We cant pretend clock management wasnt a BIG issue.

yup we shouldve called a time out.

we can control the clock on offense, not on defence. that was a wasted 20 seconds.

also going for the field goal with 2 minutes left was a mistake. 3rd and 15, if we turn it over on down Calgary gets the ball on their own 30 yard line. We kick a meaningless field goal and calagary gets the ball on their 35 yard line. either way we STILL need to score a touchdown.

There was no point in going for that field goal. We shouldve gone for it on 3rd and 15. Either way Calgary gets the ball down 4 or down 7 on their 30/35 yard line. Either way we still need to score a td. Of course if we converted the 3rd and 15 it would've been even better.

Another thing is. We wasted 20 seconds running for the punt return TD. We got called for the flag, lost 100 yards AND lost 20 seconds on the clock. thats DOUBLE JEAPORDY. Time should be added back to the clock that was spend on that flagged play IMO. Banks would've been better to take a knee and save 20 seconds if he realized we were flagged. Of course it woud've been impossible for him to realize we were flagged.

I don’t understand. How does one “gamble with the possibility of making it worse”?

You have possession. You manage the clock and try to advance to FG range which was a very real possibility. Medlock’s long FG range is one of the teams advantages.

Yes, you understand. Interception, inteception for a TD, bad snap, which has happened all year, fumble (which already happend) .take your pick. If you watch football coaches playing it safe in this situation is by far the most common choice - presumably for good reasons.

No, absolutely not when there is more than enough time and you have decent field position to get into FG range. Especially when you’re down in the championship game and you have a FG kicker like Medlock. Going into the half you need both points and momentum . Completely disagree.

Coaches only “give up” when there is not enough time and/or field position. This was not the case. A FG was quite attainable.

Presuming the coach feels a 10 point lead is impossible to overcome and it was all or nothing at that point -which is silly…
Of course not running out the clock is a choice that could have been made and part of a post game discussion but to be over-dramatic and use the word “incredulous” ? It’s a bit much.

Basic clock management is an impossible standard? Wow.

I’m not talking about the end of the first half - I actually agree that it was right to run out the clock. Everything in the half had gone wrong and to only be down 10 despite being severely outplayed wasn’t the worst situation to be in. Not ideal, but an attainable deficit to overcome in the 2nd half, all things considered.

But at the end of the game, before Calgary’s last punt, it’s obvious to call a timeout and preserve those 20 seconds. Among the people I was watching the game with was a woman who knows very little about football, and she even asked me why they weren’t taking a timeout. I was baffled - no answer. Nearly everyone on this forum had the same reaction. Everyone that I’ve talked to certainly did.

If that’s an impossible standard, then I’m guilty as charged. But that’s minor football level clock management.

I’ll end with that.

No it’s not. I was there. They were incredulous. It’s a completely understandable reaction given the reasoning even if one were to disagree with it.

When you use it as “proof” to cast doubt on the Austin ability to coach and his overall status as a great coach, to the exclusion of mentioning the umpteen great things he’s done for this team, instead of admitting you were wrong about past assesments or just admitting you dont like him and looking for any reason to criticize.

Yeah- its an impossible standard for Austin to live up to.

I dont think you know what incredulous means. It means you dont believe. I understand why you didn’t like or agree with the decision but having it rise to the level of disbelief is, well, incredulous.

Yup, that’s exactly right. They couldn’t believe that Austin would not try for the FG.

Even Glen Suitor mentioned after the first play that they could easily get 3 more in to achieve FG range.

40 yards or so in 4 plays is very doable. (They started on their own 25)

And then as the clock counted down Cuthbert mentions that they might take a shot with one more play to get into FG range at which point Grigsby gets a hand off and runs out of his way to get out of bounds as if to try to stop the clock. But it was clear that Austin did not want to go for it.

Yes, alternatives did exist and they pointed them out but that wasn't the point.

Stublers defence had Zach and even moreso Condell confused
If you watched at halftime on the Coach LaPolice segment he was showing Stublers complex Defence
How defenders were crisscrossing and disguising DB coverages.
Lapo's very words were, " I am having trouble figuring it out and I am on a telestrator!"
Would it be Austin calling the plays or Condell?
Stubler was completely clobbering Condell in the first half .
Maybe they just wanted to get in at half time to try and figure out the CGY defence.

When you dont have consistent pass protection bad things happen. Mitchell had time and space almost the entire night and …voila.
Coaching brought O-line up from the depths but Wojt was definitely missed and unit definitely needs improvement.

Agree Cats should have called a timeout. But say the judgment call on Reed isn’t made. Then the field goal would not have been meaningless.

Add in Dyakowski and a Centre that can both properly snap the football AND block well, two things that Filer cannot do…

No, not that. I was tired last night and was referring to some inefficient late half drives that happened this year. I realize that’s not the kind of clock management the OP brought up though.

Again, the ONLY reason I can think of is to preserve the opportunities to use coach's challenges. It's not a very good reason, however...

1332/19-H3 (00:30) Z. COLLAROS Completed Pass to A. FANTUZ (20 yds), Tackle: B. SMITH
1341/10-H23 (00:24) Z. COLLAROS Completed Pass to A. FANTUZ (9 yds), Tackle: J. WALL
1352/1-H32 (00:16) Z. COLLAROS Completed Pass to B. GRANT (22 yds), Tackle: J. WALL

That's a that end of the game.

51 yards gained in 14 seconds with 3 plays.

More than enough yardage to have put them in FG range at the end of the first half with double that time remaining.

Not so much clock management here. But at the end of this the half why run the clock out? We weren't getting the ball to start the second half. We were down 20-10. A fg after the TD woulda helped for sure.

“51 yards gained in 14 seconds with 3 plays.”

I guess this answers the question of not using our time out before the GGY punt with 1min. 20 sec. left in the game.
We had a return set up, so if Banks returned the ball past midfield, we would have had about 45 sec. and a time out,
and playing 3 down football to score a TD to win the game.
IMHO It is obvious that Austin wanted to save the 1st half Time Out for the 2nd half but didn’t get the chance to use it
before the 3 min. warning.