Duke/Miami question

[DerHntr]

If Duke had decided to purposefully kick the ball out of bounds, Miami would have had 6 seconds left and the ball on the 40. This gives Miami a chance to throw a Hail Mary.

Is it better to squib kick it or give them the ball on the 40?

I've been debating it with my father-in-law. I think the squib kick or just a regular kickoff has better odds to be stopped than the Hail Mary. The Hail Mary could also result in a pass interference call and another play.

What say you?

 

[57stratdawg]

Hm. Well, a PI in college isn't a killer since it isn't a spot foul. That would help the idea it should be kicked out of bounds.

I would squib it. I'd take my chances on a special teams pulling off a miracle play, especially in college, than the offense. Those type of kick returns never happen.

 

[Delmar]

I'm pretty sure Miami could choose to move Duke back 5 yards and rekick.

 

[AssEndDawg]

Most college kickers can get a touchback when needed, why not kick it out the back of the end zone? To me the chances of making a TD from the 25 against a prevent defense is way lower than something crazy happening in special teams. I've seen the squib kick backfire too many times. I would never use it as a coach.

 

[Dawg Jurist]

I think Duke did the right thing.

Runs the most time off the clock, and the desperation lateraling has got to be the lowest percentage play in football (it's referred to as a miracle when it actually does work). But for atrocious officiating, the play doesn't count, Duke wins, and we're not having this discussion.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

One of those stat tracking companies said that Miami had a 0.1% chance of winning going into the final kickoff. Seems about right.

 

[patdog]

True. I think that's the first time that play has worked since Stanford did it the original time 33 years ago. And, as you point out, the play didn't work this time either. The officials just blew several calls, any one of which would have left Duke with the win.

 

[EurekaDog]

It was Div III & not a KO... the "Mississippi Miracle" Millsaps vs Trinity 2007

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Trinity_vs._Millsaps_football_game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbzQoXuxdU

 

[RocketDawg]

It used to be a spot foul, and I kinda wish it still was. The way it is, there's lots of purposeful PIs to prevent long gains. Actually, I would like to see all the NFL and college rules the same, except perhaps for the two feet in bounds of the NFL on a pass. There are quite a few differences these days.

 

[RocketDawg]

I believe that was the same as they said for Michigan/Michigan State game on the last play. I'm not sure how much of that is real probability as opposed to pure guesswork but I suspect it's the latter.

 

[RocketDawg]

I'd never seen it work before, penalties or not. Saw some come pretty close though.