Indiana's decision to go for two

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Ron Johnson Super Fan

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Anybody else think Indiana screwed up by going for two after the scored their last touchdown with around five minutes left? At the time I thought they should kick the extra point because if Minnesota ends up scoring a touchdown then they could win it with a field goal. Going for two puts them up two scores but with only five minutes left and the new onside kick rules it seems unlikely that Minnesota would have had enough time to get two field goal attempts anyway. As it played out if they had kicked the extra point they could have been setting up for the game winning field goal instead of running the play they fumbled on.

Thoughts?
 

The way their offense was shredding our defense, I wouldn't have gone for 2 the first time, though I think it was very understandable to want to tie the game in the 4th. I have no idea why they went for 2 the second time. Cost them the game, really.
 

Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
Anybody else think Indiana screwed up by going for two after the scored their last touchdown with around five minutes left? At the time I thought they should kick the extra point because if Minnesota ends up scoring a touchdown then they could win it with a field goal. Going for two puts them up two scores but with only five minutes left and the new onside kick rules it seems unlikely that Minnesota would have had enough time to get two field goal attempts anyway. As it played out if they had kicked the extra point they could have been setting up for the game winning field goal instead of running the play they fumbled on.

Thoughts?
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Was thinking the same. Really dumb move.
 

Yep, I thought the same thing. With the way their offense was rolling it was the wrong call by Wilson.
 

Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
Anybody else think Indiana screwed up by going for two after the scored their last touchdown with around five minutes left? At the time I thought they should kick the extra point because if Minnesota ends up scoring a touchdown then they could win it with a field goal. Going for two puts them up two scores but with only five minutes left and the new onside kick rules it seems unlikely that Minnesota would have had enough time to get two field goal attempts anyway. As it played out if they had kicked the extra point they could have been setting up for the game winning field goal instead of running the play they fumbled on.

Thoughts?
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That was a terrible decision on their part, no it was insane. I guess they were getting greedy. The big problem was the math. The extra point for them didn't matter but the lost point did. I took a peek at an Indiana forum and some sympathizers were saying that the Gophers could have gone for 2 anyway after their last TD. Nice try but that seems highly unlikely. Why would you go for 2 when you can go ahead by 1 with an extra point?
 


It made sense to me at the time because kicking the extra point and being up 5 isn't really any better than failing the two point conversion and being up 4, and if they made the two point conversion and been up 6, two field goals would have only tied them and not given us the lead. At the time though I forgot to take into account the amount of time left in the game and so us kicking two field goals at that point in the game would have been incredibly unlikely. Assuming another Gopher touchdown (which ended up happening), having completed the two point conversion and being down 1 is no better than being down 2 after kicking an extra point, assuming the Hoosiers were not counting on getting a game-winning safety. Either position allows for a game winning field goal at the end.

It was probably a mental lapse on the coach's part. It made sense to me at the time, but in hindsight and after thinking it over a little more, kicking an extra point would have likely been a less risky and better decision.
 

AEmerson40 said:
The way their offense was shredding our defense, I wouldn't have gone for 2 the first time, though I think it was very understandable to want to tie the game in the 4th. I have no idea why they went for 2 the second time. Cost them the game, really.
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My thoughts exactly, and I was thinking so at the time. "Mistakes were made" is the way I would put it. Going for it the second time was an absolutely dreadful decision.
 

I thought it was a terrible decision at the time because it took the game winning FG out of their hands on that last drive, but I can understand it now a little more. If IU gets the conversion, they're up six. With five and a half minutes left, there was certainly enough time left for the Gophers to get a FG, a stop, and another FG before time expired without having to recover an onside kick. Clearly the outcome that happened, Gophers score a TD and IU drives down the field, was also something with a decent chance of occurring.

The IU coaches played to prevent the 2-FG scenario and guessed wrong.
 

If Indiana kicks the extra point and goes ahead 40-35, the Gophers would have went for 2 after the go ahead TD. It still may have been a 3 point game......or a 1 point game.
 



Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
Anybody else think Indiana screwed up by going for two after the scored their last touchdown with around five minutes left? At the time I thought they should kick the extra point because if Minnesota ends up scoring a touchdown then they could win it with a field goal. Going for two puts them up two scores but with only five minutes left and the new onside kick rules it seems unlikely that Minnesota would have had enough time to get two field goal attempts anyway. As it played out if they had kicked the extra point they could have been setting up for the game winning field goal instead of running the play they fumbled on.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

They can't see into the future. If they could then yes they would have done it differently.
 

Gopher in Qatar said:
If Indiana kicks the extra point and goes ahead 40-35, the Gophers would have went for 2 after the go ahead TD. It still may have been a 3 point game......or a 1 point game.
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Exactly. It was a stupid decision, but it would not have automatically meant they would have had a game-winning FG attempt.
 

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