Fourth down decisions critical for Buffs in win
To go or not to go. That is a question that often faces football coaches in the middle of games when critical situations arise.
Fans, of course, often want the offense to go for a first down and keep pushing toward the end zone. For Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell, however, the choice is different in each situation.
“It’s just the feel,” he said. “It’s weekly, how I feel in the course of a game; how the week went in preparation; how we’re coming off the football; how we’re protecting; how we’re doing some positive things from that standpoint.”
During Saturday’s 34-0 win against Arizona, there were two key fourth-down decisions on the 1-yard line that proved to be important for the Buffs. One was a decision by Dorrell, while the other was from his counterpart, Arizona’s Jedd Fisch.
Dorrell heard the boos from the Folsom Field crowd when he sent the field goal unit out in the first quarter. It was fourth-and-goal from the Arizona 1-yard line and the fans wanted the Buffs to get that yard and six points. Dorrell, however, sent Cole
Becker to the field to put three points on the board.
“I know there were people that weren’t happy with me taking the field goal on the first fourth down when we’re down there inside the tight red zone,” Dorrell said Monday as the Buffs (2-4, 1-2 Pac-12) prepare to face California (1-5, 0-3) on Saturday.
For Dorrell, that choice was fairly simple. The Buffs’ offense has struggled all season and needed points on the board. The benefit of getting three points — and the Buffs’ first lead of any kind in four games — outweighed the negative of potentially coming up empty.
“To me, it was not worth the risk of not getting any points after having your first drive of the game and you go down the field and you’re in scoring position,” Dorrell said. “We felt that was a positive step for our offense to get some points out of that first drive and then to build off that as they continue to get going.”
Although it took a while to get some points on the board offensively, the Buffs never did trail after that first drive and wound up with its most productive day on offense since the season opener.
The decision to go for a first down is never an easy one, though. Later in the first quarter, CU had fourthand-1 at the Arizona 30. Dorrell elected to go for it, running back Alex Fontenot was stopped and the Buffs’ possession ended.
“I don’t have a magic formula as to why and when I do that,” he said. “But, I do want to be more aggressive and that’s usually my nature.”
On the flip side, Fisch was aggressive late in the first half and it backfired on the Wildcats. With CU leading 6-0, Arizona marched down the field and faced first-andgoal at the CU 1-yard line.
Quarterback Gunner Cruz was stuffed as he tried to lunge for the end zone on first down. Then, running back Jalen John was tackled for no gain on back-to-back runs. Instead of choosing to pull within 6-3 by kicking a field goal on fourth down, Fisch went for the touchdown and a possible halftime lead, but Cruz’s pass fell incomplete.
CU took possession with 2:41 to play in the half and ran out the clock, preserving a 6-0 lead into halftime.
“That was huge,” Dorrell said of CU’S goal-line stand. “I’m gonna tell you that, to me, in my opinion, was the breaking point of the game.”