BYU football handled business at home against Iowa State, winning with a final score of 24-10 and advancing to 5-0 -- unblemished as they approach a top-10 matchup with Notre Dame next Saturday.
I do not purport to be a football coach. I can't call plays. I don't understand formations, personnel, substitutions, or strategy, and I have zero experience from the sidelines -- unless you count my legendary run as co-head coach of a powder puff football team, but they went winless during my tenure.
So please do not take it the wrong way when I deliver this piece of criticism; Kalani Sitake is doing an outstanding job with the BYU football program. Miraculous, even.
But when I watched the Cougars go 0-for-3 on fourth-and-short against Iowa State on Friday night, I'm left begging, pleading, for Kalani Sitake to just take the points.
Kick the field goal!
Kalani Sitake is playing too aggressive with BYU football
The first failed fourth-down conversion came in the second quarter, when the Cougars had marched the football down to the Iowa State 5-yard line and opted to attack the end zone in an all-or-nothing swing.
Bachmeier's pass sailed just out of Legend Glasker's reach. They packed up shop and returned to the sidelines empty-handed.
Then again on the following possession, Journee Tonga was stuffed short of the line to gain at the ISU 46-yard line. Though the result was disappointing, the Cougars stood in no man's land -- textbook "four-down territory", if you will. This swing was completely justifiable.
And it seemed like the Cougars had learned their lesson later in the third quarter, when Dunn lined up and drilled a kick that put his team ahead 17-3... until the Cyclones were flagged for an offsides penalty and gave BYU just one yard to go to collect a first down.
Anticipating the opportunity, Sitake didn't hesitate. Reactively nodding and pointing toward the field, he would attack a third fourth-and-short opportunity while the scoreboard hung suspended at the same 14-3 split.
As if desperate to prove a point, Sitake again rolled the offense back out onto the field, where another end zone shot hit the dirt, sealing a 12-play, 97-yard drive with a goose egg.
Did anyone listen to D. Todd Christofferson's counsel last weekend? Why is Sitake so intent on gambling?
It's not my place to backseat coach -- again, I would be hopeless wearing a headset, and I'm sure Kalani Sitake has put plenty of consideration into his team's strategy.
But when the team is 0-for-4 on fourth downs this season, I don't like those odds against a near-guarantee of 3 points. When the drive nearly stalls around midfield, I completely support the decision to keep the punter on the sideline and take a low-risk leap. But when comfortably within field goal range, don't roll the dice. Walk away a winner.
A cautionary tale from Holy Wars of old
I'm reminded of last season's Holy War against Utah, a game in which Kalani Sitake and Kyle Whittingham traded excessive fourth-down attempts in a futile game of chicken.
Despite standing a stone's throw -- or a football's kick -- away from the goal posts, Utah went aggressive again and again, turning several red zone trips into a turnover-on-downs.
The Utes suffered four failed attempts on fourth down that day. Three times while within the BYU 30-yard line. That's a comfortable field-goal range.
In a game where the Utes fell short by just three points, those potential 9 points will haunt that program for eternity. A singular question echoes through the halls of history: Why didn't you just take the points?
BYU controlled the scoreboard against Iowa State from start to finish this past Friday; going 0-for-3 on fourth down didn't harm the Cougars' chances of winning in a 24-10 final. But Notre Dame will stand on the sideline opposite BYU in a week's time. Against an opponent of that caliber, every point will matter.
So I make my final plea. When you've earned the right to leave the field with points, don't roll the dice.
Kick the field goal.
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