not to mention both timeouts were taken with the clock already stopped...my beef was a TO should have been taken after one of the running plays on Duke's final possession to save more time for Pitt if Duke had tied the game...Am I crazy, or did I see Baer and Jacoby playing defense on the first two-point conversion attempt by Duke? Seemed like it may have caught us by surprise and we had an odd mix of base defenders and the extra point (of the kicking variety) team out there. I'm surprised we didn't call a timeout.
... Which leads me to how insane it was that we called two timeouts on that final defensive possession (before the 4th and 18 and before the two-point conversion). First off, we have to lead the universe in calling timeout before third and long or fourth and long and still giving up the play anyway. This has been going on for a long time now.
Second, that just shows you where Narduzzi's head is at. Once again, we were going all in on defense. I think, with 52 seconds left, most coaches would be content with "rolling the dice" (i.e. not calling timeout) on 4th and 18 (in the red zone, no less, where the boundary is like having at least one more defender on the field) and preserving the timeouts for an ensuing field goal attempt... Especially against a bad pass defense. But I truly believe we would have ran the ball and played for overtime if Duke had converted the two-point try. That's kind of insane to think about in modern football. 47 seconds is a lot of time.
Now, you can argue that Slovis' interceptions basically left him with no choice but to play that way. But man... It's just depressing that we have to use that approach in week 12. But I'll say this: If that's the level of trust you have in Slovis and you still elect to bring him back next season, you get what you get.
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