Urban Meyer details checkmate moments in Florida vs. Utah, LSU vs. FSU, Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
On this week’s Urban’s Take with Tim May, former D-I and NFL head coach Urban Meyer broke down his “checkmate” moments of Week 1 action. His list includes moments from top-25 games between Florida and Utah, LSU and Florida State, and Ohio State versus Notre Dame.
“The first one was Florida versus Utah,” Meyer said. “Utah’s going in, from about the 8-yard line, deep in the redzone, a minute and some change left. Down by three, kick the field goal and go to overtime, it’s not that easy. You have a veteran quarterback named Cam Rising who the coaches really trust.
“You’re playing Florida, that quarterback (Anthony) Richardson’s a monster, he got better as the game went along. But you also just traveled your team three timezones, it’s 100 degrees heat, it’s humidity, your players are about done. You don’t have the depth of a Florida… I didn’t talk to Coach Whittingham but I know what he’s thinking, ‘if we can end this thing, let’s end it now.’ … The checkmate moment for a fan when they ask, why don’t you just kick a field goal, because if they kick a field goal and go to overtime, they probably lose that game.”
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Meyer questions decisions by Brian Kelly, Marcus Freeman
Urban Meyer is just one of many questioning first-year LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s decision not to go for the win versus FSU on the final play of the game.
“Number two, this is a big one,” Meyer said. “LSU, that was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. The field goal protection was not good. On the left side early in the game, they got blocked on the left side. They’re struggling, they had two turnovers on special teams. They drove it 99 yards, the defense for Florida State is shot, exhausted. They go and score with no time left.
“A lot of people ask, why didn’t Brian Kelly go for two and end it right there, that’s a good question… There’s two mandates, if you’re on the road and you’re the underdog, go for two. If you’re home and the favorite, always kick the extra point… Going for two is only 44%. People are wondering why. However, there are x-factors. Florida State was blown out, they’d just played 100 plays of football. The offense had the advantage.”
The former Buckeyes head coach also called into question some of the Fighting Irish’s defensive decisions in their 21-10 loss.
“Final one, that was right in front of our eyes, why in the world would Notre Dame blitz zero?” Meyer asked. “Why would they do a zero blitz versus a veteran quarterback? Maybe they knew they had some receiver issues. They look out there and see someone who’s never really played much. They knew (Jaxon) Njigba was out of the game. That was a checkmate moment.”