[Husker] Callahan's timeout before the game-winning FG

[Rod Wellman]

I was at the game.  NU was having difficulty getting personnel on the  
field.  One player was still running on as the play clock was winding  
down.  Better to call a time out than to get a penalty for not having  
all the linemen set before the snap.

Yes, not having the correct personnel on the field IS really a  
coaching or organizational thing.  I also saw a kick-off situation  
where we only had 10 players, and the 11th ran onto the field at the  
last second.  This type of thing reminds me of Solich's first year,  
when everyone was saying, "well, it's his first year as head coach".   
I've noticed these types of lack of organization and "football  
basics" with the Callahan coaching staff last year AND this year.  I  
expected more from a seasoned NFL coach.

Rod W.
Sioux City, Ia.

On Nov 12, 2005, at 9:36 PM, Pat Gaule wrote:

> I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but I was absolutely  
> baffled by this at the time.  With the clock running down and  
> Nebraska getting ready to kick what would be the game-winning field  
> goal, Callahan inexplicably called timeout with *15* seconds left  
> on the playclock.  There's really only two realistic outcomes for  
> the following play:
>
> 1.) NU misses the field goal and how much time on the clock becomes  
> irrelevant since we can't stop it.
> 2.) NU makes the field goal and gives the ball back to Kansas  
> State.  In this instance, we'd want them to have as little time as  
> possible.
>
> This is where the problem is.  Callahan gave K-state an extra 15  
> seconds to try and win the game.  It did not make a difference at  
> all, but you simply can't afford to give teams 2+ extra plays when  
> a field goal is enough to beat you.  Common sense dictates that you  
> find the nearest referee, and call a timeout with exactly 1 second  
> left on the playclock.  What I found even more baffling was that  
> Callahan seemed oblivious to this fact in his post-game interview.   
> Referring to the timeout, he said "I must be the first coach in  
> history to ice his own kicker! ha ha"...apparently not even  
> realizing that the problem with that timeout wasn't that it was  
> called, but *when* it was called.
>
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