re: WWYD as Wisconsin Coach?

I went back and made sure I fully read your OP. Still, the idea that you gain nothing by punting is nowhere remotely close to true.

First, A muffed punt is a possibility if you punt. Thus giving you the ball around the 50.

Kneeling the ball and giving the opponents the ball inside the 10 doesn't help at all. If you hold them to a FG then a TD just ties it.

Now I understand that a first down or a TD means the same thing to Wisconsin in this situation (a loss), but in 1 situation you give LSU a 1st and 10 (punt) and another you give them 1st and 6 (kneel). The 6 yards are easier to get than the 10.

Also, Wisconsin would pressure the punt if they stopped them which could either block it, or cause a shank (which LSU is prone to).

I could possibly see going for it, and that's not where I have my problem with your stance, it is that kneeling would be smarter than punting. There is no situation where that is true in my mind. If I was a coach with what I considered a dominant defense, I would punt.

The punt wasn't really a bad idea until Les decided to not have anyone return it. Unlike some people, I thought that was a pretty smart move by Les. First game of the season, high pressured situation. A player could easily muff the punt. Also, not having a punt returner put Wisconsin in a very precarious position. Do you let the ball keep rolling and it burns more time off the clock? Or do you immediately stop the ball to stop the clock and give LSU a shorter field?

I don't know what I would've done, tbh. There was a lot on the line.

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First, A muffed punt is a possibility if you punt. Thus giving you the ball around the 50.
But LSU puts no one back to muff it.

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Right. But I was just trying to hit all the bases.

Look at the end of the day, if you want to go for it, fine. But please someone tell me any reason why kneeling it is better than punting? Please anyone...

Agreed, no return man on the punt was a great call by Les. Gave up some field position, but eliminated any risk of a muff. Field position didn't matter too much anyway when all we needed was one first down to win. If I were Wisconsin, I think I would've gone ahead and stopped the ball. You need as much time as you can get in case you force a three-and-out and get the ball back.

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I went back and made sure I fully read your OP. Still, the idea that you gain nothing by punting is nowhere remotely close to true.

First, A muffed punt is a possibility if you punt. Thus giving you the ball around the 50.

Kneeling the ball and giving the opponents the ball inside the 10 doesn't help at all. If you hold them to a FG then a TD just ties it.

Now I understand that a first down or a TD means the same thing to Wisconsin in this situation (a loss), but in 1 situation you give LSU a 1st and 10 (punt) and another you give them 1st and 6 (kneel). The 6 yards are easier to get than the 10.

Also, Wisconsin would pressure the punt if they stopped them which could either block it, or cause a shank (which LSU is prone to).

I could possibly see going for it, and that's not where I have my problem with your stance, it is that kneeling would be smarter than punting. There is no situation where that is true in my mind.

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Ok, I should have said you net no gain. Yes, a muffed punt or blocked punt is a possibility but you will also give up the advantage of receiving a kickoff if you hold LSU to a FG.

I should have said spiked the ball or, better yet, ran a QB sneak instead of taken a knee. Then it would be 8-10 yards

The difference between being down 4 and 7 isn't all that huge in that desperate of times. So if youre chance of scoring a TD is 5% your chances of winning goes from 5% to 2.5% with that extra 3 points. I think that small percentage can easily be made up with the difference in field position from recieving a punt vs a kick.

I 100% agree with you that if you turn the ball over at the 6, punting is better. Let's say you spike the ball or run a QB sneak instead of kneeling

Silly question. I would never have been in that position in the first place, I am a Madden All Star

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If I were Wisconsin, I think I would've gone ahead and stopped the ball. You need as much time as you can get in case you force a three-and-out and get the ball back.

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Agreed. That's what they should have done.

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That said, the OP could have made the same point in a much less obscure way

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Seriously though, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but you saw how many people were absolutely bamboozled by that "kneeling" scenario. You think you could come up with a way to explain that via a post that the Rant would understand? I mean, I literally wrote twice that kneeling could NEVER be the correct choice and still over half of the posters somehow gathered that I was advocating kneeling.

The reason people are attacking you is because you said:

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Rank these 3 options in terms of giving your team the best shot at winning.

a) go for it
b) punt
c) kneel the ball

I say A,C,B.

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You said you would kneel over punt which is ridiculous.

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I think its a safe bet Les kicks the FG but if he doesn't, then yeh, you are in worse position than punting it.

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I don't think so. The way the defense was playing, I think he goes for it. But still I think either way LSU was running the ball so well against Wisc 2nd string D line that they score from the 6 or 8 yard line anyway.