play call was actually a QB draw, and the run was there. But as I started to make my dash, I saw Patrick Bolt running across the middle with a much shorter player (everyone is shorter than Patrick) draped all over him. My quick thought was “a pass interference penalty!” It will stop the clock and give us a first down—I didn’t think about the first down, but DID think about the penalty and the clock stopping. So, I lobbed a pass over toward Patrick. Unfortunately, the pass was slightly behind Patrick, and he was unable to jump with the 165 lb. linebacker on his back. The ball sailed over his head and into the hands of the safety.
In hindsight, if I would have tucked the ball as originally planned, I would have picked up at least 5-7 yards and maybe even scored. We could have called a timeout and would have had three shots at the end zone with about 30 seconds left. In retrospect, I should have never thrown that ball. Yes, we should have got the call. Yes, Nashotah House’s 2-point conversion (which put them up by one point) was short. But, I should have never thrown that ball. It’s one of the golden rules of red zone offense – never throw the ball up for grabs in the middle of the field. Very few good things can happen, and many things can go wrong.
The good news about this obsessing that I do—I will be scheming all year on how we can beat Nashotah House next year.
Posted by Frank Yamada at October 25, 2004 03:35 PMFrank,
I was in Austin, TX, over the weekend at a conference for seminarians and heard (more than once) from a NH person about how they were going to shut us out. Don't think that happened!
When I found out that Seabury had been ahead until the very end, be assured I let him know about it. Kindly... Then in the spirit of good sportsmanship I bought both NH folks a drink at dinner. Would love to have seen the game because it sounds like it was more exciting than the game last year.
I've been there (as you know). Don't worry--after just a few short months you'll only wake up thinking about the play every three or four nights, so there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually, you'll get over it.
We obsessive offensive coordinator-types have to stick together...I almost never think about how I should have gone for 2 at the end of the 2001 PTS semifinals, or about how I should have gone to the wishbone in the first half, or about the conversion pass I couldn't catch, or...You know what? That part about getting over it? Never mind.
;-)
Posted by: Matt at October 27, 2004 07:11 PM