Rich Rodriguez defends his decision to go for it on fourth down
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is standing by his decision to try and convert a late fourth-and-10 in last week’s loss to Purdue rather than attempt a 37-yard field goal with 4:38 remaining on the clock.
In what turned out to be a turning point in the game, Michigan running back Carlos Brown prepares to lateral the ball to lineman Mark Huyge as he is pulled down two yards short by Purdue's Torri Williams on fourth and ten Saturday.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
“Maybe we would call another play or something that hopefully we would execute,” Rodriguez said at his Monday press conference. “But no, I was really concerned that we weren’t stopping them. That was my biggest concern.
“Normally you’d go ahead and (kick) if you knew you were going to get a three-and-out and get the ball back. But my concern at that point was we hadn’t really done a good job stopping them.”
Michigan (5-5, 1-5) failed to convert the fourth down when Carlos Brown was stopped after an 8-yard run and replays showed his lateral to offensive lineman Mark Huyge was an illegal forward pass.
Purdue finished with 494 yards of offense in the game, but went three-and-out on its last three possessions.
Michigan forced a Purdue punt the drive before it got stopped on downs and held the Boilermakers again on the ensuing possession. Brandon Minor followed with a 1-yard touchdown run, but Michigan missed the two-point conversion and lost, 38-36.
Cornerback Troy Woolfolk was asked about Rodriguez’s lack of faith in the defense Monday.
“Honestly, I’m going to back him because he’s my coach regardless, but I think that he - I don’t know,” Woolfolk said. “That’s an iffy situation. I don’t really want to talk about that. But I just think he made a decision, you can always think about decisions after the fact and make judgments on them, but he made a decision in the time and he thought it was the best one. If he would have got it, everybody would have been praising him.”
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
rightmind250
Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 7:15 p.m.
uminks, Of course we second guess RR. Who wouldn't with half a brain. 3-9, 5-7 in two years. Don't tell me this man is a genious. Last year 2-6 in the B10. This year he's looking at 1-7. Where's the improvement Richrod. 2010 maybe you will be able to climb back to 2-6 in the B10 again. The schedule will be much tougher of course. ND, PSU, OSU all away. No graham, another freshman phenom at QB. As ol RR would say wooo doggy, we just might need another 2 or 3 years. (Wooo Doggy) Hillbilly speak for: I don't have a clue!
LGC15
Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 7:52 a.m.
It matters not whether or not he made a field goal or a bad call. The matter is the once Mighty Wolverines, a storied program and the best in the land, hail! hail! has been decimated in one season to the doormat of the Big Ten. Every record that we proudly witnessed has been broken in just one season! Those records proudly earned by Bo, Moe and even Carr are not distant memories. And, another dismal season and NO Bowl game for Michigan. RR is not a Big Ten caliber coach, he is over his head and wasn't even our first choice. His force feeding the spread offense to recruited Michigan players obviously was not correct. And, it takes our opponents but one quarter to adjust their defense to us. I have been a proud season ticket holder since 1974 and what this WV guy did to our winning program is a travesty. He says rebuild, it was a Championship team until he came what are we rebuilding. Michigan simply reloaded until Rodriquez. He is not a Michigan man and obviously does not fit. What he did to Michigan should have him hiding in embarrassment. Novi Fan #1
rightmind250
Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 6:07 a.m.
Does this surprise anyone? RR admit any type of fault or responsibility? Never. Not the king. I am still hoping he gets out on the field and plays a couple series against Wisky. Maybe qb. I doubt he will question anyone's toughness after the butt kicking. One he needs and deserves.
Mcrazyinsf
Tue, Nov 10, 2009 : 4:12 a.m.
I have no problems with the 4th and 10 call. We'd already missed a FG from about the same distance, and the defense was playing poorly. I understand his decision at that point in the game. My beef is with the 4th and 1 in the previous drive when he decided to kick it away. I realize this was on our side of the field, but I would have liked to see him go for it here. Purdue had just scored, and if we had kept that drive alive and answered their score, that would have been a huge momentum shift.
michboy40
Mon, Nov 9, 2009 : 10:11 p.m.
Bone head move by RR. Plain and simple. If you believe that you cannot stop the other team, then 8 points will not win you the game. Even if you make the 4th n 10, and you score, you are still giving the ball back to the other team with 3:30 left in the game. So, take the three, pray you stop them. and have a chance to win it in the end.
hieyeq
Mon, Nov 9, 2009 : 7:08 p.m.
Even the most staunch Wolverine fan would have to say 4th and ten is a very low percentage move at any time during the game. You can call it gutsy, but 4th and 3 from your own 22 is gutsy, this was a roll of the dice, and unfortunately for UM fans it came up snake eyes. It's getting to the point where desperation is setting in, self doubt, and it won't be long before the finger pointing begins...or was that line "maybe we would call another play or something that hopefully we would execute" the start of the finger pointing? Sounds like the play caller is under scrutiny on this one. Anyway, two tough games remain, and we'll see if the correctable errors get corrected.
MichFanTex
Mon, Nov 9, 2009 : 6:14 p.m.
If they get the 1st down there is still no guarantee that they would score a TD. If they do score a TD there is still the low percentage 2 point conversion to tie. By my count that is three low percentage assumptions. Then there there is the defense RRod was so worried about which would march down the field and either A)kick a FG if time was on the side of Purdue or B)score another TD to go ahead. IOW, at some point RRod had to rely on his defense to stop Purdue and hope Michigan scores at least another FG if not a TD. So, 4th and ten at the twenty...get the FG and rely on that same defense you would have to rely on in any case, to stop Purdue and get the go ahead points. RRod tried to be too cute by half and potentially cost Michigan the game.
heartbreakM
Mon, Nov 9, 2009 : 5:13 p.m.
Coach R has nothing to apologize for going for it. Either on this play or on the 1 inch line at Illinois. That type of attitude instills an aggressive attitude on the team, which is great. Only problem, though, is how they failed on both. That happens. It's the rest of the game that we should be worrying about.
uminks
Mon, Nov 9, 2009 : 3:47 p.m.
If Michigan could take the lead than he should have kicked it. The same people who criticize the play would have criticized RR if he went for the FG and Purdue marched down the field to score another TD. Everyone would be saying, man he should of went for it, what a stupid coach for not going for it and trying to leave it up to our horrid defense to stop them!
chosen1
Mon, Nov 9, 2009 : 2:58 p.m.
that was a gutsy call...and almost worked. and troy's right if it worked he would have been praised and noone would be thinking about what if it didn't work. But to say you don't have faith in your defense (and rightly so) had better be a means of motivation for the next 2 games or this sends a bad message.