Cal lost to #8 Miami with :26 left in the game because of clock-management mistakes.
Posted by John Reed on
Cal could have easily defeated #8 Miami last night. But they violated my clock rule that says when your win probability exceeds 50%, you should be in a maximum slowdown. That means wait until :01 left on the play clock to snap the ball when the game clock is running and to stay inbounds. Don't call timeout, but if you must, do so when the play clock gets down to :01. And other correct actions or inactions.
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Miami took the lead at :26 left in the game. You can run :25 off the clock between the whistle and the snap on every play other than a final down of the possession. They should have been doing that after their second quarter taking the lead at 14:43. Miami kicked a margin-of-victory field goal at 9:07 left in the first half. That was THREE points. They later won the game by ONE point. Cal may not have been able to take 9:07 off the clock before that FG. But not being in a slow down absolutely WAS DECISIVE in the second half when Miami DID score the game-winning points just before the end of the game.
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At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, when Cal was leading 21-10, they had a possession that lasted from 15:00 to 13:07. That’s 1:53 of game clock time. They could have run off about :46 per first three downs and about :06 on the fourth. That would have been 3 x :46 = 138 seconds + 1 x :06 = 6 seconds. 138 + 6 = 144 a.k.a. 2:24, :27 more than they did run off. Cal had five more possessions in the second half.
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Some accuse me of telling coaches to sit on a lead. The hell I do. Between the snap and the whistle—i.e., during the play—I want them to go max effort to increase their lead. The main clock management actions are getting first downs and waiting until the end of the play clock to call for the snap.
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There are several things you can do to waste time DURING a play, like staying in bounds, running around in your own backfield to kill time, throwing a high, long incomplete bomb with an eligible receiver downfield near the landing place of the pass, taking an intentional safety.
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Cal’s 5-play second possession in the second half lasted from 10:11 in the third quarter until 8:06. That was 2:05. They could have run off 4 x :46 and 1 x :06 = 184 seconds + 6 seconds = 190 seconds a.k.a. 3:10 indicating 1:05 was unnecessarily left on the clock.
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The official play-by-play does not say how much time was on the play clock when the ball was snapped, but it should have been :01. I have to use total duration of the possession and the final down of the possession and the number of before-final downs of the possession to get a rough big picture.
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https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay/_/gameId/401635568
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In any close loss, you can point to a dozen plays that could have made the difference. But clock-management mistakes are the EASIEST TO AVOID. They are simple mechanical, not requiring great athletic ability or brilliance and anyone who could read and understand my book could have avoided the mistakes.
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https://johntreed.com/collections/football-coaching-books/products/football-clock-management-5th-edition-book-by-john-t-reed
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Miami took the lead at :26 left in the game. You can run :25 off the clock between the whistle and the snap on every play other than a final down of the possession. They should have been doing that after their second quarter taking the lead at 14:43. Miami kicked a margin-of-victory field goal at 9:07 left in the first half. That was THREE points. They later won the game by ONE point. Cal may not have been able to take 9:07 off the clock before that FG. But not being in a slow down absolutely WAS DECISIVE in the second half when Miami DID score the game-winning points just before the end of the game.
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At the beginning of the 3rd quarter, when Cal was leading 21-10, they had a possession that lasted from 15:00 to 13:07. That’s 1:53 of game clock time. They could have run off about :46 per first three downs and about :06 on the fourth. That would have been 3 x :46 = 138 seconds + 1 x :06 = 6 seconds. 138 + 6 = 144 a.k.a. 2:24, :27 more than they did run off. Cal had five more possessions in the second half.
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Some accuse me of telling coaches to sit on a lead. The hell I do. Between the snap and the whistle—i.e., during the play—I want them to go max effort to increase their lead. The main clock management actions are getting first downs and waiting until the end of the play clock to call for the snap.
.
There are several things you can do to waste time DURING a play, like staying in bounds, running around in your own backfield to kill time, throwing a high, long incomplete bomb with an eligible receiver downfield near the landing place of the pass, taking an intentional safety.
.
Cal’s 5-play second possession in the second half lasted from 10:11 in the third quarter until 8:06. That was 2:05. They could have run off 4 x :46 and 1 x :06 = 184 seconds + 6 seconds = 190 seconds a.k.a. 3:10 indicating 1:05 was unnecessarily left on the clock.
.
The official play-by-play does not say how much time was on the play clock when the ball was snapped, but it should have been :01. I have to use total duration of the possession and the final down of the possession and the number of before-final downs of the possession to get a rough big picture.
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https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay/_/gameId/401635568
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https://johntreed.com/collections/football-coaching-books/products/football-clock-management-5th-edition-book-by-john-t-reed
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