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Oregon deliberately put 12 men on the field to give Ohio State less time to get into FG position. The Ploy worked to perfection; Oregon won 32-31

Franisdaman

HB King
Nov 3, 2012
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Heaven, Iowa
Smart? Yeah, I guess. A midseason rule change is probably coming.

The story from the Associated Press:

Too many men: No. 2 Oregon purposely induced late penalty in win over No. 4 Ohio State


October 15, 2024

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — No. 2 Oregon had 12 men on the field late in its 32-31 win over No. 4 Ohio State, with the resulting penalty causing precious seconds to wind off the clock.

Turns out, it was on purpose.

“We spend an inordinate amount of time on situations and some situations don’t come up very often in college football, but this was obviously something we had worked on,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said Monday night. “You can see the result.”

Oregon took the lead with 1:47 left on Atticus Sappington’s 19-yard field goal in Saturday night’s game, giving the Buckeyes time to drive down the field for a potential winning field goal. With Ohio State facing a third-and-25 from Oregon’s 43-yard line, the Ducks called a timeout with 10 seconds left.

Just before the ball was snapped, Oregon defensive back Dontae Manning walked onto the field, giving the Ducks an extra defender. Ohio State failed to complete a pass against Oregon’s 12-man defense on the next play, and the Ducks were flagged for an illegal substitution penalty.

Ohio State gained five yards on the penalty, but lost four seconds off the clock
since the penalty was deemed a live-ball foul. The Buckeyes were left with six seconds on the clock, and quarterback Will Howard scrambled up the middle, sliding a second too late for Ohio State to call a timeout for a potential game-winning field goal at Oregon’s 26.

Lanning’s ploy helped the Ducks win the game and move up to No. 2 in this week’s AP Top 25.

 
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In 1952 Iowa, a three TD underdog, visited South Bend to face the #1 Fighting Irish. Iowa, in Evy's first season, led 7-0 as ND was driving in the waning moments of the first half. Out of timeouts and the clock about to expire, a ND player standing in the huddle suddenly collapsed with ONE second remaining. The extra play resulted in a touchdown to make it 7-7 at the half.

And the same thing happened at the end of the game. Iowa led 14-7 with Notre Dame deep in Iowa territory and time running out, so TWO Notre Dame players suddenly collapsed. Two incomplete passes into the end zone ensued before the third one, with a few seconds left, was good for a TD. But gutless ND kicked the PAT instead of going for two and trying for the win. That tie cost them the national title.

That's why Iowa fans dubbed ND "The Fainting Irish," and it's why a rule change was made before the next season. That the officials allowed such blatant cheating, especially the second time, was outrageous, so much so that here's what Evy told the press about it:

"I hate to turn poet, but I can't help but recite one here: 'When the one great scorer comes to write against our name, he won't ask whether we won or lost, but how come we got gyped at Notre Dame.'"

Lanning's ploy was clever, but it should be outlawed immediately.
 
I like that they included the ability to put time back on the clock under 2 minutes in these situations. But this also could have been avoided if the ref had done his job. There is a clause regarding this specific rule that says that if the ref believes the 12 man penalty was done intentionally, he can add on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for 15 yards in addition to the 5 yard 12 man penalty. This obviously wouldn't have put time back on the clock, but it would have moved OSU close enough that they could have attempted the field goal rather than try to run another play. But I'm glad they're removing that piece of subjectivity and just allowing time to be put back on the clock.
 
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