Dissecting the third-and-9 inside run play called for Jock Sanders against Cincinnati

By Colin Dunlap | 12:30 a.m. Sunday

Many times, when you write a follow-up story about a game, it focuses on a broad, wide topic, a big issue that either came to light during that game or continued to be a trend in that contest.

Not too often, as a sportswriter, is the follow-up story so narrow in its topic that it is simply a dissection of two back-to-back snaps in a football game that had almost 130 plays. This time was different.

The focus of my follow-up story in Sunday's Post-Gazette (which you can read HERE) is about the West Virginia offensive coaching staff's decision, with just under 6 minutes remaining, to run an inside handoff to Jock Sanders on a third-and-9 from the Cincinnati 25 trailing by a 21-14 score. That led to a 1-yard gain, a subsequent fourth down incompletion and a crucial turnover on downs.

There has been some yammering from the West Virginia faithful about how, in that situation, the staff should have kicked a field goal. Coach Bill Stewart is on record as saying he was against a field goal, "playing to win" and was "going to go for 2" had his team scored in that situation.

So, for those reasons -- and because the field goal attempt of more than 40 yards is no chip shot -- I agree with Stewart and am also against kicking in that situation.

But, this situation is multi-faceted and there is a portion of it where I am against what happened ... very much so.

If a field goal was out of the question, and West Virginia was playing to win, it was obviously four down territory. That said, my problem comes not with the third down play call, but with the personnel on the field for that play. Running that play was fine, but in my opinion, the coaches just handed it to the wrong fellow.

Fullback Ryan Clarke averaged 12 yards per carry in the game against Cincinnati. Jock Sanders is a slot receiver who was filling in a bit at tailback because Noel Devine had a gimpy ankle. Also, Sanders had four carries for 6 yards on the drive before that play, including two for losses. 

Simply put, Sanders wasn't blowing holes through the Bearcats' front.

Clarke was.

Think back to when Clarke scored that 37-yard touchdown earlier in the game. On that play, West Virginia had a gargantuan package on the field with three fullbacks -- Clarke, who carried the ball for the score and Ricky Kovatch and Will Johnson, who both blocked on that play.

Those three fullback represent a collective 699 pounds.

On a third-and-9, when you have made it known it is four down territory, wouldn't that personnel package be a better option than running it inside with a smaller slot receiver who is filling in at tailback?

Again, many people are on the coaches about not kicking the field goal. I am not.

Many are questioning the inside run. I am not.

From my perspective, the only thing curious on that play was that Ryan Clarke wasn't a part of it.