I'm glad you responed to this, Terry. Each and every time someone points out that Prothro shattered his leg... In the fourth quarter... With a 28 point freaking lead (at home, no less)... and someone asks, you know, why on earth was one of your best players still in a game that was way past over, Bamafan acts as if it's the stupidest question on earth. Since everyone who lives outside of a 60 mile radius of Tuscaloosa thinks it's a damn good question, I'd like a Bama fan's take on why the rest of us are so dumb on this and youse guys are so right.
The biggest problem I have with people describing this as a mistake was the WR depth situation at the time. We were rotating 6 at the time, and it just so happened that Pro was in on that particular down. (recall, WR numbers were low, and young...virutally 2 in the slot position) It was a 4th down call. It was supposed/designed to be a situation where we'd either get the first, run the clock down (close to 10 min left) or leave them around the 28 yard line. Florida lined up wrong. The route was open, we took the chance. It was a freak injury, no doubt. Play that same situation another 100 times and it probably doesn't happen again. What's an offense suppose to do when a defensive unit leaves such a thing so wide open? Ignore it? That's why I think putting blame on the WR rotation/coaching staff is unfounded. The amount of the lead at the time have nothing to do with it. I feel for Ty. I also tend to listen to what he has to say more so than people outside of this 60 mile radius you refer to.
I know fans like to point fingers when a player is injured but when have you known of a coach pulling a perfectly healthy player to keep him from being injured. When the game is out of reach and the losing team has thrown in the towel then the winning team pulls players out of respect, most of the time. I think players like to play and coaches like to win. I have never heard a good coach say we pulled a star player who was healthy to keep him from getting injured.
Thanks for taking the time to explain this a bit, Terry. Lack of WR depth is a better reason for Ty still being in the game than anything else I've heard the past two years...though I still think you at least limit the snaps your studs get when you have such a large lead that late in the game. (PS- As for the "what's the offense to do" in that situation, there's this guy called the "punter" who, from time to time, gets used in 4th down situations from inside your own 30, up by 28 and with 10 minutes left in the game...unless you're in the CFL, of course. This, of course, brings me back to the "Mike Shula's an idiot" point I made initially...but calling Mike an idiot is a tad redundant, IMO.)
Specifically, it was lack of depth in the slot back position...where Ty lined up most of the time. FWIW, I would put my best rcvrs on the field if I was trying to get a 4th down as well...just to keep the D spread. *side note: the formation on that play was the same formation on both sides (O for Bama and D for UF) as the touchdown on the first play of the game...also to Pro for 80+ yardss. You know, the thing is, Shula isn't an idiot. He understands the game of football. Obtuse combined with a large degree of stubborness...he had that in spades.
Yes, Ben Wilkerson lost his pro career on the last play of the game (tight, though it had been) against Vandy. Matt Mauck was lost for the year in '02 when we had a similar lead as Bama had against Florida (also in the 4th quarter). And one can definitely argue that Mauck was really coming into his game at that point, and we'd probably have finished a whole lot better than we did with him at the helm. These things happen.
