[h=2]This is how you lose a college football game in 17 seconds.[/h]
Connecticut and Navy played a roller coaster of a football game on Saturday. Navy took a 21-point first half lead, lost the entirety of that lead by giving up a 24-point run, then somehow took the lead back. Navy eventually held on, luckily, 28-24.
Where this gets really interesting: UConn was down 4 points, sitting on Navy's 1-yard-line with 17 seconds left in the game. The Huskies were just one power run from winning the game, and they called a timeout to figure out what to do.
Here's the problem, though. When UConn got stuffed on its first run attempt, the Huskies didn't have any more timeouts. And they apparently just didn't figure out what they were going to do next. So the clock just ... ran out.
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 27.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(59, 59, 59);">
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7077915/clock.0.gif)
</figure>That's some clock management Andy Reid would be proud of. What a disaster.
Earlier, things had gone horribly, horribly awry for Navy here. The Midshipmen looked so good in the first half – so, so good. They jumped to a 21-0 lead with 5:36 left in the the second quarter. But then everything went to hell, and the Huskies ripped off 24 points in a row. Things were no longer any good for the Midshipmen.
Navy had one more moment in the sun: Will Worth scored on a 3-yard run with just over three minutes to play, restoring Navy to a lead it had previously relinquished in full. Connecticut drove down the field after that, though, and it looked like this Navy disaster was back on. But then Diaco and Connecticut salvaged the day for them.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo couldn't believe his luck. And why not?
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 27.2px; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(59, 59, 59);">
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7077921/navycoach.0.gif)
</figure>This is like hitting the lottery, and that lottery is playing Connecticut in football.
Connecticut and Navy played a roller coaster of a football game on Saturday. Navy took a 21-point first half lead, lost the entirety of that lead by giving up a 24-point run, then somehow took the lead back. Navy eventually held on, luckily, 28-24.
Where this gets really interesting: UConn was down 4 points, sitting on Navy's 1-yard-line with 17 seconds left in the game. The Huskies were just one power run from winning the game, and they called a timeout to figure out what to do.
Here's the problem, though. When UConn got stuffed on its first run attempt, the Huskies didn't have any more timeouts. And they apparently just didn't figure out what they were going to do next. So the clock just ... ran out.
<figure class="e-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: inherit; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 27.2px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(59, 59, 59);">
Navy had one more moment in the sun: Will Worth scored on a 3-yard run with just over three minutes to play, restoring Navy to a lead it had previously relinquished in full. Connecticut drove down the field after that, though, and it looked like this Navy disaster was back on. But then Diaco and Connecticut salvaged the day for them.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo couldn't believe his luck. And why not?
