THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Coaches struggling to effectively manage the game clock By Jared Shanker BEFORE I start, let me pref ace this column by emphatically stating that I, in no way think I am smarter than even the least successful high school, col lege or NFL coach. I've never been one of the 110,000 armchair MY OPINION coaches some of whom were sitting right next to me Saturday night claiming to have the perfect play call or believe I'd be a better offensive coordinator than Galen Hall. Having said that, it blows my mind how poorly some coaches handle the game clock in the waning seconds of halftime and at the end of games. Pans in Baton Rouge, Philadelphia and State College collectively held their heads in their hands Saturday as their coaches put their teams behind the 8-ball with 15:,..4.!,,. ! I ...- „ .. ... , . : • ,'•: -.:•• ...• . . il 0 ~ ' o ••' I . :.. ..,..„ . .... .. II ji TIE ~. :,,„,:,:,,„,,,„,,........ ...,...:.: ..:.... z... , ..:s . ~.. • ~ ..,, ming Guide powered by StateCollege.com ORDER NOW @ CI I I poor clock management. Let's start with the one every one is talking about. After a long completion, Penn State was set to go for a touchdown with six sec onds left in the half instead of kicking a field goal. The Lions had one timeout left to stop the clock But Joe Paterno didn't call timeout. Well, not until it was too late. The offense and officials rushed down to the lowa goal as the sideline watched. Finally, Paterno and assistant Mike McQueary, both 40 yards from the line of scrimmage, signaled time out a few seconds before the ball was snapped. The officials didn't see Paterno, and Bolden spiked the ball, wiping three seconds off the clock. The Lions then took a delay penalty and were forced to kick a field goal. Paterno isn't above criticism. The clock was mismanaged and it cost the Lions a chance to get back in the game. On Tuesday, Paterno said he was calling for a timeout as soon as Brackett went down. lie was .111. pwc (cD 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopersi LP All rights reserved. "PricewaterhouseCoopers - refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a Delaware limited liability partnership) or, as the context requires. the PncewaterhouseCoopers global network or other member firms of the network, each of which is a separate and independent legal E,t, ,Ate are proud to be an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. Linkedln and the Linkedir n't. But his attempt to point the finger was reminiscent of another coach, and as luck had it, said coach was back in the news Saturday. Les Miles and LSU needed a touchdown from the 2-yard line against Tennessee with just 32 seconds left in Saturday's game In typical bonehead Miles fash ion, he put mistake-prone QB Jordan Jefferson in on second down and ran the ball. He was stopped with 28 ticks left, enough time to run two plays. But given no guidance from the sideline, Jefferson let the clock run down to three seconds before the cen ter decided to just snap the ball to Jefferson, who watched the ball sail past him. (The Tigers won the game on a Vols penalty, confirming increas ing suspicion Miles has an accord with the devil signed in blood.) It might have been for the best that Miles offered no sideline help. In a similar situation last year, Miles told Jefferson to spike it with one second left. The out come was obvious: The second , eiit,:ered trademarks of Linkedin Corporation in the United States and/or other countries ran off and the Tigers lost. Miles said he didn't know who told Jefferson to spike it. Unfortunately for the cheeky Miles, the Zapruder footage shows Miles' hands going down and to the left a clear signal to spike it. Look, I understand that there are a million things going through a coach's head inside the last two minutes of the game: game preparation, game flow, injuries and past history to decide how to manage the final seconds. But these guys are getting paid upwards of $7 million a year. They should be able to figure out how a clock works and the best way to spare it. It may not always look like it, but these mistakes cost teams wins, an unfair punishment for players who rely on the coaches to make those decisions. Coaches are control freaks and have scared players into not calling timeouts on the field without con sent. So responsibility lies on the coach. Does Bolden or Jefferson bear WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6, 2010 I 9 some of the blame? Absolutely. But the plan should have been made clear to Bolden and Jefferson when they took the field. The clock was stopped on successive plays for Penn State before the Brackett catch; Jefferson was coming from the Maybe it's time head coaches start hiring "clock management coaches." This coach might actu ally provide some benefit. Get rid of a couple "quality control" coaches and get somebody on the sideline who can whisper into the coach's ear: "Hey, we only got six seconds left to run 49 yards. Maybe we should call timeout." That can be me the first "quality clock control" coach. With my current salary of $O/week, I could use the added funds. And let's face it, some coaches could probably use the help. Jared Shanker is a senior majoring in journalism and history and is the Collegian's sports columnist. His e-mail address is Jpss226@psu.edu Linked in
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