Tuesday Refugee Roundtable: Agony of The Feet

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In case you missed the FCS National Championship last night, you missed bizarro ball for the final five minutes of the game. Illinois State’s kicker had a game winner blocked, then an overtime extra point attempt blocked, allowing Montana State to take home the title.

Is missing a field goal the most executing way to lose a game? Did that make the loss to Ole Miss that much worse for us? While we’ve been able to laugh away Tennessee and tOSU on missed field goals, we have had a few special teams snafus cost us games.

Or is there another more excruciating way to lose a game? Discuss.

40 thoughts on “Tuesday Refugee Roundtable: Agony of The Feet”

    • Meh, we drove right back down the field and had a chance to potentially win the game; it certainly wasn’t over after that pass…. It was very disappointing (particularly how we had played in fighting back to take the lead and put them on the ropes), but not nearly as “deflating” as the 2017 MNC, 2016 TN Hail Mary or 2012 SEC Championship!

        • There was still a minute-ish left on the clock, it was not the last play of the game – that is why it certainly was not as *excruciating* as all of the other examples I provided (and the FCS Championship Game which was cited in the original post), were.

          • That minute would have been comprised of us taking a knee and running the clock out.

          • I am well aware of that Derek…. The original post asked what was the “most excruciating” way to lose. Getting walked off (as the video in your first response alludes to) is *much more excruciating* than blowing a game and then having a chance to win at the end…. It was a long, frustrating and disappointing ride back from Auburn that night, but it certainly wasn’t “excruciating” like the (much shorter) drive home from downtown Atlanta was in 2012 or 2017…..
            Another “excruciating” factor is that 2013 was kind of an up and down season (beating Auburn sure would have been an extra highlight), but 2012 and 2017 were almost *championship* seasons….

    • This is the winner. I get pissed every time I see it. Dumbest play in the history of UGA football by a mile.

  7. I’d say passing incomplete on 3rd and goal with a little under a minute left in the quarterfinals of the playoffs when the other team’s QB was balling out and their kicker could kick 80 yard field goals, instead of running it and pretty much guaranteeing the other team had no time left to mount any kind of drive after the field goal, was pretty excruciating. More so than all our other excruciating losses except for 2017 national championship and 2012 SECCG, because what was on the line. All the regular season hail marys, Harvey Clemons, etc. don’t hurt as much because those games didn’t mean as much.

      • Literally no-one would be mad about running the clock out there and giving us a chance in overtime. I’ve been a Bobo supporter all along. Still am. I think he can get it done and I think he could have won it this year with our offense. I also know you will bash everyone that criticizes him or any other coaching blunders. But the decision to pass it there in those circumstances was a painfully and predictably terrible call and was totally unavoidable. Sure it would be disappointing to lose in OT, but at least we would have had a chance, and no-one would have been mad about coming back from 10 down with 7 minutes left to give us a shot in OT instead of winning in regulation. OK maybe some idiots that would never be happy with anything, but those should be the outcasts of the Dawg fans. You have to admit at some point this was downright the worst decision of the season and made even worse by how unavoidable it was.

        • edit: both those should have said “avoidable” not “unavoidable”

        • Throwing it into the ez gave us no chance to win?

          Our defense didn’t have a chance to stop them from getting into fg range?

          You’re delusional.

          I have no problems criticizing “blunders.” I am on record saying that the fake punt vs bama was the worst decision in the history of big game football, period. I am still waiting for someone to give a worse example. I stand by it and would tell him that myself. Worst decision ever. I’d also thank him for a whole lot of other shit.

          What I object to is the conceit that a fan knows better about long m-term structural, program decisions. Not isolated ones like: should we punt in a tie game 4th and 9 at midfield?

          That’s fucking easy.

          Just like should Deboer have gone for it vs Indiana down 3 from their own 31 with 12:30 to play in the second. Again, easy.

          What I wouldn’t presuppose to do is tell either Miss Kaylyn or Kirby who their coordinators ought to be or not be.

          I think they’re much better situated than I am on those sorts of calls. Especially when that coach is winning 90% of the games.

    • OM had a chance to play for OT. They threw a long pass on 3rd down to set up a fg instead.

      If that pass gets picked off, do they get dinged for it?

      If Chambliss was “balling out” why would you be so confident about OT?

      • Ole Miss throwing it with under a minute left and full set of downs is totally different and you know it, especially when the clock is down to under 30 seconds and they are pretty much playing with house money when they can kill the clock by punting it away.

        As to your second point, when their offense doesn’t have the full field to work with, and is condensed to basically the red zone, I like our chances a lot better holding them to a field goal knowing we can at worst tie it with our own field goal in our possession. Rather than end of regulation where a field goal for them wins outright. This isn’t hard to figure out.

        • Nothing can go wrong with a pass play…

          No sack fumbles or pick 6’s there… evah!

          You are out of your mind.

      • I’m not the commenter you’re replying to, but I was *not* confident about our chances in OT and I *still* think we should’ve run it on 3rd & goal. I think you can run the ball *and* play for the win simultaneously. They’re not mutually exclusive.

        I also don’t think this loss was remotely close to being as excruciating as some of the other losses cited in this thread.

          • I agree, and our run game had been up and down all game long. We’d either gash them for huge gains or get completely stuffed. We’d just gotten stuffed on the 2nd & goal, right? And we’ve had success passing the ball in similar down & distances throughout the season, so it’s not a totally off-the-wall decision to try that again.

            Still, the clock was the biggest factor (to me) in this situation. I’d rather call our best running play and if we had to settle for a field goal try then at least we’re only giving Ole Miss 20ish seconds to score instead of 50-something seconds.

            I said it in another thread and I’ll say it again: I know all these coaches have forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know. I’m not calling for anyone to be fired, or saying I could do their job better, just offering my opinion.

        • Given their offense was “hotter” late and their fg kicker was automatic, going for the win there makes the most sense to me.

          If Im gashing a team on the ground and trust the defense to get stops, playing for ot makes sense.

          Those weren’t the conditions we were faced with.

  8. I prefer to witness excruciating losses by the opponent. I don’t dwell on our excruciating losses.

    1978 win over Kentucky
    1978 win over the nerds
    1980 win over the Gators
    2002 win over Auburn
    2024 win over the nerds

    Those are the type of excruciating defeats I like to revel in.

    • 1965 vs Alabama.
      1980 over USC, UT, Clemson and ND.
      1984 over Clemson.
      2022/23 over the Buckeyes.
      1990 over Bama and the Fighting Favres!
      Auburn in 1994 and 1996.

      We’ve broken some hearts.

    • Agreed. The 4th quarter 8 minute 75 yard soul crushing Kirby Manball Special to go up by two scores has to be one of the most miserable experiences as a fan.
      I’m sure it’s been done to us but thankfully I can’t remember any off the top of my head.

  9. Not being able to get a TD on first and goal from inside the 5 is worse than missing a FG.

    • 1st and goal from the 8, 2nd and goal from the 3. But point taken. Why not stay under center at 2nd and goal at the 3. Heck 2 QB sneaks up the middle would probably have gotten in the end zone. I never understand hiking it backwards 6 yards at the goaline.

  10. It’s a different kind of excruciating, but multiple 3 and outs in the middle of the game when we could just step on their neck…

  11. This one probably isn’t on anyone else’s radar, but losing to Vandy in 2013 was pretty excruciating IMO.

    A BS targeting call on Ramik Wilson, back when the ejection could be overturned (and was) but the penalty yardage and 1st down still stood. That eventually led to a Vandy score. I think they also got us with a fake FG in that game. Just went back and watched some “highlights” and we had a botched snap on a punt which set Vandy up for a score to take the lead. Then on our next drive there’s a check down to the RB which probably would’ve given us a first down if he hadn’t fumbled it. Then Chris Conley gets banged up on a futile hail mary attempt to end the game.

    Lots of painful games in the 2013 season.

  12. Thanks to Butler establishing a tradition of our kickers being among the very best I don’t recall our missing last second FGs but nothing was more excruciating than watching tOSU ball sail over our line before hooking left at the stoke of midnight. I’ve blanked 2017 from my memory banks replaced by Ringo’s pick 6.

    • The only time I can remember missing a make-able game winning fg was Blair Walsh in vs MSU in a bowl game.

      That snapped a 55 year winning streak over big 10 teams.

    • Missed one to tie SCAR in OT and extend the game in 2019, was a pretty brutal way to end a pretty brutal game….

    • Not “last second”, but in 2014 against SC we could’ve tied the game at 38 and had a chance for OT, if not for a missed chip shot FG.

  13. It’s easy to come up with lots of examples of very painful loses. Nothing can top the 2017 NC walk off loss in OT. We just sacked their QB no chance of a field goal. Their only chance was a miracle play. While we are still celebrating the sack they get their miracle delivered. The 2017 season was amazing it’s ending was the worst way to lose. Nothing else is on this level of disappointment.

    • But Bama ending this season in the SECCG and the CFP with beat downs is the sweet justice they deserve.

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