Fourth-down gambles paid off for Bulls

A pair of fourth-down gambles played huge roles in USF's 30-19 win against No. 20 West Virginia, with the first setting up the Bulls' first touchdown and a bigger gamble leading to USF's final points.

After the victory, USF coach Jim Leavitt recognized both the importance of going for it and also the incredible risk involved, should the Bulls not have converted.

"It's pretty stupid to do what I did I think, probably," Leavitt said. "First time, it was really probably foolish, but we got it. I really wanted to get a spark going and something happening. ... It really opened up the game."

The first fourth down came on USF's first drive, as the Bulls, already trailing 7-0, faced a fourth and 1 from its 49. The Bulls lined up with three running backs -- Mo Plancher, with Mike Ford and Richard Kelly lined up as blocking backs. All three backs ran to the left side, with Ford getting a key block to help Plancher gain 2 yards for the first down. On the next play, the Bulls scored as B.J. Daniels found Carlton Mitchell open for a 49-yard touchdown.

The bigger risk came on the second play of the fourth quarter, as USF led 27-19 and faced another fourth and 1, from its own 41. Daniels had hit Bogan for a 6-yard gain, and Leavitt was unhappy with the spot from the officials, who took a measurement and found the Bulls an inch short.

"I was not going to let that ball placement stop us," Leavitt said. "That just bothered me. That was more me just being angry. You've got to be careful. If a person punted in that situation, they're probably doing the right thing. All you have to do is bobble the snap, they get a push or something like that, and all the sudden, you lose a football game. I thought we had that first down. I was sitting there going 'That far? You've got to be kidding me.'"

West Virginia stacked the line of scrimmage, but Daniels got just enough on a straightahead keeper to get the first down. Seven plays later and with nearly three minutes off the clock, USF got a 44-yard field goal from kicker Eric Schwartz to make it a two-score lead for the Bulls.

USF entered the game second in the nation in fourth-down conversion percentage, having converted 6 of 7 previous fourth-down attempts -- only Central Florida (2-for-2) had been better. West Virginia's opponents had converted on just four of 10 fourth-down attempts before Friday's game.

West Virginia, by comparison, was cautious -- facing a fourth and 1 at the USF 38 in the first quarter, the Mountaineers opted to punt, setting up a safety, and on the drive before USF's second fourth-down gamble, West Virginia had a fourth and 8 at the USF 33, but opted to punt. The punt went into the end zone for a touchback, so the Mountaineers gave up a chance at a game-tying score to ultimately get 13 yards in field position.

Leavitt said the risks of being second-guessed keep many coaches from taking such gambles, but he felt he needed to go for it, to take a chance to help his team win.

"Even if you get ridiculed for those things, people don't worry about it as much, because you win," he said. "You lose, then you have to go jump off the Skyway or something. I don't mean that, but ... when it works, the decisions, it's OK. If it doesn't, then you might as well forget it, because you're done. You can't do those things."

Comments

[David Weber]

It wasn't dumb, Jim, it wasn't dumb. I was happy that we'd finally grown a pair and took a risk. Those two drives were crucial to the win. Just handing the ball back without a fight would have been a poor choice. On the first 4th down attempt, we had just let WVU march down the field with ease. What if they had been able to maintain that momentum? It wouldn't have mattered if they started from their 15 or our 40- they probably would have scored. Instead, the big play to Mitchell soon after the conversion deflated WVU and made the game equal again. From that point out, it really was our game to lose.

[Pancho]

It's crazy to go for it in those situations but I was thinking the same as Leavitt (to go for it). I felt that with the first one, you are down quickly and you can't afford to let the game get out of hand quickly; they needed a spark, so they should go for it. I think that play was the turning point of the game and may have resulted in the Bulls win.

[Steve O'Neal]

I didn't think they should have gone for it either and told my buddy so. I said I hope I'm wrong....thank God I was. I agree Ari it set the tone for the game and really pumped up the team when they scored because of it. Hopefully we go to Rutgers and get another monkey off our back with a "Thursday" night victory against the scarlet knights. GO BULLS!

[Ari Hinkelberger]

The 4th and 1 call in the first quarter when we were down 7-0 and we were on our own 49 yard line was pure crazy, but I understand what he was doing.

He was thinking --- we've got to win this game - got to get something going - i can't punt the ball away and watch them drive down the field on me. Go for it.

It was stupid - but it worked out to be a key reason why we won the game. have to figure that it was a major reason we prevailed.