Of course. If I had told you the ball would be at the Alabama 5 or you could take a chance and go for 4th down what would you do? I would punt.
LSU came oh-so-close to not even having to punt in that game. The 4th and 1 where we got the first down but had a delay a game. The CEH stretch that should have been overturned for a first down. The overthrown pass do all wide open WR on 3rd and 5. That was it.
If I had told you you have the choice of either playing the game out or I'll give you Alabama having only 27 points scored on offense with a minute and a half to go in the game. What would you take? Be honest. I'll hope y'all realize we were playing the exact same explosive offense as LSU's in this game. This wasn't Auburn.
Think about the trade you're making in the moment. You can either trust your team to get one yard. A new set of downs demoralizes that defense, and that crowd. Or, you can give up possession, and trust a defense that regularly gets burned for big plays. Yes, it's a risk. But something like 75% of 4th and 1 plays are converted. When the odds are in your favor, when you have the chance to TAKE something from your opponent, rather than GIVE it back - that's when you place your bet.
I’d take the first (f Bama). Aranda hasn’t just struggled vs Bama, it’s been a lot of the year. That said, we’re better now than game 1, and pretty damn strong against 1D running teams (Ole Miss).
It’s a tough choice IMO. We’ve tried and failed several short yardage conversions. For some damn reason we run a lot of slow developing runs in those situations. The fact that Aranda hasn’t shut down much makes it harder to chose to play field position, especially against a dynamic offense.
I can't say that LSU would have definitely converted. I can't say that if they did, they would have scored. But just having the CHANCE, holding all of the cards, wanting to keep Tua, Jeudy, Smith and Najee's asses on the bench - I just can't get on board with punting it away with the chance to go up 40-13 and send about one-third of their fans back to the parking lot. Try making noise now. The opponent is bleeding, badly. You hold the sword. The death blow is near if you want to take it. Take it.
You're either lying or foolish, take your pick. On one hand you're saying Aranda has been a bit of a disaster this year and then you follow that up with saying I'll take my chances holding Bama under 27 points in the waning seconds of the game. That's some conflicting s*** right there.
I’m not into betting with half info. I was worried about Aranda going in, but more worried that O/E were going to call a conservative game.
More worried about our play calling on offense than Aranda on defense? Interesting... I thought exactly the opposite. In fact my prediction was 45-34 Alabama if Tua played the entire game. I didn't hold out a lot of hope that we would hold down Alabama's offense.
