Field Goal Time Trial

Watching CU's fire drill of a field goal attempt reminded me of a
discussion I heard during an NFL broadcast in the last month or so
about exactly what CU tried to do.

The color man was a former
coach, and while watching an NFL team successfully execute a
no-time-outs-and-the-clock-is-rolling field goal try at the end of the
first half, coach explained exactly what we saw Saturday: A team needs
a minimum of 20 seconds in such a situation to get aFG try off before the clock runs out, ideally 22 or 23.

A whole bunch of things have to happen in that time: the offense needs to get off the field; FG
unit onto the field, lineup and set; kicker run 35 or 40 yards, find
his mark and set; and the officials need to get the ball from the
offensive player who couldn't get out of bounds, mark the spot, get
another ball to the hash, set it, get the original ball off the field,
check the down and distance marker, get back into their correct
position for aFG try, get the offense set, and start the play clock. That is a bunch of crap in a small amount of time.

As
I recall, the Buffs tried to do all that not in 25 or 20 seconds but
12. 12! Half the recommended time. Honestly, it probably took the far
side guard 10 seconds to run from the sideline to his spot and get into
his stance. If the refs really wanted to get picky, I bet CU had
offensive players still scrambling to the sideline at the snap, leaving
them with too many men on the field. It looked like a hockey line
change gone bad. In other words, there was no way CU could legally make
the play work. They were going against the laws of football physics,
and they lost- literally.

Given the way the refs have influenced the end of the last two season home closers, Mizzou can't too excited about being the Senior Day opponent in '08, no?

Peterclone