The entire game, I was worried that we were going to lose the game because of the missed extra point, but it actually helped us win:

--> We make the extra point, we don't go for two on our last touchdown. We're up 3.

--> Washington St. is down 3 on that final drive. No way they're kicking a game-tying field goal on 3rd down, as they did with the game-winning attempt.

--> Halliday has one extra attempt at the end zone, and, with the way our d had been playing, most likely throws a touchdown. Cal loses.

I've given up trying to make sense of things.

Go Bears!

Attempting the FG with time left on 3rd down was retarded. End of story.

The missed field goal helped Cal win the game.

-John Madden

AU_Bears;842374523 said:

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The entire game, I was worried that we were going to lose the game because of the missed extra point, but it actually helped us win:

--> We make the extra point, we don't go for two on our last touchdown. We're up 3.

--> Washington St. is down 3 on that final drive. No way they're kicking a game-tying field goal on 3rd down, as they did with the game-winning attempt.

--> Halliday has one extra attempt at the end zone, and, with the way our d had been playing, most likely throws a touchdown. Cal loses.

I've given up trying to make sense of things.

Go Bears!

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The above is true - funny how seemingly inconsequential events have monumental implications.

dimitrig;842374576 said:

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Attempting the FG with time left on 3rd down was retarded. End of story.

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I don't think it was retarded. There were 19 seconds left and they had no time-outs left. If they don't get a TD or incomplete pass (think Cal vs OSU 2007) they may not have time to get their FG unit set on time.

Dykes said something similar in his postgame interview with Starkey. Said if we made the 2 point conversion, chances are WSU tries to end it with a TD there, a FG is likely out of the question for them. What a ridiculous, ridiculous sequence of events and decisions.

volleybear;842374604 said:

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I don't think it was retarded. There were 19 seconds left and they had no time-outs left. If they don't get a TD or incomplete pass (think Cal vs OSU 2007) they may not have time to get their FG unit set on time.

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I would be furious if Cal did that. 19 seconds is like two possessions in this game.

Not centering the ball to make it a glorified PAT was stupid.

They had to try the FG right there... If the clock doesn't stop after the third down play, they will run out of time .... (and we all know that story)

Funny how things work out sometimes .....

pingpong2;842374614 said:

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Not centering the ball to make it a glorified PAT was stupid.

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No time outs .... No time to center it and get the field goal team in there if the clock is ticking

defense got the hold to force the kick that they missed

calgldnbear;842374619 said:

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No time outs .... No time to center it and get the field goal team in there if the clock is ticking

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They should have planned to save that 3rd TO to center the ball. It was poor clock management that they even got into a 3rd down situation with no timeouts. At the very least center it on 2nd down, and then spike it. Scoring a TD vs kicking a glorified PAT would have both resulted in a win, and the latter is far more likely than the former.

pingpong2;842374649 said:

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They should have planned to save that 3rd TO to center the ball. It was poor clock management that they even got into a 3rd down situation with no timeouts. At the very least center it on 2nd down, and then spike it. Scoring a TD vs kicking a glorified PAT would have both resulted in a win, and the latter is far more likely than the former.

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I agree but as it worked out, they had no timeouts and therefore couldn't take a chance at not having a chance to win the game

Per starkey, the missed extra point ended up being a bonanza!

I think in a normal game this is what happens. But I'll bet Leach just figured he score a TD on us. He'd been doing it all night and it eliminates the risk of a botched FG. Which is exactly what happened.

pingpong2;842374649 said:

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They should have planned to save that 3rd TO to center the ball. It was poor clock management that they even got into a 3rd down situation with no timeouts. At the very least center it on 2nd down, and then spike it. Scoring a TD vs kicking a glorified PAT would have both resulted in a win, and the latter is far more likely than the former.

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Additionally (since they didn't have any TO's left), if the holder has any problems with the snap (which he did), it gives him a down to just stand up and throw the ball away and kick on 4th down.

going4roses;842374643 said:

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defense got the hold to force the kick that they missed

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[SIZE=3][COLOR="#000080"]YES ... another stand at the goal line at the end of the game. !!!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

SonOfCalVa;842374781 said:

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[SIZE=3][COLOR="#000080"]YES ... another stand at the goal line at the end of the game. !!!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

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We're lights out inside the 5

Hail2Calif;842374776 said:

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Additionally (since they didn't have any TO's left), if the holder has any problems with the snap (which he did), it gives him a down to just stand up and throw the ball away and kick on 4th down.

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Good point. I guess that's why you have a qb do the hold. Doesn't he have to roll out of the tackle box tho, or throw near a receiver? The no timeout thing really screwed them.

dimitrig;842374576 said:

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Attempting the FG with time left on 3rd down was retarded. End of story.

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I suspect that Connor Halliday was hurt. The drive before Scarlett had pancaked him and he was visibly limping. Then in that drive he again got knocked down and came up limping even a bit more. After that WSU attempted the two running plays up the middle to try to score rather than throw the ball.

The problem was on the second one Cal not only stopped WSU, but the pile was tangled. WSU ended up using their last time out in order to get control of the clock and prevent it from running down to the point that they'd only get one more play.... but.....

that meant they had no time out to restop the clock should Cal stop them again and if Connor was hurt, they didn't want him standing in the pocket and throwing the ball. WSU doesn't have many good short field patterns, and the Cal defense was rising up to try to stuff the usual short stuff. In fact the best short field play for WSU all game was the throw to Cracraft in the right flat, but that won't work with a short field since it relies on the man covering him playing deep. With the back of the end zone 10 yards away, why play off, he can't turn and go long.

so that meant the field goal attempt was kind of necessary for WSU. They didn't have time to run the ball, since they'd never get the field goal unit out in time, and Connor was hurt enough that they did not want to try to throw the ball. With no time outs, you have to kick and since it was a 19 yard kick, you pretty much expect to make it.

What's even funnier is that most everybody on the game day thread wanted Cal to let them score the TD, me included.
And the coaching staff actually considered that but didn't feel they had enough time to get another TD.

Keep in mind that the fg was a gimmee in their minds. The only thing that could go wrong was the holder mishandling the ball and having to quickly kick it again on 4th down. The TV announcers pointed out Leach's reasoning, which made a lot of sense...except that THEY MISSED!!!!

tenplay;842374906 said:

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Keep in mind that the fg was a gimmee in their minds. The only thing that could go wrong was the holder mishandling the ball and having to quickly kick it again on 4th down. The TV announcers pointed out Leach's reasoning, which made a lot of sense...except that THEY MISSED!!!!

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Statistically their kicker is only 93% career on PATs, so maybe dykes figured we had less than a 7% chance of scoring a TD in less than 2 minutes.

I love how the ESPN video said "They Coug'd it!"

tenplay;842374906 said:

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Keep in mind that the fg was a gimmee in their minds. The only thing that could go wrong was the holder mishandling the ball and having to quickly kick it again on 4th down. The TV announcers pointed out Leach's reasoning, which made a lot of sense...except that THEY MISSED!!!!

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He coog'd it ... Done