BTN standout plays Queiro #3
- Thread starter phatcat
- Start date
I find it interesting that so many people don't understand why he didn't run any further.
Remember our famous shootout against UM where the Atrain fumbled when just taking a knee would have ended the game?
Remember our famous shootout against UM where the Atrain fumbled when just taking a knee would have ended the game?
Had it been a one score rather than a two score game, then falling to the ground nearly immediately (as he did) was the smartest play.
However, given the situation, the absolute smartest thing to do would have been to keep running down the sideline and then out of bounds deep in Stanford territory and/or if a Stanford player managed to get within ten yards. Your offense (that predominately operates out of the shotgun) still has to conventionally snap the ball a couple of times, so there is some risk of a fumbled snap. You'd (theoretically) rather take that risk deep in SU territory than deep in NU territory. (Yes, I realize this is meteor falling on Ryan field type of probability hair splitting.)
While it was "technically" still a smart play and I understand it, I still would have been pleased to see the pick-6 with an emphatic 23-6 final score, which would have better represented NU's total domination on the day. I'm pretty confident SU (or the New England Patriots) could not score 17 points in a minute with no timeouts. That would require 2 TDs, 1 FG and 2 successful onside kicks inside of 1 minute. Not gonna happen. At the very least, the probability is lower than the probability that the pre-game skydiver veers of course and lands on and seriously injures a fan. And despite that risk, NU still apparently felt entertaining the crowd with a pregame skydiver was worth the risk.
Had Stanford still had all 3 timeouts (which they didn't), falling to the ground inside your own 20 yard line (when you had an otherwise easy TD) up only 10 would not have been the smartest play IMO. I hope the players and sideline realized that.
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Or it could have been 24-6 following a successful 2 point conversion, reminiscent of the 2 pointer Harbaugh and Stanford inflicted on USC when the Trojans were in the middle of their scholarship restrictions! Sort of like UNL losing on a Hail Mary!
Put it in the endzone already. That said its the perfect situation to pull a hammy. But in the unlikely event that we run the table and lose in the BIG championship, and stanford plays really good ball, then 23-6 looks a helluva lot better to those who determine playoffs than 16-6. Especially if stanford really sucks. Never take points off the board when politics is at play.
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I agree MR. I was pissed that he went down when no one on the Stanford team was within twenty yards of him. Admittedly I thought Stanford still had a timeout but even without one the situation dictated to keep the clock running, at least until the opposing team has a tackler within 5 yards of you. I still remember the bonehead play by the Packers in the playoffs that enabled the Seahawks to get back in the game. Did someone on our sidelines signal for Queiro to go down or did he do it himself?
I can see it your way and defer to your experience, MRcat. I was immediately yelling for Quiero to take a slide or go OOB during the play. It was certainly an unselfish thing to do, and he was running along our sideline so he probably got some direction on what to do as well.
There is the definite possibility of fumbling and he may not have known if there was anyone nearby - the WR he snatched it away from could've been chasing right behind him, for all he knew. If someone had an angle on him that he could see, it is probably best to down it.
In addition, if we get a pick six then miss the PAT, that's still a 2 score game. If we give up a TD on the ensuing KOR and a 2 pt conversion then what do we have? Stanford ready for onside kick down by one score.
The other things that could happen are injury, fumbling out of the opposite end zone, etc.
I thought I saw a coach on the sideline (perhaps Marty Long) motion for him to slide. Again, I don't think that was clearly wrong.
We're also talking about this situation like it's a chess move when you only have a millisecond to make a judgement (like a video game of Frogger.)
No doubt the best move was to not try to be a hero for a typical type of interception in that situation. However, this particular pick was unusual in that it occurred dozens of yards from the nearest opposing player with a wide open lane to the end zone. I also had a birds eye view of the defenders from sky that Quiro and the sideline did not have.
He said in his interview that they are coached every Thursday to go down in those situations. He then said he caught Pat's eye and knew he had to go down. Finally, he said there was no doubt he would have scored!
Well in Harbaugh's case, it was against USC, so that kind of bevavior was more than justified.
