Monday, September 29, 2008

2 Points, Boo Birds, and Replay

There seems to be three topics burning up the Internet regarding the game from this past Saturday:

  • The two point conversion attempt by Michigan
  • The fans boo'ing at halftime
  • The use of replay

Let me address these one by one:

The decision to go for two when Michigan scored after the pick 6 and was up 20-19: At the time, this was the right decision. Michigan had momentum and just scored 3 quick touchdowns and was up by one point. What does being up by two points give you at the moment? Nothing. You still can be beat by field goal. If I was the coach, I would have gone for two as well. The decision came back to be a bad one because Michigan did score another touchdown and was up by 8 and Wisconsin was a penalty flag away from tying the game up. With the information at the time (Wisconsin only scoring one touchdown all day, Michigan Defense Playing well, Michigan offense up and down all day, 10+ minutes on the clock) the only reason not to go for 2 was the time left in the game. The flag saved the game but the decision to go by RR was a solid one.

Michigan getting Boo'ed off the field at halftime. I'm not a big fan of boo'ing young men out there trying their hardest. These kids are learning a new system and most of them are just starting their college experience. They are not professional players and they deserve respect for playing hard and learning on the job. Remember folks, nobody expects this team to do anything this year, be mad/sad about the season but keep the boo's to yourself. Yes, they had 20 yards in the first half but the Defense played great and your still booing. Check yourself.

What is the use of replay if you don't use it in all situations needed? There was at least two examples of where they should have reviewed the play and didn't. First was the Mathews Punt Return fumble. From where I was sitting it looked like the Wisconsin player who recovered the ball had his feet out of bounds when he recovered it. Michigan even took a time out to rest it's Defense and they still didn't review it. The second example was a questionable Wisconsin catch in the second half. It looked to me that he could have trapped the ball and still no replay. These plays could have been the difference in the game, they needed to be reviewed. I understand if you can't tell from the replay but at least take a look.

1 comment:

Max said...

If I'm not mistaken, they did review the second play you mentioned (questionable catch) - and upheld the ruling on the field.