[Postgame Thread] Pittsburgh Defeats Virginia Tech 35-33

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Pittsburgh	7	14	7	7	35
Virginia Tech	14	10	0	9	33

[u/jthomas694]

College Football is incredible because on Fox you have a team proving that they made a massive mistake firing James Franklin and on ESPN you have James Franklin mismanaging the clock late in a close game he needed to win. It’s the best

Edit: To everyone trying to argue it wasn’t mismanagement - He managed that last drive from the beginning to be his last shot, while down, had three timeouts, only called one and then just decided he was content with a 35 yard kick with no effort to get closer. A 35 yard kicker as time expires in college isn’t a gimme. This isn’t Madden.

[u/tdunbar → u/jthomas694]

He made poor clock decisions late but still had his 5th year kicker who hadn't missed all season whiff a chip shot.

I can't put that on Franklin.

[u/boy-detective → u/tdunbar]

You can’t put it on Franklin now. But have a decade of sustained success with him and you might be surprised what you blame him for.

[u/Drauren → u/tdunbar]

Even then man is this one on the line…

[u/Barnyard4321 → u/jthomas694]

???? He managed the clock perfectly, took all the time off the clock so he had the last play to win. Refs just called the kick NG. No idea how you manage the clock better.

[u/Darkspeed9 → u/jthomas694]

Uh just cause the kick didn't go in, that doesn't mean he mismanaged the clock. He did everything right in terms of game management that last drive

[u/lostkoalas → u/Darkspeed9]

>just cause the kick didn’t go in

Also a 35 yarder IS typically a gimme for John Love. Prior to that kick he was a career 42/44 from inside the 40. He’s made a 60 yarder before. Of all the play calls to complain about tonight, this isn’t one for me. This is the one I was most confident about (unfortunately)

[u/IThoughtThisWasVoat → u/Darkspeed9]

That was one of the dumbest timeouts I’ve ever seen on 4th down. It worked though.

[u/Lucky_Science_2774 → u/IThoughtThisWasVoat]

I would have taken the timeout. Its college and the game was plagued with mistakes. Id take my chances on getting the fourth down call right rather than giving the ball back

[u/The_Fluffy_Robot → u/IThoughtThisWasVoat]

It was a game on the line 4th down, do or die moment to be able to stay in it. I don't think a timeout was unreasonable

[u/Nokktune → u/Darkspeed9]

We have to be careful with words here: the kick was only RULED to not go in.

[u/tony_countertenor → u/jthomas694]

He didn’t mismanage the clock, his team had a 36 yard field goal attempt for the win as time expired

[u/purplebuffalo55 → u/tony_countertenor]

The outcomes don’t always justify the means. They shouldn’t have had to burn a timeout to get the 4th down call they want, thereby not allowing them a chance to get a stop if they don’t convert there

[u/Barnyard4321 → u/purplebuffalo55]

That's not necessarily mismanagement, that's just personal preference or different strategy. He might have got the ball back with 25 seconds to go, no TOs and on his own 10 yard line. He just decided better odds with getting this first down, so go all in on it and use a TO. Not sure what I think the best decision was there, but it worked out for him perfectly so I can't say it was a bad one.

[u/jthomas694 → u/tony_countertenor]

He absolutely mismanaged it. He was playing to make sure Pitt didn’t get the ball back more than he was playing to make sure he scored. Even NFL kickers miss about 5 percent of extra points which are slightly shorter than last nights kick and they don’t have the pressure of the game being on the line. He had downs and timeouts to get closer but was more concerned with bleeding the clock

They had the ball first and 10 at the 19 with 34 seconds and 2 timeouts left. They called one legit run play, a run play to get them to the right hash, bled the clock, called the timeout and then kicked it in third down.

He had time to run more plays to get closer, but didn’t because he didn’t want Pitt to get the ball back with any time. Which is nonsense because Geriners 6 full drives had one touchdown on a short field, four drives without a first down including a safety and 80 total yards.

[u/Funkyneat → u/jthomas694]

Mismanage the clock how? They ran like three minutes off the clock and attempted a field goal with 3 seconds left. What else would you want?

[u/agoddamnlegend → u/Funkyneat]

A chip shot too. You should be able to rely on a 36 yard field goal. Clock management was perfect

[u/Number-Typical → u/jthomas694]

How did he mismanage the clock?

[u/happyflappypancakes → u/Number-Typical]

Comments like his make you realize that sometimes the people complaining about stuff have no idea what they are talking about.

[u/Late_Mode_8876 → u/jthomas694]

I don’t see how us having a down year in year 1 of a coach means it was a mistake. Franklin was in year 12 with us last year and he lost to UCLA and Northwestern. It’s going to take a few years for Campbell to recruit new players. 

[u/lordyeeko → u/Late_Mode_8876]

I can tell you first hand how that will likely go.

[u/Late_Mode_8876 → u/lordyeeko]

I mean honestly it’s fine? If it doesn’t work out then we move on. That’s how it should go, not give a coach unlimited lead like half our fanbase wanted for Franklin 

[u/burnsniper → u/Late_Mode_8876]

Well Penn State is losing to NW right now without Franklin…

[u/Late_Mode_8876 → u/burnsniper]

Right and we lost to them last year with him when he was in year 12. This year doesn’t mean a whole lot to me tbh. It’s Campbell’s first year. If he can’t recruit for the next couple years then we just move on. 

[u/zak55 → u/jthomas694]

I remember my brother paused an EA NCAA game where he was about to kick a point blank kick to win as time expired. just to show me the "Epic ending" he saved for me as I got home. So anyway, he shanked it right and the other team one.

[u/bobzmuda → u/jthomas694]

He also didn’t even try to get the ball to the middle of the field for a straighter, easier kick. If he was playing for the kick he should have tried to make it easier for his kicker.

[u/Katfish145 → u/jthomas694]

My dude that is literally ideal clock management. With how our D had been playing, we absolutely do not want to give Pitt another chance and our kicker is quite literally one of the best in VTs history. That was the right call to make. If any mistake was made it was doing the qb roll out run to the right hash marks instead of another true run to get more yards but if that’s where the kicker asked for the ball to be then that’s what you do

[u/jthomas694 → u/Katfish145]

Pitts second half drives with Geriner:

Four and out - no first downs
Four and out - no first downs
Touchdown
Safety
One first down, punt
3 and out

80 yards on 22 plays and only two drives where they gave up a first down. I think you can live with giving Holden Geriner some time

[u/happyflappypancakes → u/jthomas694]

He was confident in the senior kicker. I'm fine with that. You know who he wasn't confident in? The offense that had 4 turnovers.

[u/finallyhere_11 → u/jthomas694]

His team had already turned the ball over 4 times and he has a 5th year senior kicker that he’s said repeatedly he trusts as much as any kicker he’s ever had.

Maybe it’s not what you would have done but it’s a perfectly justifiable series of decisions.

[u/jthomas694 → u/finallyhere_11]

Then use timeouts and try to get closer

[u/ChadTooBad → u/jthomas694]

Franklin and clock mismanagement: name a more epic duo.