Why kick on 4th down?

[South_Florida_Flip]

I'm still curious as to why went for a 54 yard field goal instead of attempting a 4th down play. Either way if you fail they get the ball at the same spot, and don't say "oh we got da kloss man", 54 yards is low % for even pro kickers.

Shoulda went on that 4th & 1 too, before we got a delay of game.

We have one of best FG kickers in the country. It was the right decision

[Bulls Are We]

 

I'm still curious as to why went for a 54 yard field goal instead of attempting a 4th down play. Either way if you fail they get the ball at the same spot, and don't say "oh we got da kloss man", 54 yards is low % for even pro kickers.

Shoulda went on that 4th & 1 too, before we got a delay of game.

We have one of best FG kickers in the country. It was the right decision

 

 

Taggart was playing for the field goal there.  It was Holtzesque. 

 

BTW, Kloss' long was 52 last year.  You guys act like he is automatic from 54.  

[Dhambuc]

Take the points always unless its late in the game,   FG attempt was the right call at the time. 

[usfgrad84]

If you watch the replay of the snap of FG that was called a penalty on Maryland (then Kloss made the kick from 5 yards closer). That snap bounced 3 feet short of the holder.

[Dogma]

 -why punt?

 

Maybe the coaches felt it would be better for us than replying to a:

 

"Why did they try to go for it on a 4th and 3 at the 36 yard line when we have one of the best kickers in CFB"

...type thread

Edited September 7, 2014 by dogma

[Bulls Are We]

Take the points always unless its late in the game,   FG attempt was the right call at the time. 

 

On 4th and 4 it was the right call.  The mistake was made on 3rd down where Taggart/Wulff should have been thinking 2 plays to get 4 yards.  

 

We never got that close to the endzone again.  

[JupiterBull]

The difference in the game today was a blocked punt - returned for 7, and a botched FG snap.  Turn them around, and USF wins.

 

The defense played very well:  They put points on the board, forced 6 turnovers - all of them in critical situations - then made a goal-line stand that forced Maryland to lose yardage and settle for 3.  Can't ask for any more from the D.

 

Dropped passes, and forced passes that Bench should have just pulled down and run with - like he did on the TD - were the biggest problems with the O.  Considering the back-up QB played the whole game, they didn't do too badly.

 

Which brings us to the special teams.  A couple of the other punts were nearly blocked - and it looked like the slow-arching snap was the cause.  If you can't snap the ball to the punter, and FG kicker, it's time to just go for it on 4th down.

 

If you read Greg Easterbrook's 'Tuesday Morning Quaterback' column on ESPN, he has compiled some stats on punting over the past years, that convincingly  suggest  teams should rarely punt.  On every punt, there are three possible results - and two of them are bad: 

 

1) You get the punt off, and down it deep in the opponents territory;

 

2) The opponent returns the punt beyond where they would have gotten the ball if it had been turned over on downs on a failed 4th-down attempt - or even return it for 6;

 

3) The punt is blocked, which virtually always gives the opponent the ball further advanced than a turn-over on downs - or returned for 6, as happened to the Bulls today. 

 

Easterbrook's stats show that in scenario #1, the punt receiving team often takes only two sets of downs to get back to where they would have taken over on downs.  Given those stats -why punt?

Stats don't lie, but people do.  The issue this does NOT consider is probability.  If those odds were one in 3 for each event, punting would be silly.  But I'd guess the probability is something like 95/4/1. 

 

GIven that, punting usually makes perfect sense.

[deters-]

Take the points always unless its late in the game, FG attempt was the right call at the time.

Take the points? It wasn't a 30 yarder it was 54 and hardly a easy take the points chip shot. We had 2 downs to get 4 yards from the oppenants 36 where a TD would have been HUGE. Stupid to try for such a low % play, even with kloss who is a good kicker.

[snarling Bull]

 

Take the points always unless its late in the game, FG attempt was the right call at the time.

Take the points? It wasn't a 30 yarder it was 54 and hardly a easy take the points chip shot. We had 2 downs to get 4 yards from the oppenants 36 where a TD would have been HUGE. Stupid to try for such a low % play, even with kloss who is a good kicker.

 

+1

[RegretaBull]

The 54 yard FG attempt was the wrong call.  It was all about the score of the game...make or miss, a TD would still beat us.  A make would not have made it a two score game or given us the lead. Why not try to pick the extra couple of yards and keep the drive alive?