10/19 Southern Miss Game

[HogDawg]

Kicking to the back men was a mistake. Deferring was not.

Why's that? Serious question. It seemed foolish to me at the time, and it still does. Maybe I'm missing something?

1) Why do you give a powerful offense the ball first?

2) And possibly more often? (Meaning, an opponent could end up getting 1 more possession than you in the half if they get the ball last.

It just seems so wrong on so many levels. I've given you my solid reasons against it. What are the legitimate reason's for it? I don't think field possession is a legitimate consideration when the opponent is so good at kick returns.

[techman05]

Conventional wisdom is to defer. However, knowing about their return game, I think you either go for a touchback (which Hale can do), or you pooch kick like we did in the second half so the cover guys can get to the returner.

[johnnylightnin]

Why's that? Serious question. It seemed foolish to me at the time, and it still does. Maybe I'm missing something?

1) Why do you give a powerful offense the ball first?

2) And possibly more often? (Meaning, an opponent could end up getting 1 more possession than you in the half if they get the ball last.

It just seems so wrong on so many levels. I've given you my solid reasons against it. What are the legitimate reason's for it? I don't think field possession is a legitimate consideration when the opponent is so good at kick returns.

Because you ALWAYS want the ball to start the 2nd half. If you’re up, you can put a nail in the coffin. If you’re down, you build momentum and get back in the game.

In this game in particular, we knew they couldn’t run the ball and we felt good about our ability to press a one-dimensional offense.

[HogDawg]

Because you ALWAYS want the ball to start the 2nd half. If you’re up, you can put a nail in the coffin. If you’re down, you build momentum and get back in the game.

In this game in particular, we knew they couldn’t run the ball and we felt good about our ability to press a one-dimensional offense.

[johnnylightnin]

Nice serious response. Hahaha!

[johnnylightnin]

This is from a Fox Sports article for 2014. At that time, 68% of teams that won the toss deferred.

I guess you’d have to ask a coach why he’d choose to defer, but coaches who deferred always told me that they’d rather have the ball to open the second half than the first half. Plus, it’s the only opportunity where your team can end up with ball on two consecutive possessions.

For example, if you have the ball and score at the end of the first half on the last play, then you get the ball back to start the second half. That’s a big momentum play. The opportunity to have the ball twice in a row — as the numbers clearly reflect — is beginning to sway a lot of coaches to defer on the opening coin toss.

[eagle2180]

We had that opportunity yesterday. We score on the last possession of the half....But we didn’t capitalize on the 1st possession of the 2nd half. We got the win. Why do fans have to question every decision a coach makes? Deferring to the 2nd half is a very common decision. Yes, they scored on the opening kickoff, because of poor execution by a kickoff team.

[johnnylightnin]

In 2016, 82% of nfl teams that won the toss deferred.

[PawDawg]

Just a side story...Not long ago 2016 or 2017(?) we lost the toss. The other team deferred, and we elected to kick. We ended up kicking off in the 1st and 2nd half. Typical C-USA Refs screwed up by not questioning the decision. Obviously they knew and knew the captain of the day was nervous and screwing up, but they still let it happen. I remember Holtz being very upset about it. Frisco or History may remember the exact details.

[PawDawg]

Just a side story...Not long ago 2016 or 2017(?) we lost the toss. The other team deferred, and we elected to kick. We ended up kicking off in the 1st and 2nd half. Typical C-USA Refs screwed up by not questioning the decision. Obviously they knew and knew the captain of the day was nervous and screwing up, but they still let it happen. I remember Holtz being very upset about it. Frisco or History may remember the exact details.

[JuBru]

Yesterday showed us what we can expect going forward. I’m happy to eat a large helping of crow.

No need for you or anyone else to eat crow. Most of us have been saying that this is how we should have been playing from the start instead of the crap we've been doing. The team that showed up yesterday would have beat Texas, and outscored everyone else by at least 35.

[stodgdog]

Why's that? Serious question. It seemed foolish to me at the time, and it still does. Maybe I'm missing something?

1) Why do you give a powerful offense the ball first?

2) And possibly more often? (Meaning, an opponent could end up getting 1 more possession than you in the half if they get the ball last.

It just seems so wrong on so many levels. I've given you my solid reasons against it. What are the legitimate reason's for it? I don't think field possession is a legitimate consideration when the opponent is so good at kick returns.

I would think that you could possibly score on the last possession of the half and receive the kickoff to begin the 2nd half. Pretty much standard practice historically for most teams. Statistically I don't know how it works out.

[stodgdog]

No need for you or anyone else to eat crow. Most of us have been saying that this is how we should have been playing from the start instead of the crap we've been doing. The team that showed up yesterday would have beat Texas, and outscored everyone else by at least 35.

A team grows from game to game typically. Now, our team needs to continue the momentum. If they are a good team they will. A lot of folks fret early in the season when they probably shouldn't. Now is the time to see.

[LEEDAWG]

I think if we were the Tim Rattay or Colby Cameron offensive scoring machine teams then I would want as many possessions possible. I would opt to receive the opening kickoffs every time. If we were a dominate defensive team then I would want still want the ball first. If we were a terrible team then I would want the ball first. Not GREAT on offense, not GREAT on defense, not TERRIBLE overall, then I like the decision to defer to second half.

[PawDawg]

Eagles won the toss and elected to receive. Something about "getting an extra possession in the 1st half"