USD Football 1994

Deuces Are Wild! continued

point plays I would say would be some type of flat pick-pass on the goal line," said Slocum. "That's where you fling a guy out and bring in a guy in motion and pick him I defensive player), because the assump- tion with a lot of people is that you're going to be going against man I-to-man) coverage. There is a good likelihood of seeing man coverage, so some type of pick pass can work against it. You wouldn't get an offensive coach to admit it's a pick, but they're all designed that way, w here you're going to send a receiver out and get some type of flood pattern where you get some extra receivers out who are doing some picking." Like Majors and Sherrill, Slocum makes the final decision about when to go for two points and when to kick the ball, but offers additional insight into why the head coach must be the man in charge in those types of situations. "You always like to receive input from others, but those are decisions that you make early on," explained Slocum. "Those are the kinds of deci- sions I'm thinking about on the sidelines. The players and the offensive coaches are wor- ried about what the next play should be, so even while a drive is going on, I'm thinking, 'If w e score here, do we need to go for two or go for one?' I'm usually talking with some- one lone of the coaches) in the press box. I'm aware of how much time is left, and trying to be the one with the cool head. But I like to know, in advance, that if we score we already know what we're going to do. It will be some- thing that we've run in prac- tice all week."

"In the last 30 seconds most people want you to go for two," he said. Nearly every player wants to go for it. The same as fourth-and-one at midfield. I tell them, 'We had a chance to do it on third-and-one but didn't make it. Get your butt off the field and do it the next time.' But that's a typical reac- tion in the heat of battle for players, fans and media." But when the time comes to go for two points, what's a coach to do? Run?Throw? Roll out? ls there some great mystery to plotting a two-point conversion play, or is it just another play from the three-yard line? "You practice different things for a two-point conver- sion, 11 said Sherrill. "You prac- tice different formations, but it all depends on what the defen- sive team lines up and does." " It all depends on the defense," said Majors, agreeing with his former charge. "Some- times you make calls, ones that looked awfully good, and you're basing it on what their tenden- cies have been in the past few years. But if you make a certain call, they may have a surprise defense that shuts you down." Sherrill agrees that it's very much a game of cat and mouse on two-point tries. "You run the ball some- times, then sometimes you may spread them (defense) out and run the draw," said Sherrill. 11 And there arc times when you bunch them up and throw the ball, so it's really all the same thing as calling any other play, then playing chess against the defense." One coach who has spent enough time on the sidelines to notice any possible trends in strategy is Texas A&M Head Coach R.C. Slocum, whose Aggies have lost only three games during the past two sea- sons. Slocum maintains that the most common-and the most effective-two-point play attempt may also be one that is not entirely within the rules of offensive football. "The most common type of play I've seen used for two-

"The players and the offensive coaches are worried about what the next play should be, so even while a drive is going on, I'm thinking, 'If we score here, do we need to go for two or go tor one?' "

- TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH R.C. SLOCUM

Another point most coach- es agree upon is where the buck stops in terms of who makes the decision about going for two points. "I make that decision," said Sherrill. "That's a decision I make," added Majors. "There may be a few occasions where we might talk to the team before a major game, but most of the

time it's a decision I make. We normally talk about it in a staff meeting during the week. I'll listen to their advice, but it's not by committee vote, not by squad vote, and not in the heat of the battle in the last 30 seconds of the game." Majors understands the desire of players, fans and the media, but refuses to suc- cumb to it.

SAM SCIULLO JR. IS ASSISTANT SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR AT THE U NIVERSITY Of PITTS- BURGH. He HAS ALSO WORKED AT ROBERT M ORRIS COLLEGE AND TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY.