re: Clock Management Woes

espn3.com has the replay. You can skip right to that part of the game. I didn't see shock or confusion, other than him asking if it was accepted or declined. I saw him conferring with booth coaches on what the third down play would be (you could see him say 'we get the down over again' into the headset), headphone on one ear, hand covering the other to shield the crowd noise. He asked the down, was told fourth, then Alleman and crew ran out.

I'm not saying it was done exactly right, but it makes sense there was hesitation due to the penalty. I would say his biggest error was assuming the penalty would be accepted. That's not a clock management issue, which is what this thread is about.

eta:
Something not discussed is how that awesome block was called a hold in the first place, setting this whole thing off. Looked like a picture perfect pancake.