This is not a Longhorn rant only, but it was a good example of something I see a lot of which I don't like.
Twice down at the goal line Sark went for it on 4th down got stuffed for no points. This is the world of analytics. Don't even get me started on that. Nevertheless, assuming coaches aren't using analytics incorrectly or making narrow, specific decisions based on generalized metrics, there's still something to be said for game management.
I didn't really care the first time. Don't want to kick a FG? Fine, go for it. Maybe you get it and BYU loses all hope. If you get stopped, oh well. The second time was different. It's 21-6 with less than 2:00 to go in the 3rd quarter. At this point I don't care what the analytics say, you kick the FG to make it a 3-possession game. Given the game flow, whatever your chances of success are, it's still less than BYU scoring on 3 consecutive possessions. And it almost certainly needs to be consecutive possessions, because there's not that much time left. And, given that they stuffed you before, you can't just "play the odds," you have to recognize that something is going on out there that caused you not to pick up the yardage, and saying "F it, our percentages go up this time because we didn't make it last time" is tempting, but flat wrong.
But the risk/reward is the main thing. The reward is almost certain, and severe...meaning, you go a long, long way toward guaranteeing victory. The risk is....not immense, because again, your defense has been playing well, but you're still passing up a sure thing for style points. Get stopped again, awesome, now it's still a 2 score game. The fact BYU couldn't score is irrelevant, it was the wrong call. The more time winds down, the more important taking points becomes if you can increase the number of possessions required for a team to come back and beat you.
I've seen this so much, and then it goes on to bite the team in the butt enough times to make me wonder why not incorporate some good ol' fashioned game management along with those fancy analytics. Not a ton, mind you. Texas is case in point....it didn't hurt them at all. But why even put yourself at risk for being one of those more rare times when it does indeed bite you?
