Should we have just gone for the TD at the end?

[Matt3467]

I can't believe this is an actual discussion.

[Todd4State]

My bad. Brain is a little fuzzy. I'm in the hospital and my daughter was born earlier this morning. I was thinking from a different spot.

Anyone that says chances of scoring a TD from the 23 yard line is better than making a 40 yard FG is living in crazy town. 20% of getting 23 yards in one try is absurd.

I'll say it again. It's no surprise certain people in this board don't or have never coached. When you say things like this it's obvious why you don't coach. I still can't believe multiple people in this fan base support a 23 yard pass attempt to win a game over a 40 yard FG to tie a game.

Leach made the correct call based on analytics.

But I can understand why people would think that a Hail Mary wouldn't be a bad option. Our kickers are THAT bad.

[Quaoarsking]

I can't believe this is an actual discussion.

It doesn't help that most people don't seem to realize

• We were only 22 yards away from the TD, so there wouldn't be any "Hail Mary"-type play.
• Even if we'd made the field goal, we only go to Overtime. It's not a question of which is more likely to be successful on a one-play basis, but which is more likely to lead us to a win.

[Matt3467]

It doesn't help that most people don't seem to realize

• We were only 22 yards away from the TD, so there wouldn't be any "Hail Mary"-type play.
• Even if we'd made the field goal, we only go to Overtime. It's not a question of which is more likely to be successful on a one-play basis, but which is more likely to lead us to a win.

Maybe it's not a typical Hail Mary but it wouldn't be defended any different. We would absolutely have to score there so 8-9 defensive players would've been at/or behind the goal line when the pass is in the air. If Leach goes for the TD there and misses I can guarantee that this board would still be in a melt down instead it would be "Leach is an idiot for not going for the FG, etc, etc."

It's no question our kickers suck but regardless they're expected to be able to make those kicks. It's unreal that an SEC school has almost the worst fg kicking in college football. McCord's long this year was 39yds this was a 40yd kick. Ruiz had already shown he couldn't perform so I don't have an issue with Leach trying McCord. Again the meltdown would still be going on if Ruiz had attempted and missed and some would probably even say "why not let McCord try?" You can't win for losing with some of these people.

*Apparently Ruiz wasn't too bothered by missing two kicks, costing us the game, and being benched on the last kick as he was all smiles and laughs on the sideline. That gave me the impression he didn't care one bit.

[Todd4State]

Maybe it's not a typical Hail Mary but it wouldn't be defended any different. We would absolutely have to score there so 8-9 defensive players would've been at/or behind the goal line when the pass is in the air. If Leach goes for the TD there and misses I can guarantee that this board would still be in a melt down instead it would be "Leach is an idiot for not going for the FG, etc, etc."

It's no question our kickers suck but regardless they're expected to be able to make those kicks. It's unreal that an SEC school has almost the worst fg kicking in college football. McCord's long this year was 39yds this was a 40yd kick. Ruiz had already shown he couldn't perform so I don't have an issue with Leach trying McCord. Again the meltdown would still be going on if Ruiz had attempted and missed and some would probably even say "why not let McCord try?" You can't win for losing with some of these people.

*Apparently Ruiz wasn't too bothered by missing two kicks, costing us the game, and being benched on the last kick as he was all smiles and laughs on the sideline. That gave me the impression he didn't care one bit.

You're correct about all of this.

I did wonder if Leach made his comment because of how some of our kickers have been acting on the sideline. I sit behind the kickers at our games and most of the time they're cutting up and goofing off. Tucker Day being the biggest offender. I wouldn't be surprised if Leach has had enough of that along with their poor performances.

[defiantdog]

The kicker didn?t 17 this up - it was a bad snap/hold

And the holder is the one who can't punt it but 20 yards..... Dude must be point shaving us.

[DAWG1903]

Maybe it's not a typical Hail Mary but it wouldn't be defended any different. We would absolutely have to score there so 8-9 defensive players would've been at/or behind the goal line when the pass is in the air. If Leach goes for the TD there and misses I can guarantee that this board would still be in a melt down instead it would be "Leach is an idiot for not going for the FG, etc, etc."

It's no question our kickers suck but regardless they're expected to be able to make those kicks. It's unreal that an SEC school has almost the worst fg kicking in college football. McCord's long this year was 39yds this was a 40yd kick. Ruiz had already shown he couldn't perform so I don't have an issue with Leach trying McCord. Again the meltdown would still be going on if Ruiz had attempted and missed and some would probably even say "why not let McCord try?" You can't win for losing with some of these people.

*Apparently Ruiz wasn't too bothered by missing two kicks, costing us the game, and being benched on the last kick as he was all smiles and laughs on the sideline. That gave me the impression he didn't care one bit.

This is how I see it as well.....Leach was in a no win situation with fans. But, yes, you kick the field goal.

[tcdog70]

No but Ruiz should have kicked

Mc Cord kicked our last 2 extra points

[PikeDawg15]

in retrospect of course because we missed it ( missed it very badly)

The simple fact is that an SEC school should have at least 2 kickers on the roster than can consistently make field goals that are within 40 yards

Outside of the AFC and NFC we are the best league

The kicker at Oregon State yesterday made a kick that was a 60 yarder that woulda been good from over 70 yards...

I think our problem is that in the south nobody gives a shit about soccer so we don't have many great kickers available here.

We gotta go grab one from the transfer portal or just simply recruit one... Leach should still have some west coast connections ( possibly texas too)

If that game was played in starkville, we win by 2 touchdowns

17 em all

[BayouDawg]

Mc Cord kicked our last 2 extra points

Yep. Ruiz must have told the coaches he wasnt healthy. Ive never seen a kicker so injury prone