I guess it was Nick's call to spike the ball at the end. Whoever called for the spike lost their composure and panicked. There was time there to even run the ball and then throw it 3 times.
I don't know if that was Saban's call. I seriously doubt it. Saban wouldn't choke in that position. He's been there before. I think it was probably Russell who made the bad decision and choked, b/c he's young and inexperienced in big games. That was the single play that lost the game though, which sucks. Had they run another 30 seconds off the clock, Iowa woulnd't have been able to score that TD. There were a lot of other plays in the game that could have affected the outcome of the game, but I'm saying at that point, they had the game won. All they needed to do was move the ball about 3 yards and run a minute off the clock in the process. The one way they could screw that up was to give the ball back with enough time for Iowa to score, and that's what they did. They should have learned their lesson to years ago at Arkansas, but then again, Russell wasn't around for that. It's hard to blame him though, since he's the main reason they were in a position to win anyway. I'm not saying Randall couldn't have scored those late drives, cuz he's done that several times this year, but with him injured, Russell was the only hope, and he played really well. It's not worth being upset over. We lost on a lucky play to a very good team. Our starting QB and our best defensive player were out of the game. We have a lot of talented young players and I truly believe that Miles or whoever is the new coach will have success next year. It may take a couple of years to realistically be back in national championship contention, but I think we've got a program and players who we can be proud of for years to come.
I feel that LSU spiking the ball wasn't the only bad call. They shouldn't have put Flynn in the game! It should have been JaMarcus Russell in the game not Flynn! Flynn was only in for 2 drives and I think it cost us for doing that!
Russell was looking toward the bench for a play signal so I'm pretty sure it was one of the coaches that called for the spike.
Oh, I don't know. I thought the blocked punt for a touchdown played a bigger part in that. Take seven points away from Iowa and what's the score? I realize they were able to overcome it and I also agree that more time should've been run off the clock at the end, but still... Man, someone please tell me why Derek Dooley wasn't replaced as special teams coach? It really should've happened last year. Is this really the guy Saban wants doing the same job in the NFL?
Spiking the ball turned out not to be a choke call. It's only a choke call if you don't score on 2nd, 3rd, or 4th down. We scored, so the spiking of the ball is irrelevant. No intelligent coach in the world would be thinking about how much time he wants to leave for the other team, especially when you're playing a very good defense. You have got to think about scoring and that's it. Let the defense do its job. If someone gets tackled not in the end zone, you're looking at a run off of about 20 seconds because the Iowa players are gonna pin you for as long as possible, and then you have to get set and the refs have to set the ball as well. Scoring is the priority, not how much time to leave for the other team. But yes, the spiking of the ball is stupid.
I thought Russell panicked and spiked the ball. Saban looked angry that he had done it. I agree the punt block was huge, and it cost us the game. We had one blocked last year by OK in the Nat. Chamionship that cost us 7 pts. The special teams coach has not been good the last couple of years. That job needed an upgrade.
LSU came back after being 24-12 and came within a nat's hair of winning this thing. Our team will learn from this and be all the more stronger next year. Think about it: Auburn is SEC Champ, Tennessee # 2, Georgia # 3, and LSU # 4. Iowa was Big Ten Champ and we almost beat their a**. I'm proud of our Tigers and look forward to an even better season next year. Arrived on Top. There to Stay. LSU Football is what college football is all about. Go Tigers.
Well if Saban didn't want Russell to spike the ball, he should have run out a few steps on the field and called him voer to the sidelines. Since the clock had plenty of time on it for 4 plays from the 3 yard line, the coaching staff failed to handle the clock properly.
