Miami recently lost a game to GaTech in excruciating fashion, and Coach Cristobal has been (properly) heavily criticized. For those who don't know The U was up with 33 seconds left and GT had no timeouts. Miami had the ball at the GT 30. If the Miami QB had taken a knee the clock runs, GT can't stop it, Miami wins. Instead, Miami ran a rushing play, carrier fumbled, GT recovered and scored, GT won. The chances of this happening were small - this happens only if not some but all of a fumble, defense recovers, opponent gets a 70 yard TD in 33 seconds with no timeouts. Very low risk of all of those things happening, right? But not zero risk and in fact all those things did happen and Miami lost. And the coach looks like an idiot. Because he should have known that if there is a choice between a play (taking a knee) that has a one-thousandth of a percent of something bad happening (losing the ball in victory formation) and a play (anything else) that offers a hundredth of a percent of something bad happening you take a knee. Right?

Now go to the end of the OSU - ND game. Buckeyes score to go up by 2 with one second left. What can go wrong? Well, ND could score in one second, but it would take complete cooperation by OSU for it to happen. For instance, putting only seven guys on the field for the kickoff or kicking the ball inbounds instead of out of bounds so it can be returned or committing multiple pass interference/ personal fouls on the one play ND can run so ND gets into FG or Hail Mary range with no time coming off the clock. It can happen but really really unlikely. About as unlikely as a team in victory formation still losing control of the ball and letting the opponent recover. For all practical purposes game is over. Right?

What else can go wrong? Attempt the PAT, it gets blocked, returned and ND gets two points and the game is tied (and ND is going to get the kickoff with one second left). Is this likely? No. About as likely as calling a rushing play, fumbling, letting opponent score with no timeouts. But it is more likely than a team scoring from its own 35 with one second on the clock.

There is a choice to be made - go for the PAT to put us up by 3 or not go for the PAT and leave the lead at 2. What is the better choice in that situation? Look at what happened to Miami before you answer.

I'm getting greyed out because I said that Day's decision making at end of the ND game was not good. (We can also look at him not calling a TO when ND had the ball and was draining the clock. We needed the TO when McCord got called for grounding, to avoid a ten second run-off. But if we had used the TO when ND had the ball we save 40 seconds, can give away 10, and still have 30 seconds extra. That no TO put us within 3 seconds of running out of time.) But from a football strategy perspective going for the PAT was the wrong choice. Just as Cristobal made the wrong choice. Day gets paid too much money to not know that.