Bronco Mendenhall’s decision for the Brigham Young Cougars
to go for a two-point conversion, and the win, against Boise State was NOT the
right decision according to 72 percent of poll voters. There were 22 percent of
voters who thought the two-point conversion was the right decision, and four
percent of voters were undecided.
Over one week later, I am still having a hard time coming to
a definitive decision.
The way the question was posed, I guess, you can say it was
obviously the wrong decision because it didn’t work, but we never know how the
game would have ended, let alone overtime, if BYU took the 8-7 lead. If you
interpret “the right decision” as “a good decision” or “a smart decision” then
the answer is not so definitive.
The first thing to remember is that there was still 3:37
left in the game. If BYU took an 8-7 lead or tied the game 7-7, then Boise
State would not have come out and run out the clock. They would have been
trying to score.
The Cougar defense played a great game, but they weren’t
lights out. If you listened to the post game podcast,
you would have heard me explain that Boise State had nine plays of 10 yards or
more, and five drives of 25 yards or more. This matters more to the outcome in
overtime, since both teams start at the 25-yard line, but it also could have
had implications on the rest of regulation.
I have seen several games where one defense dominates, but
when the clock is running out, and the opposing offense is forced to move the
ball and score, all of a sudden, that impotent offense can move the ball and
even scores. In a sense, that is exactly what happened with BYU driving 95
yards for the touchdown. While I love the BYU defense this year, I wouldn’t have
been surprised to see Boise State “magically” flip a switch and start moving
the ball really well.
As for overtime, BYU could have easily lost the momentum
that they had at the end of the game. As I have explained in the last two MoMoments for some unknown reason, momentum doesn’t seem to carry over very well from the
end of the game to overtime. In 2009, Utah scored the final 14 points of
regulation, but BYU was the team that scored the touchdown in overtime and won.
When the decision was made, I was surprise. I had assumed
BYU would kick the extra point and tie it. Unlike Mendenhall, I hadn’t even
considered going for two and the win. Since that was my response in the heat of
the moment, I guess that makes my vote “No” it wasn’t the right decision.
Thank you to everyone who voted. Don’t forget to come back
and vote in the new poll question that will be posted shortly following the
Hawaii game.
The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com
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