On Saturday evening, the most infamous game in Baylor history kept playing in my head in the midst of some horrific coaching decisions. Let’s rewind! In 1999, Baylor’s head coach was Kevin Steele. Baylor was in an unexpectedly close game with a UNLV team that had just snapped their 16-game losing streak.
Steele must have thought that winning a game 24-20 against such a lowly squad would not impress. So, he decided to go for an extra touchdown in the waning seconds instead the UNLV 10. Since UNLV had no timeouts remaining, a knee would have ended the game. But, NO!! Steele elected to go for a tack-it-on touchdown. OOPS! A fumble and a 100-yard return ensue as UNLV won a gift shocker.
Given this decision, one can understand Steele’s 9-36 record at Baylor, including 1-31 in the Big 12. One can also understand why his subsequent coaching experience has been limited to defensive coordinator duties.
Miami’s Mario Cristobal may not have been aware of the Steele debacle. One knee would have prevented a crushing Hurricane upset to 3-TD underdog Georgia Tech. Instead, a rushing effort results in a fumble. A 44-yard TD pass from Haynes King in the game’s final 2 seconds produced a nightmare for the Hurricanes. If the Cristobal era fails, his post-game comment “We should have taken a knee” will be the perfect summation.
The Arizona-USC triple overtime classic resulted in two more coaching miscues in the Odyssey’s view.
USC was angling for a game ending chip shot field goal with a timeout in its pocket in a 28-28 battle where the Trojans had overcome a 17-point deficit. Southern Cal could have kicked on third down in case of a disaster – such as occurred when the snap on their fourth-down try went awry.
In overtime, Arizona’s Jedd Fisch made an error that caused me to yell at the TV. His 21-point underdog Wildcats scored in OT to cut the deficit to 35-34, UA had a CLEAR decision. Win the game NOW! To claim that USC’s Caleb Williams is an all-world QB is almost an understatement would be fair. With a tired defense and the incomparable Williams, how can one like their chances in subsequent overtimes? Fisch made the passive and fatal choice to kick the game-tying conversion. The inevitable befell the game Wildcats in triple overtime.
Good coaches can make bed decisions. Unlike Kevin Steele, both Lincoln Riley and Jedd Fisch are good coaches. Fisch has brought the UA program back from the dead. The improvement in the Wildcat defense has been truly impressive. Still, I deeply feel for the 37 Southern Californians on the Arizona roster. They deserved a better decision at the end of the first overtime.