It was literally 4th and 8 inches! My head almost exploded when he did not go for it...I was shocked. Deepest backfield in the country.
My bigger contention was how often we were seemingly unaware of where the first down was. I can think of twice that Mett should have been able to pick it up and once that Landry backtracked when he could have picked it up, both times on 3rd down.
I noticed this especially with Mett two times. He was unaware of where he had to go and slid before securing the first down.
Hopefully that is something that comes with experience. Both times were at critical points in the game.
They were, indeed. Jamarcus didn't become adept at picking up critical first downs with his feet until his junior year. JL NEVER did. And it's a problem.
I hope this is not the case, but it seemed to me that Mett was more aware of where the chains were, but was completely uncomfortable running and seemed scared to commit to that decision perhaps in fear of being hit.. He started and stopped so many times it just struck me as nervous energy not pointed in any one direction. It was bad. Hopefully this was just a sense of jitters first time starting on the road in the SEC, but it was visible.
I agree, but Mettenberger has probably been ordered by the coaches to slide and save his body. No first down is worth a season-ending injury to a starting QB. Not to the coaches.
