re: I don’t think the 2-pt try was JUST “cajones.”

A boxer knows when the judges are going to give the other boxer the win on the scorecard. That means he has to go for the knockout.

That's exactly what BK did.

Yes a decision based just on cajones would be very much up our previous coaches' alley. Both Miles and O!

quote:

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Of all people, it was Les Miles who explained it after he went for the TD against Auburn when a field goal would have won it. After the game they asked him why he took such a gamble when they were already in FG range. Miles said, "Trying a FG is also a gamble". Miles was exactly right.

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That ignores that Miles wasted so much time. We had 44 seconds left and 1 timeout after the previous play. He let the clock run all the way down to 18 second before getting the play in, and the ball wasn't snapped until 8 seconds were left on the clock. We could have run several more plays to get the ball into chip shot range. So no, a FG would not have been a bigger gamble than throwing a 25 yard pass into the back corner of the endzone, pass that had it not been completed and not hit the ground immediately could have been the last play of the game.

That play is the epitome of celebrating the result, but the decision making and clock management leading up to that play being horrible.

It was still partly cajones. A lot of coaches may know that a play has a good chance of working but not all of them have the conviction to actually call it in that spot. Some coaches will deliberately make a sub-optimal call if they know they'll receive less criticism for it because it's "safer."

BK has accomplished enough in his career to the point where he was ok withstanding criticism if it didn't work out, but he knew the upside too. That Bama game is the defining moment in his young LSU tenure.

BK relies on preparation and always will, but knows when to take big risks.